backinthesaddle
Hatching
Hi all,
I am "new" to the forum - I say "new" because I have been on here countless times reading what everyone has to say. I love my birds and always want to chime in but have just finally made an account because I am getting desperate. In the past I had a flock of about 20-25 EEs so I am not new to the chicken world. However, when I had the big flock I had 0 problems. But now I can't seem to win!
I currently have a very small flock a RIR hen, an EE hen and a sex-linked pullet. The RIR and EE are about 2 years old, the sex-linked is a pullet. I live in New England so the weather is a little crazy, sometimes. Approximately 3 weeks ago I noticed my RIR sounded a little congested and "gurgly" but had no discharge and was acting normally. It was extremely hot and humid the week before and she is going through a serious molt so it made sense she was the most susceptible to something. The other two were acting okay, maybe just a tiny bit congested, so I treated with Sulmet which is all I could get my hands on. Everything did clear up but that could have been a coincidence as the weather changed - I am not convinced it was the antibiotics by any means.
I have been keeping a very close eye on them. I noticed the EE sounds extra congested and is sneezing quite continuously as of two days ago. She sometimes has to struggle to breathe, like she is clearing mucus, and sneezes, but other times she seems 100% fine, eating, drinking, laying, picking on the other hens, etc. She has absolutely no discharge coming from her nose, eyes, etc. It's very strange. I am treating her with VetRx at this point to help with the sneezing.
I decided to examine them all a little more closely yesterday once I finally had someone to help. The EE is COVERED in lice - I was shocked. But, I can't find even one on the other two! I am convinced the EE's respiratory state and the lice are related. Could this be possible?
So here is my dilemma - I am very anxious about the whole situation as I don't want to lose any birds (they are very much my pets at this point). I am going to treat all of them with sevin dust as well as the coop to get rid of the lice situation (I do think I know where they came from so I can eliminate recontamination). But I am thinking I should treat everyone with antibiotics as well to try and knock this out once and for all. I can get Tetracycline to put in their water OR I could drive farther and get Tylan 50 (which I will probably give orally).
I have read conflicting things on the forum as well as other places on the internet regarding which antibiotic I should use - tetracycline or Tylan? I would like to start them tonight. Any input is so, so appreciated!!
Thank you
I am "new" to the forum - I say "new" because I have been on here countless times reading what everyone has to say. I love my birds and always want to chime in but have just finally made an account because I am getting desperate. In the past I had a flock of about 20-25 EEs so I am not new to the chicken world. However, when I had the big flock I had 0 problems. But now I can't seem to win!
I currently have a very small flock a RIR hen, an EE hen and a sex-linked pullet. The RIR and EE are about 2 years old, the sex-linked is a pullet. I live in New England so the weather is a little crazy, sometimes. Approximately 3 weeks ago I noticed my RIR sounded a little congested and "gurgly" but had no discharge and was acting normally. It was extremely hot and humid the week before and she is going through a serious molt so it made sense she was the most susceptible to something. The other two were acting okay, maybe just a tiny bit congested, so I treated with Sulmet which is all I could get my hands on. Everything did clear up but that could have been a coincidence as the weather changed - I am not convinced it was the antibiotics by any means.
I have been keeping a very close eye on them. I noticed the EE sounds extra congested and is sneezing quite continuously as of two days ago. She sometimes has to struggle to breathe, like she is clearing mucus, and sneezes, but other times she seems 100% fine, eating, drinking, laying, picking on the other hens, etc. She has absolutely no discharge coming from her nose, eyes, etc. It's very strange. I am treating her with VetRx at this point to help with the sneezing.
I decided to examine them all a little more closely yesterday once I finally had someone to help. The EE is COVERED in lice - I was shocked. But, I can't find even one on the other two! I am convinced the EE's respiratory state and the lice are related. Could this be possible?
So here is my dilemma - I am very anxious about the whole situation as I don't want to lose any birds (they are very much my pets at this point). I am going to treat all of them with sevin dust as well as the coop to get rid of the lice situation (I do think I know where they came from so I can eliminate recontamination). But I am thinking I should treat everyone with antibiotics as well to try and knock this out once and for all. I can get Tetracycline to put in their water OR I could drive farther and get Tylan 50 (which I will probably give orally).
I have read conflicting things on the forum as well as other places on the internet regarding which antibiotic I should use - tetracycline or Tylan? I would like to start them tonight. Any input is so, so appreciated!!
Thank you
