Recurring Disease

[rem40x]

1) What type of bird , age and weight.
Buff Orph 3-9months
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
cough, sneeze, nasal discharge
3) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
nope
4) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
Raised 12 from pullets, all fine. Bought 6 more from local guy. After I got them home I noticed the above. I called, he said "oh yeah, I treated w/ Sulmet and it cured them." Well the new ones got better, my original flock caught it. So I bought Sulmet (Sufamethazine Sodium) and mixed with their water. Cured all but 3 within a week. I isolated the other three and after a month of repeated treatments, they are at the same stage. Not getting any better or worse. They continue to eat, drink and their droppings go from firm/soft/firm. Like they can't shake it. I believe this to be Coccidiosis. Should I continue to treat, increase the dosage, or eliminate the 3 to ensure the safety of the rest of the flock?
5) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
Layer mix
6) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Brown and runny on 1 of the three I think.
7) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Two daily does of Sulmet according to instructions, followed by 4 days of 1/2 dose.
8 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
9) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
10) Describe the housing/bedding in use
Off the floor wire mesh for the quarantined birds. The rest are have clean deep litter in the laying house and are doing fine.

Much Appreciated!
-Greg (Siler City NC)

 

[speckledhen]

They may have CRD/Mycoplasmosis, which means the birds are carriers of that disease and will infect others, even when they themselves have no symptoms. That is why I never buy started birds from anyone.
Chronic Respiratory Disease is not curable, sadly. Cocci does not cause respiratory illness.

 

[rem40x]

Thanks!
Of the 3 in quarantine, two are from my original batch and one come from the sick ones I bought.
If I eliminate the one from the new batch, will the other two get better?
-Greg

 

[speckledhen]

If your own birds have contracted CRD from the new ones, they may get over their symptoms, but they will be carriers of CRD, which can be passed down through the egg to chicks. I don't know for sure they have a carrier disease, but if so, neither Sulmet or anything else can fix that. If I ever get any respiratory illness in my flock, my already established policy is to cull (euthanize) the birds. Not everyone wants to do that, but I do not want a flock with weak immune systems. To know exactly what they have, you'd have to have someone do a necropsy on one of them. The chart below may help some:

http://www.welphatchery.com/poultry_health.asp

 

[rem40x]

very much appreciated!