Questions about colds...

[malia]

it was brought to my attention that my mille fluer rooster I was rehoming sounded as if he had a cold. The gentleman stated that the panting was a sign and that he could hear it when he held the bird to his ear. Well, I figured that my chickens were just panting b/c of the heat, but when I held him close to my ear I heard mild rhonci. He told me I should go ahead and treat my flock with terramycin. Weather here had been horrible, it rained for 4 days straight almost. Ok, now my questions. Should I just go ahead and treat all of them just incase? Two of the hens are laying and I know I need to discard the eggs, but for how long? I know to treat them for 3-10 days, how long would you all reccomend? I think thats all my questions and I am sorry for the long post.

 

[chickenlady]

First off, I wouldnt use terrimycin. I would use tylan if its available. If not, gallimycin or oxytetracycline hydrochloride. Just dont mix any of them. In anycase, If the chickens are together, I would treat everyone. This is just my opinion and what I would do. Best of luck to you.

 

[dlhunicorn]

In addition to the above I would immediately check the coop for damp areas...especially if you have straw/hay as bedding material... toxic vungus can often cause respiratory distress.
be sure to provide probiotics (a good probiotic yogurt for a few weeks after the antibiotic treatment will do them a world of good).
Panting in relation to heat recquires electrolytes in the waterer (however do not combine electrolytes with antibiotic in the waterer!)

 

[malia]

Thank you guys very much. Will be doing as you all suggested. Does anyone know how long I should discard the eggs for?

 

[jmc]

According to Murray McMurray, Tylan is not to be given to laying birds, nor is Terramycin......

 

[jmc]

Also, why not use Terramycin, as mentioned above?

Tylan, as far as I can tell, is quite expensive for sure. I've only seen it avail. in amounts that make 50 gallons!!!

I can relate to this thread very much. In fact I'm also having a four month old respiratory problem with my 7 RIRs. But I'll start a separate thread on that.

Is it worth the trouble???

 

[speckledhen]

Terramycin is very weak, in general. For respiratory issues, if you choose to treat them rather than cull the bird, Tylan is the preferred antibiotic. Injectible is fairly cheap, actually, when you consider how far it goes. If you use an antibiotic that is the wrong one for the job, all it does is build resistance to them and when you really need one in the future, it may not work at all.

 

[chickenlady]

The bottle of tylan 50 injectable I got was 9.68. The terrimycin I bought a while ago was over 13.00 for a bag of powder. Tylan 50 injectable works in 3 days, terrimycin will take 10 or more days. For me, it is better to treat my problem as quickly as possible. Better for my patients as well.

 

[jmc]

Cynthia, hoping you'll see my thread on "sneezing chicks update" if you're still 'in' this thread.............