Quote:
UPDATE
I took one bird to the vet on Monday. Vet had no idea what it was. The 3 in isolation don't seem to be getting worse. Vet supplied enough Baytril for one bird (since he hadn't any idea what the problem was), but since ILT is a virus, the Baytril probably won't do much good, and besides, at $25 for a small vial for one bird, it's really expensive. The rest of the Vet visit cost $175.
Yesterday they sent the Sussex to the state for a necropsy. So far, they
"THINK" it might be ILT (Infectious Laryngotracheitis) but won't have a full answer until the end of the week (probably). This will cost $185 for the lab tests.
So, right now I'm treating all birds with apple cider vinegar in the water. So far (fingers and toes crossed) there haven't been any more showing symptoms since the young Sussex last Saturday.
There is no perceptible change in the bird getting the Baytril.
I'm trying to keep everything as separated and sanitary as possible. There have been no new additions to the flock, so have no idea how this came about - must have lain dormant in the meadow for the past few years, or perhaps a "visiting" bird?
I'm toying with the idea of culling all of them, and starting again in the spring - sanitizing the ground, coop, all the tractors etc, and letting the winter kill off any remaining viruses. I'll have a better idea after we get the diagnosis. The cost would probably be less than vaccinating ALL the birds.
What to do, what to do. . . . . . ?
TC
I feel you pain, and understand the questions going through your mind.
I bought a cockeral last year [at a show] that had watery nostrils, but didn't isolate him as he seemed fine after getting home the next day. After taking a bad beating from another cockeral, and standing outside the coop in freezing drizzle, he got quite ill. I isolated him and put him on tetracycline, and he snapped right out of it. I caught a lot of critism here at BYC, told chickens don't catch colds, and some said even if he lived my entire flock was infected and needed to be culled.
My vet said different, that he was suffering from a sinus infection commom to poultry, especially after duress, and that his quick recovery showed that he had nothing serious. He advized to watch the others, and if I started to loose a bunch, to have them necropsied. That cockeral seemed to have no immunity to anything, always spoiling for a fight and sick afterwards, and was later culled. While I treated my entire flock for them, he was the first and only bird that ever picked up mites; as I said, he just seemed to be a weak bird. I did have some necropsied after the buffalo gnat plague, some others pullerum tested at time of sale, and none are carrying a disease. I pray your experience goes along the same lines as mine.
