New hen with respiratory issue - Need advice!

[VeggieMinette]

Hi fellow chicken lovers -

I am new to chicken keeping and have an existing flock of 6 all raised since babies - now are 3 months old. I agreed to adopt a hen from my mom's flock - she is a bantam Millie Fleur who was a favorite of her overzealous rooster!

My mom brought her to me yesterday. I have her in a separate pen in my hen house. She is sneezing constantly and one eye has little bubbles in her tear duct area (do chickens have tear ducts??). Could it be that I have pine shavings on the floor? My mom's coop floor was dirt.

Any recommendations?? Vitamins? Medicines? My worst fear would be that it's something that she spreads to my other ladies!

Thank you for any help you can provide!

-Minette

 

[hennible]

Sounds like a respiratory infection of some kind... Keep her isolated, i'm sure you'll get some more experienced people on here to help you treat her soon... Good luck.

 

[VeggieMinette]

Thank you, Hennible! I just put a small coop inside the main chicken run to get her out of the pine shavings to see if that helps her. I'll see if I can find a chicken vet in my area today.

Still looking for any advise on treating a possible respiratory infection...........

 

[hennible]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/755483/treating-upper-respiratory-infections
Here's some reading if you like it's just a thread and different people talking about treating upper respiratory infection with antibiotics... A respiratory infection would likely be a virus but you treat with antibiotics to prevent secondary infection... A vet is probably a great choice.... But just a teeny bit of food for thought when we use antibiotics on our animals it can occasionally have repercussions through the food chain all the way up to humans... Every time we choose to treat with antibiotics there is potential that done incorrectly we can create more nasty superbugs which can eventually affect the potency of antibiotics that are used for treatment of human… just something to think about, sometimes the best treatment is no treatment in other words culling the sick birds. Sorry to ramble, it's just something that was brought to my attention recently that I feel is worth sharing...

 

[casportpony]

You should probably give her back to your mom.

-Kathy

 

[MistyMountain]

You should probably give her back to your mom.

-Kathy

X2… but it may be too late.

Now she is in contact with your chickens or their space, your own chickens are at risk of developing whatever she has.

I understand that quarantine is a personal choice, but for myself… I would NEVER skip that part of the process, no matter where I got the chicken from. Chickens don't just get sick and get healthy all the time. They can also become carriers that can infect the rest of the flock for the rest of their lives.

 

[Eggcessive]

Respiratory diseases can make carriers of the whole flock for life. She possibly could have mycoplasma (MG.) If you return her to your mother, then she could treat her with antibiotics such as Tylan 50 injectable given orally-1/4 ml daily for 5 days. Here is a link about common respiratory diseases: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[VeggieMinette]

Thank you all for your speedy responses! I have kept her in a separate area of my hen house & chicken run as the existing flock, however, she is still breathing the same "air" so-to-speak.

She has an appointment with our vet at 4:00pm today. I will print your responses so she can prescribe the antibiotics that you are recommending.

Will keep you all posted & again, thank you for your help! (and I realize that my thread heading should be "Advice" and not "Advise - been kicking myself all morning but I don't know how to change it.....don't judge! lol)

 

[JanetS]

What did you found out at the vet? Your lucky to have a vet that treats chickens. I can't find one is my area and I have a sick one. It's sad but
she probably won't make it because I don't know how to treat her.

 

[VeggieMinette]

**Update**

Just left the veterinarian's office with "Millie". She feels that Millie has chickenpox (go figure!) which is contagious to my flock. She is treating her with an oral antibiotic as well as an antibiotic eye drop.

I need to keep her completely away from the rest of the flock (so far, they've only had limited exposure) and keep an eye on the other "ladies" to make sure that they don't develop symptoms.

Fingers crossed.....Millie will be living in the house with us for awhile!

Thanks again for your help!!!