Please help! Coryza! Birds very sick!

[AnimalMommy]

I am on the brink on a total meltdown right now.

I have got a 1-year-old buff orpington with infectious coryza. I know it is coryza because her face is swollen, her eyes and nose gunky, and she smells like she is dead. I treated her with tylan 50 injections for 4 days and she is still very sick. I came home tonight and her eyes and nose are very gunky. I cleaned it with hot water and Vet RX. There is no point in quarintining her. She has already been around the other chickens for too long. She looks SO BAD (like a chicken that has been dead for a couple of days). She has lost so much weight already. My other buff and one of my cochins are also showing symptoms too. I have 7 ten week old chicks in a seperate coop and I am so scared that they are going to get sick too. I can't even let them out to play in the yard because I am scared of them getting infected. The coop that the little chicks are in was meant for all of the chickens and I had planned on having everybody moved in by now. The big chickens are still in the summer coop and they are cold! I just don't know what to do.

I know that this seems like senseless rambling and that it makes no sense. I'm sorry. Please give me some other advise.

I CAN'T CULL!! Please don't suggest it. I culled once before and I just can't do it ever again.

I forgot to mention that the 2 buffs are molting right now. Could this be the reason for the weight loss? Could the stress from the molting be what brought on the Coryza? I know that they have been exposed to it and it was probably dormant and that stress sometimes brings illnesses out. Could this have been the reason?

 

[speckledhen]

I'm so sorry, but you do know that she will remain a carrier, right? And you will never be rid of this if you try to treat her? I hate to always be negative, but there is a harsh reality about Coryza and similar diseases. Sulmet is what you'd do for Coryza or Gallimycin, but it will not cure it, only possibly make the symptoms go away. I sure am sorry you're dealing with this because I know it's very stressful and heartwrenching.

To answer your question about weight loss, yes, molting can cause some substantial weight loss and lower their resistance to germs. They need higher protein during their molts.

 

[ThePamperedPullet]

Sorry to hear about the sickies. Coryza is not fun. Start the ones that are showing signs on Tylan. Keep the little ones as far away from the sickies as possible. It takes a few days for the Tylan to really show great improvement so don't give up hope. Chickens can withstand temps in the 30"s no problem if they are fully feathered. If you think they are cold maybe try to cover as much of their area as possible and put 1 heat lamp in there just to keep the chill off. If there is any way to temporarily seperate out the ones that are not showing any signs then you might luck out and they not come down with it.
Keep us posted

 

[STEPHANIELAUREN]

aghh, ive got the same thing going on with my silkies right now! they have had it for like 2 months now and NOTHING works, ive been giving them duramycin in their water and terramycin ointment in their eyes every day i just bought the tylan but ive been told thatits tricky and if i slip i could shoot them in the heart and kill them so im going to have my dads vet friend help me, i cant cull either i absolutelylove these girls. have you tried sulmet? i am probably going to try this next if the tylan doesnt work. im so sorry your going through this too, lets try to get our chooks through this together and hope they pull through it

 

[AnimalMommy]

Thank yall. Yes, I know that she will always be a carrier. I just don't know... All I can do is cry right now. When this is over I swear I am never getting anymore chickens ever again. Noone tells you how much heartbreak is envolved with taking care of them.

Speckledhen- You're not being negative. I know that you know best. You're advice has worked for me more than once. I just don't think I can cull again

raiderbabe- I am sorry to hear that you are in this situation as well. I give them tylan just under the skin on the back of the neck. Don't go into the muscle. Draw back on the syringe once you have it in the skin to make sure that there is no blood and that you have not hit a vein. But there are practically no veins on the back of the neck. I have not tried sulmet for coryza but I have some so I guess i'll try that next. Good luck to you. Please keep me informed as to what works for you and I will do the same.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

The duramycin and terramycin are not going to have much affect on coryza. You need to get out the big guns: gallimycin (erythromycin), tylan or baytril. Sulmet will also work. The only one with a hope of not creating a carrier state is baytril, which requires a prescription.

 

[AnimalMommy]

I started Sulmet this morning. When I went to let everyone our of the coop my rooster started coughing and sneezing

He is my favorite. The buffs wouldn't even come down from the roost and the sick cochin just stayed in the nesting box where she always sleeps. She has never laid an egg so I know that isn't the reason she was in there. My friend said that his chickens use to get sick like this all of the time but now they don't. He gives them Tylan powder in their drinking water. I gave mine injections and it didn't do any good. Is the powder form suppose to be better? If the Sulmet doesn't work I guess I will order some Tylan powder and try that.

I don't have a vet around here that will even give me any suggestions about chickens. I've called around to all of them. So how could I get a prescription for Baytril? Seriously, the receptionist at the vet laughed at me like I was stupid for medicating chickens.

 

[Sillystunt]

can you post a picture of her? I would like to see what this looks like for referrence. I am sooo sorry you are going through this! I don't know much about this. I have had issues with fowl pox. I have leghorns that have been sneezing. I had put them on Tylan, then one for the water now medicated feed. They are in their own pen but one looks horrible. It looks like fowl pox but it started on her eye.

Sending positive vibes..............

 

[AnimalMommy]

I will try to take a pic of her when I get home and post it. Just picture a dead chicken with a mildly swollen gunky face. That is pretty much what she looks like at this point. Sorry to hear about the fowl pox. I haven't had issues with that...yet. It seems like because I take good care of my chickens they get every illness possible. My neighbors let their chickens run wild, never handle them, and barely feed them---but they are healthy as horses. Go figure.

I think I feel the positive vibes working already--not feeling so depressed--Thanks

 

[MandyH]

There is a Coryza vaccine, but I am not familiar with it. I would imagine it would be too late for it now but am not sure. We dealt with Coryza once, that's how I ended up here on BYC. Cynthia told me what she recommended and that's what I did and we learned our lesson and have never bought another live bird. They all will be sickly their entire lives no matter what you do to them. Check out this website, this is the leading university for veterinary medicine in our state.


http://msucares.com/poultry/diseases/index.html