Need help finding medicine for sick chickens

[Tiffy316]

It seems like my flock has come down with a respiratory illness. It started out with just one rooster, and now at least half of them are sick. I know that I that they need antibiotics, but I'm not sure what type to give them. Can anyone suggest an effective antibiotic that can treat multiple chickens with a respiratory infection that's also easy to obtain?

 

[dawg53]

We have to determine is it's a bacterial infection or viral infection. If it's a viral disease such as Infectious Bronchitis (IB) or Laryngotracheitis (ILT), there is no treatment nor cure.
If it's a bacterial disease such as Mycoplasma Gallisepticum (MG) or Coryza, certain antibiotics will treat either disease but birds will remain carriers for life after treatment.
It's also possible that your birds could have 2 or more diseases at the same time.

I have a few questions regarding if your birds can be treated or not. Then I can make a recommendation.
Have you seen any wrinkled eggs? Any signs of blood inside the coop or elsewhere?
Have you seen bubbles in the eyes? Wetness on neck feathers? Is there a foul odor around the head area from any of your birds, facial swelling, including the rooster?

 

[Eggcessive]

Have you added any new birds shortly before you started seeing the respiratory illness?

 

[Tiffy316]

We have to determine is it's a bacterial infection or viral infection. If it's a viral disease such as Infectious Bronchitis (IB) or Laryngotracheitis (ILT), there is no treatment nor cure.
If it's a bacterial disease such as Mycoplasma Gallisepticum (MG) or Coryza, certain antibiotics will treat either disease but birds will remain carriers for life after treatment.
It's also possible that your birds could have 2 or more diseases at the same time.

I have a few questions regarding if your birds can be treated or not. Then I can make a recommendation.
Have you seen any wrinkled eggs? Any signs of blood inside the coop or elsewhere?
Have you seen bubbles in the eyes? Wetness on neck feathers? Is there a foul odor around the head area from any of your birds, facial swelling, including the rooster?

I haven't seen any of those symptoms, but I have heard them rattling and seen them gaping at night. I haven't introduced any new birds recently.

 

[dawg53]

It sounds like you're dealing with something in the environment that might be causing the symptoms you're observing, rather than a disease.

If it's hot where you live, your birds will gape because they are hot and rattling can occur, especially inside the coop. You can install a fan inside the coop. Make sure the fan is blowing OUT the vent. Fresh air will flow in through the other vents. You dont want the fan blowing directly on your birds.

Other environmental issues could be ammonia fumes from soiled bedding causing the symptoms you're seeing, improper ventilation, dust from dust bathing, inhalation of feed dust while eating, pollen, pesticide use etc...
All of these issues can be corrected or eliminated.

 

[TwoCrows]

I haven't seen any of those symptoms, but I have heard them rattling and seen them gaping at night. I haven't introduced any new birds recently.

If they are only doing this mainly at night or this is when it first started occurring, you probably don't have enough ventilation. Ammonia builds up in the air from all the pooping and irritates the lungs and eyes. Minimum of 1/2 square foot per bird of vent space in the eaves of your coop, preferably on opposing sides of the walls closest to the ceiling. After cutting more vent space, the coughing and gagging should clear up pretty quick. However symptoms of a truly sick bird can be any or all of the following, at all times of the day... Standing around hunched over, tail hanging, feathers puffed up, bubbly eyes, pale comb, diarrhea, runny nose, coughing, not eating or drinking, extreme fatigue, etc... I wouldn't medicate unless you are sure they are sick.

However for future reference if you need antibiotics you can get them from https://www.twincitypoultrysupplies.com/

 

[Eggcessive]

I would also check their crops in early morning to see that the crop is emptying overnight. Many antibiotics are available online for fish or pigeons.

 

[Tiffy316]

If they are only doing this mainly at night or this is when it first started occurring, you probably don't have enough ventilation. Ammonia builds up in the air from all the pooping and irritates the lungs and eyes. Minimum of 1/2 square foot per bird of vent space in the eaves of your coop, preferably on opposing sides of the walls closest to the ceiling. After cutting more vent space, the coughing and gagging should clear up pretty quick. However symptoms of a truly sick bird can be any or all of the following, at all times of the day... Standing around hunched over, tail hanging, feathers puffed up, bubbly eyes, pale comb, diarrhea, runny nose, coughing, not eating or drinking, extreme fatigue, etc... I wouldn't medicate unless you are sure they are sick.

However for future reference if you need antibiotics you can get them from https://www.twincitypoultrysupplies.com/

They're in a barn with a pretty well ventilated roof. However, I could try cleaning it out later and see if that helps. IDK how I would increase ventilation though. I guess I could maybe cut a few holes in the side of it. Or is there another way I could do that?

 

[TwoCrows]

They're in a barn with a pretty well ventilated roof. However, I could try cleaning it out later and see if that helps. IDK how I would increase ventilation though. I guess I could maybe cut a few holes in the side of it. Or is there another way I could do that?

Is there a lot of dust in this barn? Dust in the air will have them wheezing and coughing. Does this coughing and such only happen at night while in the barn or does it happen during the day when they are outside too?

 

[Tiffy316]

Is there a lot of dust in this barn? Dust in the air will have them wheezing and coughing. Does this coughing and such only happen at night while in the barn or does it happen during the day when they are outside too?

It mostly seems to happen at night when they're panting in the heat. I don't usually hear it during the day, even if they are hot. It's probably pretty dusty in there. It's a big barn, but it really needs to be cleaned out. I've been removing the excess dirt and debris to reduce the amount of dust in the air. Hopefully, that helps.