Pullet had breathing problem, recovered on Tylan, but now lame and lethargic

[bluebirdlane]

I'm writing about my Wheaten Marans, she is 7 months old. I brought her home 2 months ago along with 2 other pullets. The owner said the birds had been at the university and been blood tested and didn't have anything.

A little while ago I noticed the Marans was quiet, had a bit of dirty feathers around the vent, and that her breathing was laboured and had a bit of a sound if you got close. It took me a few days to realize what was going on (I thought she was having trouble laying her first egg) and she was quite weak by the time I realized it was her breathing. We put her on Tylan soluble (by mixing a one day dose into a small syringe and administering orally) and she rebounded within a couple hours, looking bright, eating and drinking. I had her in a cage by then and gave Tylan in the water for 7 days, although she seemed very good and normal within a few days. After the 7 days I returned her to her buddies.

5 days later she was weak once again and wouldn't come down from the roost in the morning, just sat up there with eyes closed. Someone said I should have kept her on Tylan for 10 days, that I didn't fully kill whatever it was, so.... I put her back on Tylan. When on Tylan she bounces back and seems very normal right away. During this time she laid her first and second egg. We finished the 10 day course this Sunday just past. On Monday I noticed the bird is lame on her right leg. I cleaned the foot with warm water and epsom salts and feel confident there is no splinter, cut, or abscess. I can also not discern any swollen joints. She is still lame and spends a lot of time laying by herself with eyes closed. On the one hand I want to believe she is being wise and resting her leg but on the other I am worried she still has something. Should I try to get injectable Tylan, will that help her definitively, or what should I do?

Thanks for any help.

 

[junebuggena]

Lay off the antibiotics if you don't know what it is you are treating for. Many illnesses in poultry are viral, in which case, antibiotics would not really help. Do you have other chickens? It could be that she has come down with something that the existing birds were immune to.

 

[bluebirdlane]

Fair enough, but what do people do? Just sit and watch and hope the bird doesn't die?

Maybe I should put her in a cage? Then she won't be getting up/down from the roost at night and is forced to rest all the time. I can put the cage in the pen with the others so she maybe won't have to squabble to get re-accepted when and if she gets better.

I am less than one year with having chickens and find them mystifying.

 

[junebuggena]

Isolate from the rest of the flock (you don't want the others to get it, if it's contagious), keep her warm, get some vitamins and electrolytes in her water, and hope that she just needs a bit of supportive care.