Reference pictures wanted

[MagpieDucks]

What broody behavior looks like:

 

[WVduckchick]

What broody behavior looks like:

I love how she stuffed the egg back up under her.

 

[Pyxis]

Yes those are my chickens. When I first got them they showed signs of ILT but I put them all on Tylan 50 for a few days and now you would never know they had it. They have very mild ILT. The only way to confirm ILT though is through a necropsy.

Excellent news!

If the Tylan treated it, it wasn't ILT, which is great because then that means it probably wasn't a reportable disease (well, at least on the national level; some states require other diseases to be reported). ILT is a virus, so antibiotics won't do anything for it. If Tylan treated it, it was probably instead Coryza or Mycoplasma gallisepticum, both of which are treatable with Tylan.

They would of course still carry the disease, so your flock should still be closed and you shouldn't ever sell or give away any birds, or even chicks or hatching eggs, because Mycoplasma can infect eggs before they even hatch. I'm sure you know that already but just wanted to say it for those who might be reading along who don't know

Oh! And if you want to confirm which disease it actually is, you can get testing done, and it doesn't require a necropsy Just three throat swabs from a sick bird. So if you have a symptom flare up again in any of them, you can swab them and send the swabs off to Zoologix labs for testing, and they will run a respiratory panel on it to confirm which disease it is. It costs $98. They will test for a whole battery of things, including ILT, coryza, and Mycoplasma.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Excellent news!

If the Tylan treated it, it wasn't ILT, which is great because then that means it probably wasn't a reportable disease (well, at least on the national level; some states require other diseases to be reported). ILT is a virus, so antibiotics won't do anything for it. If Tylan treated it, it was probably instead Coryza or Mycoplasma gallisepticum, both of which are treatable with Tylan.

They would of course still carry the disease, so your flock should still be closed and you shouldn't ever sell or give away any birds, or even chicks or hatching eggs, because Mycoplasma can infect eggs before they even hatch. I'm sure you know that already but just wanted to say it for those who might be reading along who don't know

Oh! And if you want to confirm which disease it actually is, you can get testing done, and it doesn't require a necropsy Just three throat swabs from a sick bird. So if you have a symptom flare up again in any of them, you can swab them and send the swabs off to Zoologix labs for testing, and they will run a respiratory panel on it to confirm which disease it is. It costs $98. They will test for a whole battery of things, including ILT, coryza, and Mycoplasma.

Well I guess that’s good news.
Shortly after my birds started exhibiting symptoms a friend gave me the number of a poultry vet they know and I called him up and he diagnosed my birds as having ILT. So now I’m confused

 

[Pyxis]

Well I guess that’s good news.
Shortly after my birds started exhibiting symptoms a friend gave me the number of a poultry vet they know and I called him up and he diagnosed my birds as having ILT. So now I’m confused

A lot of respiratory diseases share the same symptoms, so there's no way a vet can definitively diagnose which one it is without testing, let alone over the phone

I hope they didn't also tell you to treat with the Tylan, because ILT being a virus it wouldn't have done anything had it actually been ILT and would have just contributed to the overuse of antibiotics in livestock which is leading to resistant bacteria.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

A lot of respiratory diseases share the same symptoms, so there's no way a vet can definitively diagnose which one it is without testing, let alone over the phone

I hope they didn't also tell you to treat with the Tylan, because ILT being a virus it wouldn't have done anything had it actually been ILT and would have just contributed to the overuse of antibiotics in livestock which is leading to resistant bacteria.

No he didn’t tell me to treat them with Tylan 50. He said to have them euthanized and necropsied.

 

[Pyxis]

No he didn’t tell em to treat them with Tylan 50. He said to have them euthanized and necropsied.

Well that's good at least. For ILT that's what you have to do, since I believe the US government's blanket policy on infected flocks is to destroy them all to prevent the spread of the disease.

It's a nasty disease. In the peracute and subacute forms, mortality can exceed 50%.

Respiratory diseases in general are awful. The reason I know all this is a lot of research. A while back someone sold me birds infected with coryza, which then infected all my flocks despite me taking quarantine precautions. I opted to cull them all and start over.

 

[casportpony]

t. For ILT that's what you have to do, since I believe the US government's blanket policy on infected flocks is to destroy them all to prevent the spread of the disease.

I think it varies by state. In California I don't think they require euthanasia.

 

[Pyxis]

I think it varies by state. In California I don't think they require euthanasia.

Good to know! I wouldn't be surprised actually if all states do it a little differently. Here in VT they definitely will come out and destroy the flock.

 

[Kiki]

Good to know! I wouldn't be surprised actually if all states do it a little differently. Here in VT they definitely will come out and destroy the flock.

ILT is reportable in Texas.
https://www.tahc.texas.gov/animal_health/poultry/