New chickens that all appear to have respiratory illness

[jdsande3]

First, I would like to say that I am new to chickens but I have tried to research as much as possible about the issue I am having below:

A little background, my fiance and me bought some chicks from Tracto Supply in the spring and raised them without issue, however, the problem has occured as we acquired some 6 month old hens in the last two weeks.

These new hens are displaying respiratory infection (perhaps CRD), as they have liquied coming from their eyes and beak. One has it worse then the others and cannot open her eyes. After doing research on this site, I bought some Tylan 50 and injected it under the skin the the back of their necks (though I found a lot of contradictory information about wether to inject SQ or in the muscle). The two that were just beginning to show symptons look to have healed, however, the one that is worse will not eat, open her eyes, or drink. I was able to bring water up to her beak and she drank a little. This has been going on 3 days and I'm at a loss of what to do. I hate to see any animal suffer, and wonder if I should put her down.

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These 3 have been separated from my original flock, and again, 2 are doing fine with 3 days worth of Tylan 50 injections (1 CC).

My question is, should I put the third one down (though I really hate to)? And how long can I wait untill I introduce them to my original flock? I read that CRD cannot be cured, so shoudl I introduce them at all? Thank you for all of the help.

 

[Sara Ranch]

Only you can make the decision to cull the chickens or let them live.

From what I understand, once a chicken gets a disease, the symptoms can be managed, but the bird will never be cured. Ever. The big deal is the symptoms CAN be managed. They often disappear you and you never see them again.

Personally, I would do everything I could for the chickens. I have nearly blind, half blind, and partially crippled birds here. (All adopted with no disclosures about their conditions.) They all require a little extra work, but I do it. The birds appear happy and very healthy. In my mind, there's no reason to cull them.

I have other birds (adopted) that I thought had a respiratory disease as well. It turned out to be permanent damage from their previous living conditions. So they rasp a lot. (I had them tested for bird diseases. All the birds tested negative.)

I am all for keeping the birds and helping them manage the symptoms. But again, you can only decide what to do.

I would also give them (everyone) vitamins in their water, like Nutri-drench. It will help all.

 

[jdsande3]

Thank you for the reply. I am all for keeping birds as well; I hate to see an animal suffer or killed needlessly, but I also do not want to expose my other birds and have them suffer the same fate. I was looking up information on a necropsy at a NC lab. I really have no idea about that, and it makes it harder as I work shift work to take time off to get the bird to the lab.

A respiratory dieses cannot carry over to the eggs can they (i.e. affect a human consuming the eggs)? The whole reason my fiance wanted chickens was so we can eat ther eggs.

 

[theuglychick]

Some diseases are passed from the hens through the eggs. Whether a person is affected by it depends on the disease.

I would say that a lot of your decision depends on if you're up to the challenge of maintaining a special-needs flock and keeping chickens for your own enjoyment or if you plan to sell birds, biddies, or eggs.

If you're keeping them as pets, you're probably fine to treat and keep birds that survive a disease.

Keep in mind, a lot of diseases will adversely affect laying, hatch rates, chick viability, fertility, and the birds will be carriers for life and susceptible to repeated infections/episodes of disease. It also leaves your birds wide open to other types of diseases.

I had dealt with a bad respiratory disease (Mycoplasma Gallisepticum) in 2016 and opted to cull all infected and exposed birds.

It was an extremely difficult decision as I really love my birds. However, the major reason we chose to cull is that survivors became life-long carriers, it was VERY contagious in several ways, it did adversely affect fertility, hatch rates, laying, and chick mortality.

It also put all my birds at risk. I simply can't treat repeated random episodes of sickness in birds.

But also, and the big thing for me, I do offer my eggs and birds to others, I give a lot away and even sell some. I do not want someone getting a sick bird or hatching eggs that could be a carrier of diseases.

I've seen people get birds, the birds get sick, they treat birds, and then quickly resell them to unsuspecting customers. It's a horrible viscous cycle!

So it all depends on what you're willing to treat and risk.

 

[Eggcessive]

Would it be possible to return the birds to the previous owner, and forgetting the cost? You could always cull the most sick bird and get a necropsy by your state vet, just to get a diagnosis. MG or mycoplasma is very common in backyard flocks, but if you keep any of the birds, your flock will be carriers for life. And you should then close your flock to any new birds. Your eggs will not be affected for eating, but MG can pass through hatching eggs to chicks. Tylan 50 injectable is supposed to be given into the breast muscle, but some do give it orally. Respiratory diseases, such as MG, infectious bronchitis, coryza, and ILT can be complicated with secondary bacterial infections such as E.coli air sacculitis. Those chickens usually do poorly. Tylan will not touch E.coli. A necropsy can be a good way to find out what you are treating in case you decide to keep the other two. Here is a good link to read about the common respiratory diseases and symptoms, plus another one for finding your state vet or poultry lab for a necropsy:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044
http://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm