Please help me save my bird

[SmiYa0126]

Any chance there's a contamination im your soil? Since they're bantams it wouldn't take much to build up in their system and lower their immune system to fight infections. The only hens I have that are sickly are due to bad genetics, the rest are all healthy...the healthiest ones are the ones I raised from chicks.

I'm really sorry for what you are going through

 

[SarahLadd]

I looked at some of your older threads, including when your bantams were new chicks. Oh my gosh they are so beautiful and cute! I easily see and understand why you love them so much, and am still so very sorry you are going through this. Have you had a chance to ask your vet if he thinks the issue could be fowl cholera? There are very knowledgeable people on this forum, but nothing beats a hands-on exam and in-person consultation with a good vet, even more so, one with avian experience. Do you have confidence in your vet? I'm mainly asking because in one of your other threads, you said he wanted to put your sick hen down and send for necropsy. There is a time for that if one dies, but so far all your adult hens have overcome their symptoms?

The only avian disease a vet is required to report in your state is avian influenza, but there are several other avian diseases that Labs in your state are required to report. I caution you to have a discussion with your vet re this issue before you have any lab work done for any of the reportable diseases. I dont know the repercussions if results come back positive, but would absolutely want to know before i took that route. Same goes for necropsies, but I truly hope your hens that have recovered continue to be asymptomatic and you need never take this route.

Dr. Bailey is pretty well known in the Minneapolis area for being one of the best veterinarians that will see chickens, on an individual basis. No vet in the area will treat a flock. I honestly do not know where bigger flocks get their medical care from. I asked the Pathologist Dr Porter, if he was the right person to go to for this, because Dr Bailey wants to kill my birds for samples and charge me $368 for each individual bird to walk in the door. I have done this for three birds, and paid for ultrasounds, xrays, injections, pills. If I had more than 9 chickens what on earth would I do. If I hadn't bought the doxy Tyl, what is the recourse now, for anyone???

Dr Bailey specializes in parrots. He said as such and he was 100% sure it was bird flu and then he was 100% sure it was mycoplasma. They don't know what's wrong with my birds at the clinic. They'd have known the proper channels to get the right testing if they did. They've handled 3 birds and still can't figure out what's happening. I can't find another clinic for second opinion.

I'm feeling a little crazier every day and I am beginning to understand why people slay them all and move on with life. There are no support systems in place for people who care about chickens, it's expected that I do not. Three months I have been in and out of hope and grief for my pets. I want this to end.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Dr. Bailey is pretty well known in the Minneapolis area for being one of the best veterinarians that will see chickens, on an individual basis. No vet in the area will treat a flock. I honestly do not know where bigger flocks get their medical care from. I asked the Pathologist Dr Porter, if he was the right person to go to for this, because Dr Bailey wants to kill my birds for samples and charge me $368 for each individual bird to walk in the door. I have done this for three birds, and paid for ultrasounds, xrays, injections, pills. If I had more than 9 chickens what on earth would I do. If I hadn't bought the doxy Tyl, what is the recourse now, for anyone???

Dr Bailey specializes in parrots. He said as such and he was 100% sure it was bird flu and then he was 100% sure it was mycoplasma. They don't know what's wrong with my birds at the clinic. They'd have known the proper channels to get the right testing if they did. They've handled 3 birds and still can't figure out what's happening. I can't find another clinic for second opinion.

I'm feeling a little crazier every day and I am beginning to understand why people slay them all and move on with life. There are no support systems in place for people who care about chickens, it's expected that I do not. Three months I have been in and out of hope and grief for my pets. I want this to end.

Ugh, that's so frustrating, they shouldn't be charging you if they don't have the proper channels to diagnose your pets. I love mine too, a little piece of me dies when I lose one

 

[Kiki]

Dr. Bailey is pretty well known in the Minneapolis area for being one of the best veterinarians that will see chickens, on an individual basis. No vet in the area will treat a flock. I honestly do not know where bigger flocks get their medical care from. I asked the Pathologist Dr Porter, if he was the right person to go to for this, because Dr Bailey wants to kill my birds for samples and charge me $368 for each individual bird to walk in the door. I have done this for three birds, and paid for ultrasounds, xrays, injections, pills. If I had more than 9 chickens what on earth would I do. If I hadn't bought the doxy Tyl, what is the recourse now, for anyone???

Dr Bailey specializes in parrots. He said as such and he was 100% sure it was bird flu and then he was 100% sure it was mycoplasma. They don't know what's wrong with my birds at the clinic. They'd have known the proper channels to get the right testing if they did. They've handled 3 birds and still can't figure out what's happening. I can't find another clinic for second opinion.

I'm feeling a little crazier every day and I am beginning to understand why people slay them all and move on with life. There are no support systems in place for people who care about chickens, it's expected that I do not. Three months I have been in and out of hope and grief for my pets. I want this to end.

I forget what state you're in but can't you just deal with your state lab directly?
Your state lab can walk you through with how to collect swab samples to send directly to them for testing.

I don't know about your avian vets up there, but I can assure you that the avian vets near me don't know a thing about chickens. Most avian vets down here won't even see chickens.

 

[Red Mangrove]

The medical industry is the only industry in the world that forces it's clients to pay for failure

 

[SarahLadd]

I forget what state you're in but can't you just deal with your state lab directly?
Your state lab can walk you through with how to collect swab samples to send directly to them for testing.

I don't know about your avian vets up there, but I can assure you that the avian vets near me don't know a thing about chickens. Most avian vets down here won't even see chickens.

Dr Porter is the head of the veterinary diagnostics lab for the U of M which is the state lab. He is the defacto poultry pathologist for the state

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

OK so he's a knowledgeable parrot vet but not so much with chickens. I don't understand why he would only do testing for one disease at a time (first Avian Influenza, then Mycoplasma, next ?, etc.), but maybe there is a good reason.

Here is a list of the common poultry respiratory diseases. I'm not sure if cholera symptoms match your flock's symptoms, but you are the best judge of that. Based on the list, the Merck Veterinary Manual site says that many of the diseases can be tested for using live cultures or blood samples. Have you researched all the common respiratory diseases to determine which seem to best match your flock's symptoms? I know you've paid a Lot of money for your vet to identify the problem, but unfortunately it appears you may need to do much of the legwork yourself. I and others who see this thread will do all we can to help. I'm still hopeful that since antibiotics have helped your hens, you can successfully manage the problem, whatever it is.

 

[SarahLadd]

OK so he's a knowledgeable parrot vet but not so much with chickens. I don't understand why he would only do testing for one disease at a time (first Avian Influenza, then Mycoplasma, next ?, etc.), but maybe there is a good reason.

Dr Bailey actually would not test them for anything else and I never got the results of the AI test. I asked to test for coryza and mycoplasma and he refused to do those tests without a corpse. It was at this point that I decided to no longer bother the veterinarian with my birds and went straight to the MN state lab, on the recommendation of watermaal club members. Dr Bailey said the tests were "too expensive", I said "I have more money than sense, indulge me", he said no. Along with the fact that I think the man got off on watching me cry. These are the reasons I'm struggling to go back.

 

[FunClucks]

Dr Bailey actually would not test them for anything else and I never got the results of the AI test. I asked to test for coryza and mycoplasma and he refused to do those tests without a corpse. It was at this point that I decided to no longer bother the veterinarian with my birds and went straight to the MN state lab, on the recommendation of watermaal club members. Dr Bailey said the tests were "too expensive", I said "I have more money than sense, indulge me", he said no. Along with the fact that I think the man got off on watching me cry. These are the reasons I'm struggling to go back.

I wouldn't go back. Regardless of the recommendations, after that amount of money, time and birds, he's either in it for the money, or he has no idea what he's talking about. Either way, I'd deal with the state lab only going forward and see if the Merck vet manual can help you figure it out.

Sending you supportive thoughts. So sorry you're going through this!!!

 

[BastyPutt]

but I can assure you that the avian vets near me don't know a thing about chickens.

Isn't this the truth.

This is why BYC exists. It is the only place either virtually or in reality where there is decent info.

I honestly do not know where bigger flocks get their medical care from.

It is unlikely that chickens are experiencing multiple ailments concurrently. Flocks are treated off the diagnosis of a single bird.

Dr Bailey wants to kill my birds for samples

Dr Bailey seems like a real piece of chicken scratch, but a forced necropsy may save the rest of the birds. A tough reality.