one of my jens has what appears to be crd

[suzy5033]

I've had my baby chicks for 2 weeks.

 

[MrsBrooke]

I have no idea about the chicks, but please DO NOT take those birds back to the place they came from. I might at least call the person and *inform* them that the birds you have has come down with this as a courtesy, so they can watch for any symptoms **if** it came from their flock.

That is a tricky conversation to have.

Since the birds came down with the symptoms/illness on your property, it is up to you what you want to do. You can cull all the birds and start over with a fresh flock in a few weeks (after disinfecting everything), or you can keep them alive with the understanding that the birds you have may need medical care at any given moment. At that point, it's a quality of life question that only you can answer.

After two weeks, I would be hesitant to even keep the chicks. As Dawg said, it can travel long distances. :/

I'm very sorry you're having to go through this.

MrsB

 

[suzy5033]

Does cull mean to kill? And I don't even know if the hen had this when I got her. Like I said, it's only her eyes that are a symptom and it's not even noticeable from a distance. I understood that crd is passed by contact not air, am I wrong? And knowing what I know, which isn't much, as long as I don't go and touch chicks at the feed store ( which I haven't and don't intend to) and don't give or sell any of my flock (both chicks and hens) I'm keeping the disease crd on my property.. and eventually my eggs will be ok for consumption only which is all I wanted when I started this, and I am aware that I could have this problem forever. You all that have likely had chicken for some time.... what would you do? I don't want to kill any of them but?

 

[suzy5033]

I don't think my hen has IB which is spread through air but has CRD, which is spread through contact, right!

 

[suzy5033]

And thank you so much for helping me through this. Your input is very helpful. As I said before, I'm new to all of this. I'm 54 and never had a chicken until 27 days ago. And wow, what a nightmare because of 1 hen.

 

[MrsBrooke]

You are correct. The medicated water must be their sole source of water to drink during the treatment period in order for it to be effective. Make it fresh daily as you stated.
A closed flock is not bringing new birds into your existing flock, not giving away or selling birds from your existing flock, not selling or giving away eggs to be hatched from an existing flock. A closed flock is practicing strict biosecurity as not to spread the disease to other birds. For example; you physically pick up and handle your sick bird. Then you go to the feed store and handle chicks, guess what you just did? Some diseases such as Infectious Bronchitis (IB) can be spread through the air good distances. The answer is to change clothes and shoes, take a shower before going to the feed store to not contaminate chicks when you handle them, respiratory diseases can be spread via clothing, hands, shoes etc...
It's best to cull birds with respiratory diseases.

I would take a good hard read at what Dawg said.

While it's entirely possible that her eye is infected from her scratching at it, BOTH of the eyes getting foamy is a pretty clear indicator that there is a respiratory disease. WHICH disease can only be determined by a test from the vet.

Yes, cull means to remove a chicken from the flock, usually by killing it.

Honestly, it would hurt nothing to wait and see. It's entirely possible to continue with a happy, relatively healthy flock that carry a CRD. There are people on this forum who run their closed flocks like that, just because they'd rather not cull their birds. Totally understandable.

It's really up to you when it comes to deciding what is best for YOUR flock, and don't let anyone give you any grief about it. If you want to have a closed flock and keep all the birds alive, great. If you want to cull and start over, that's great, too.

Neither decision is easy, but again... We don't KNOW what we are working with until an official diagnosis is made. In the meantime, prepare for the worst (closed flock or cull) and hope for the best (simple eye infection).

MrsB

 

[suzy5033]

Thanks to everyone for your help!

 

[suzy5033]

Also, it is both eyes and they are have bubbly clear fluid around them. I think I might see what happens through the medication. If she gets worse I will take more drastic steps and cull just her. Wish me luck!

 

[dawg53]

Also, it is both eyes and they are have bubbly clear fluid around them. I think I might see what happens through the medication. If she gets worse I will take more drastic steps and cull just her. Wish me luck!

Here's a link for you regarding respiratory diseases in poultry. Take a look at Infectious Bronchitis (IB,) Infectious Coryza, Infectious Laryngotracheitis (ILT,) and Mycoplasma Gallisepticum (MG.)
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044
Tips: Birds with IB produce wrinkled eggs and watery whites. Birds with Coryza have a foul odor around the head area. Birds with ILT have bloody mucus in later stages of the disease. MG shows bubbles in eyes, runny nostrils, sneezing, wheezing and gurgling. Birds can have two or more diseases at the same time, ie... Coryza & MG.
Overall, the symptoms are similar and there are various strains...mild to severe. All are very contageous. The symptoms shown in the link for each disease doesnt mean the infected bird has to have the exact matching symptoms for that particular disease.
BTW: CRD is MG.

 

[suzy5033]

So to update, I ended up treating all 6 hens in their water and today is day 7 and the last day. We also bought tylan injectable and have given 2 of 3 injections to the one hen with the bubbly watery eyes. She will get her last injection tonight and we have been putting triple antibiotic ointment in her eyes. She looks much much better and I anticipate she will be fine. We were giving her until this weekend to get better and it looks like she is. Now my question is how long until their eggs are safe to eat?