Need help determining what infection is killing my flock

[2mnypets]

We have a situation that is not getting any better. It started almost a week ago. So far we have lost 8 birds to this. We have the coughing and the sneezing. Naturally, we have a lot of shaking of heads to dislodge the congestion. When some is released, it is yellow as well as lots of yellow, sticky eye drainage. One of my RIW hens who didn't make it showed that her ears were also swollen (which I would assume was an ear infection). We have been cleaning the coop out frequently and continuing to use the DE. The waterers are cleaned out daily with bleach water and contain water that has Teramyacin in it. Tylan 50mg. IM given to all birds daily. We have watched diligently over our flock. Does anyone have any suggestions or other questions that could help us get this under control. Our farm vet is in Hawaii at this time and no other vets will even see our chickens. At this time it looks like it's all up to us.

 

[Tuffoldhen]

Unless you could take a bird in for an necropsy to a Ag vet or a university close to you we would all just be guessing on what is going thru your flock...call your state AG office maybe they can send someone out to test a bird....Lots of different resp. diseases that could be happening...just don't add any new birds...quarantine your whole flock til someone can see them....
Wish I could help more maybe someone else can chime in.....

 

[lurky]

My friend recently went through something similar, but not exactly the same. Although she was told that sulmet would not fix things, it was all she had til the tylan arrived so she used it. They all improved and she sees no symptoms at this time. Her whole bantam flock was infected and she lost 4 until the sulmet helped. I am not saying its your solution, but i wont hurt to try it. Good Luck to you.

 

[Aun <HIS><]

That really sounds like a bacterial infection of the sinus/ears/lungs to me. It sounds like you're doing everything right. I wonder if it's just taking time for the antibiotic to take effect? Or the infection got really far along before the antibiotic started? Gosh, I don't know what else you could do, but wait and see if the antibiotic starts working.... and for your darn vet to get back from HAWAII, geeze, of all the times for him to go and take a vacation. Humph.

I hope your flock gets better real soon.
Aundrea

 

[therealsilkiechick]

how long have they been on the antibiotic? sometimes they don't show signs of getting better from it till 5-7 days after being on it but antibiotics won't help with all things. one question i had was with the injection if i remember right that's an antibiotic also isn't it? you should not give 2 antibiotics at the same time they can cancell each other out and not do anything. not sure about that one but i know some can.

is there any discoloration in waddles and comb? swelling around the eyes, eyes watery or bubbleing? are they gaging or gasping for air, discharge from mouth ect or diarea anything like this also? has egg production dropped anything else noticeable? how quick from the time you noticed a problem till they started dieing? have any more died since you started the antibiotic? have they been exposed to smoke or mold from wet bedding ect?

if they were mine the first thing i would do is take one benadryl capsule and disolve to one gal of water to see if that cleared the sinuses or helped. look at ur worst bird with syptoms or the one showing the most symptoms and tell me what ya see or notice. post pics if you can that would help greatly. i'm a pa licensed poultry tech and i see alot of things here most people would not want to think about and i can call my state vet with questions to double check if i can see or know what's going on to try to help ya.
silkie

 

[dlhunicorn]

IMHO when you have multiple deaths and something obviously infectious, you should have a necropsy done. It may be coryza complicated by MG and since it sounds obviously advanced stage, you may need a stronger med. Peter Brown at FeatherFanciers.com (FirstState Vet Supply Forum) is very knowledgeable on meds... why dont you post your problem to him there and see what he advises?
Here is an article with some general info on respiratory disease to help you understand what is happening with the congestion and such :
http://www.wattnet.com/Archives/Docs/0802pi24.pdf?CFID=4026676&CFTOKEN=35768924

 

[CarriBrown]

:aww I'm so sorry. I feel for you. I lost two almost in a row last year and I had a necropsy done, but it was so general that we could never figure it out. Now it's happening again to me and I'm going to make sure I ask and pay for the more detailed necropsy.
They told us they died of lack of calcium, but didn't know if it was diet, something in the water, a genetic defect, etc etc. They would have found out if I had paid for it.
I'm telling you this because I really think you should get a necropsy and you should ask for and pay for the detailed one. Otherwise, you may not get the information you need to really fix the problem.