Please help! Respiratory illness spreading

[leetfreq925]

Please help me. i have 6 chickens. one of them started gurgling on saturday. i isolated her, started her on duramycin and she showed signs of worsening over the next 24 hours. sunday i started her on tylan 50. she got 1/2 cc in the morning orally on a piece of bread, 3/4 cc at night injected in her breast (she was no longer eating) and today another 3/4 in alternating breasts morning and night. she started to eat a little this evening, which is a slight improvement. she still sounds terrible. just a horrible gurgle noise when she breathes and then coughing now and again. but at least she is starting to eat again.
i just went out to close my coop door and heard another chicken with horrendous gurgles. i just pulled her inside. isolated her in the basement in a separate pen than the first one. i gave her 3/4 cc in a piece of bread because she seems to still be eating.
please help me what do i do from here.
continue with the tylan? bread delivery if they are eating, otherwise injections? are the dosages correct? they are both larger birds - a sussex and a light brahma.
do they need to be separated in the basement, or is it ok to put the sick ones together?
should i treat the other 4 birds out in the coop still assuming they will get it, too?
obviously i should bleach everything tomorrow and change all the bedding.
should i be concerned about my health? i have a house rabbit - should i be concerned about him?
i feel like everything is getting out of control here and i don't know where to go from here. please help me!

 

[BantamLover21]

Yes, the dosage you are using is correct--it sounds like you are doing everything I would. I would begin treating the other birds in whatever way you want (orally, injection, etc.), as the disease will probably continue spreading. Almost all chicken diseases are not transmittable to humans/other animals, so you and your rabbit should be fine. Keep in mind, though, that antibiotics will not be effective against viral diseases (in that case, all you can do is give supportive care and hope their bodies can fight it off). Good luck!

 

[Granny Hatchet]

i cant help much, google crd on here. its supposed to be .50 once a day i belive.and i would treat all,not with bread, they need the shot

 

[leetfreq925]

Can I put the two i have in the basement together, do you think? I will need to pick up some more syringes tomorrow to get the other 4. it'll have to be bread for tonight. is it a 7 day treatment?
thank you for any and all help!

 

[dawg53]

Can I put the two i have in the basement together, do you think? I will need to pick up some more syringes tomorrow to get the other 4. it'll have to be bread for tonight. is it a 7 day treatment?
thank you for any and all help!

You can keep the sick birds together. Practice biosecurity with the ones that arnt sick....respiratory diseases can be transmitted on your clothing, hands, shoes etc...
If your healthy birds arnt showing symptoms, I'd hold off treating them for now.
Since you're injecting tylan, only treat them for for 5 days and no longer. Dont inject them and give them tylan treated bread at the same time. Give them one or the other. If you're giving them the treated bread only, give no more than 7 days orally. If the tylan doesnt work in that amount of time, it's a viral disease and antibiotics would be useless.
Have patience and let the tylan do its job, hopefully you'll see improvement in a couple of days. Your other option is to cull the sick birds as they will be carriers for life if they survive, and will eventually spread whatever disease it is to other birds depending on the incubation times.

 

[leetfreq925]

OK. I gave the 4 in the coop a bread treatment just now. There were a couple that were coughing as i was standing there, so i'm not going to take any chances. they are still eating, so i will go the bread route with them and ward it off.
the two in the basement will go in the same pen for good company and i will continue the treatments - they are the bestest of friends anyway (probably why they are both so sick). if the brahma that just went down there tonight continues to eat, then she will get the bread for 7 days. i will continue the injections with the sussex that this all started with for the 5 days. The sussex is the only one that got mixed treatment - she got bread the 1st time, but then went to injections as she stopped eating.
i will be patient in these time frames and if it clears up then i will throw a party. if it doesn't, then i will cross my fingers that it will clear up on its own and i will not have to cull anyone. i know that is a reality, but i only have 6 birds so it's really not my favorite option...
and could you clear up if it's just once every 24 hours that i give a tylan 50 treatment?
patience patience.
thank you so much for your help - i'm panicking over here watching them drop like flies!

 

[dawg53]

Since you mentioned that the Brahma and Sussex are larger birds, inject 3/4cc once a day for 5 days....3/4cc on the bread once a day for the Brahma for no more than 7 days. However, if the Brahma has cleared up by the 5th day, no need to continue treatment.
Once they all have completed their course of treatment (5 or 7 days,) I recommend that you feed all of them buttermilk and scrambled egg mixed in their feed for several days. (Use buttermilk, not yogurt.)

 

[leetfreq925]

Perfect. I will do just that. Thank you for the good instructions. Now all I need is some positive turn and some patience. Thank you thank you. Cross you fingers for us!

 

[leetfreq925]

I have been treating my two ill isolated hens as instructed (except for my brahma - she wouldn't eat the bread after the first time, so i am on the injectible for her too now). my sussex showed great recovery yesterday - no more gurgled breathing and her sweet little chirp was back. both of them went outside for a little bit as it was mid 40's and the sun was very warm. they enjoyed themselves - the brahma was dust bathing and both were eating and drinking. both got their shots right before bed last night. this morning the brahma is still gurgling (she has 3 more days of shots) but she was eating a little. the sussex is not gurgling still, but she is very listless and her tail is down. she won't perch - she's just sitting on the ground with her tail down. she has one more tylan shot tonight. could she be relapsing? is that possible after showing such good progress finally yesterday? or perhaps her body is just tired from all the medication?

 

[dawg53]

Give them buttermilk mixed with acrambled egg to eat for several days. The buttermilk is a probiotic that is easily absorbed than yogurt and will coat the intestinal lining. Yogurt tends to pass through birds. The buttermilk will help rebuid their immune system and scrambled egg is extra protein to help build up strength.