Need help!

[two j farm]

I'm having a respiratory issue with one chicken. I'm treating her with sulmet. I have her away from all the others, but I noticed today a few more are just laying around and not looking all that good. The one in the house is gasping for air but the others are not. I have 80 chickens and 4 ducks. Do I treat them all or what? What about the ducks?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm having a respiratory issue with one chicken. I'm treating her with sulmet. I have her away from all the others, but I noticed today a few more are just laying around and not looking all that good. The one in the house is gasping for air but the others are not. I have 80 chickens and 4 ducks. Do I treat them all or what? What about the ducks?

How old is she?
Any other symptoms - mucous, plaques inside the beak, watery eyes, coughing?

I would only treat birds that are clearly showing symptoms. Do you suspect Infectious Coryza?

If you happen to lose her, it would be a very good idea to send the body for testing/necropsy to find out what you may be dealing with. https://www.lsu.edu/vetmed/laddl/

 

[two j farm]

How old is she?
Any other symptoms - mucous, plaques inside the beak, watery eyes, coughing?

I would only treat birds that are clearly showing symptoms. Do you suspect Infectious Coryza?

If you happen to lose her, it would be a very good idea to send the body for testing/necropsy to find out what you may be dealing with. https://www.lsu.edu/vetmed/laddl/

She is sneezing / coughing. No mucous. All I have on hand is sulmet so that's what I'm using. She is getting better and started to eat. I have a few other hens that are not looking good. They just lay around with their head under their wings.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She is sneezing / coughing. No mucous. All I have on hand is sulmet so that's what I'm using. She is getting better and started to eat. I have a few other hens that are not looking good. They just lay around with their head under their wings.

Do you have photos?
It does sound like you are dealing with a respiratory disease that is spreading through your flock. It would be a very good idea to get some testing to find out which one. Your state lab can do that or you can go through an independent lab. Mycoplasma, Infectious Bronchitis, Infectious Coryza and ILT are a few of the more common ones.
If she is getting a little better with antibiotics, then you likely are dealing with a bacterial disease like Infectious Coryza and/or Mycoplasma. Antibiotics will treat symptoms of respiratory disease, but there is no cure. Do keep in mind that respiratory diseases make birds carriers for life (those exposed and those that recover). If you bring in new birds, they would be exposed and become carriers as well, even if they never show symptoms.

If you have multiple birds, separate out those that are symptomatic and treat them. If the Sulmet is working, you can try that or if you feel you need something else, Tylosin powder can be ordered online and used in the water. I'm sorry that you are dealing with this.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[two j farm]

Do you have photos?
It does sound like you are dealing with a respiratory disease that is spreading through your flock. It would be a very good idea to get some testing to find out which one. Your state lab can do that or you can go through an independent lab. Mycoplasma, Infectious Bronchitis, Infectious Coryza and ILT are a few of the more common ones.
If she is getting a little better with antibiotics, then you likely are dealing with a bacterial disease like Infectious Coryza and/or Mycoplasma. Antibiotics will treat symptoms of respiratory disease, but there is no cure. Do keep in mind that respiratory diseases make birds carriers for life (those exposed and those that recover). If you bring in new birds, they would be exposed and become carriers as well, even if they never show symptoms.

If you have multiple birds, separate out those that are symptomatic and treat them. If the Sulmet is working, you can try that or if you feel you need something else, Tylosin powder can be ordered online and used in the water. I'm sorry that you are dealing with this.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

Thanks for the reply. The hen in the house is much better today. She isn't gasping for air anymore. I'm still going to keep her in away from the others for a few days. I going to treat a few more and hope for the best.

I had this problem about 3 years ago so I'm sure I have some old birds that are carriers.