respiratory disease again, are my 3 month olds doomed for death?

[Maryallison]

Oh my gosh...purple tree you have no idea how much better I feel!

Like this is not the end of the world then, huh? I mean I have cried and lost sleep over this.

So you say then I could possible get them back 100% and put them back in the flock if I chose too.

Do you ever sell your chick/chickens? I was kinda hoping to do some (very small scale) sales. I own a rabbitry and it would be fun to sell chicks from time to time. I am thinking that I still have plans for that though I need to keep the ones that have caught it away from the ones that haven't caught it. Am I right?

 

[purpletree23]

I'm really glad that you are feeling better about this but you still have to medicate your birds correctly. How many cc's of Tylan 50 are you giving. Dosage is important. I really feel that you have to change medication and dosage. What you are doing is not working.

No I wouldn't sell any of my chickens because I know they are carriers of CRD.

 

[Maryallison]

ok, DH is here & I just asked him. For 3 month old chicks he is giving them .1 cc

 

[purpletree23]

Call then number on the container tomorrow and get the proper dosage from the vets at the company that make the Tylan.

 

[Maryallison]

ok

 

[Wynette]

Tylan 200 is WAY too strong for chickens...I believe Tylan 50 is 1 cc in the breast muscle and 1 cc sub-cu. Scroll down and you'll find a dosage chart in this thread:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=110974

You will get varying opinions regarding respiratory illness in chickens; most will cull out those that are ill, because if they DO recover, they will be carriers of the disease for life. This means any chickens you bring in could get what they had. You should not sell adults, chicks, or hatching eggs. Especially since you do not have a diagnosis.

I'm not trying to sound negative, I'm VERY sorry for your issues. But, respiratory is a bugger.....if you are using your flock for just yourself, and just for eating eggs, I would treat. If you are planning on selling, sorry...but IMO, you really ought to cull the sick ones. It's the only way that you won't definitely pass on to some unsuspecting customer the disease you have going on. SORRY!

 

[Maryallison]

Thanks Wynette. I took another one of my favorites to the back quarentee area today. The eye was just a little closed. At this point I am just hoping they get to laying so I can start incubating and hatching so I don't run out of chickens!

I still have till roughly Oct. 18 before they lay.

My DH is using the Tylan 50. Thanks for the doseage info. Gonna scope that out now.

And chances are we are gonna have to cull the sick ones. I admit this is alot to deal with. I have them so far back on the property trying to insure no other chickens get to them. The majority of the ones that seem sick are chicks they were flyers and would fly outta the fenced area.

You know....at the beginning of my chicken adventure I was so excited. I love my chickens so much. I still love them now, but I feel stresed. Everytime I go out I am just hoping eveybody is ok and nobody else has to go outback.

 

[Wynette]

I totally understand, and I didn't mean to sound harsh; I was in your same boat, and it was also my first year of owning chickens. I threw every antibiotic for respiratory at them that I could find. But, the more research I did, the more I realized how dangerous it actually was to keep the "survivors" since they'd then be carriers. it is just heartbreaking, for sure. And I'm not a person that can dispatch an animal. I did one...had nightmares and actually vomitted after, it was horrible for me. I know I can never do that again. I have a friend that helps me out if/when I need it, in this area.

I will say that I drastically changed a lot of the way I tend my chickens after going through the respiratory illness that I had with my flock. And, the biggest change I've made is in ventilation. Patandchickens on here has a wonderful page about it on her BYC page - please check that out when you have a moment. I increased my ventilation fourfold, and (CROSSED FINGERS), I have had no further issues, after culling my sick ones. I was fortunate to have kept the illness in my layer flock, and (KNOCK WOOD) I haven't had further issues since increasing the ventilation in my layer coop. I truly believe this has been the biggest help for my birds! I also clean a lot more often than I used to (not that I let it get terribly dirty before) and have added Oxine solution to my regiment. When I clean the coops, I spray them thoroughly with Oxine every other cleaning. I spray perches, nest boxes...the whole 9 yards. I think the key is in prevention, once you are through this illness.

Again, I'm so VERY sorry for your situation, and I wish you the very VERY best of luck in getting it resolved!

 

[Maryallison]

Thanks again Wynette. I just wanta wake up and have a happy chicken family. I had no idea this was so hard to own chickens.

I am so careful now with watching them. I sit in the mini coop area where the 3 month olds live on a milkcrate. I sprinkle the feed around me so I can grab & look in the eyes. I will never know if any chick just got poked in the eye cause soon as I see the slightest eye problem I send it to the back of the property.

So Wynette, some of your chickens made it through your respritory illness? Gosh, I am just crying my eyes out everytime I notice a closed eye baby now cause I know it's fate.

 

[mypicklebird]

You need to back up here---antibiotics will only work if you have a bacterial infection, AND the antibiotic is effective against the bacteria. You might have a bacteria present and/or a virus. You do not know what you are treating, and the best thing to do is get one of your birds tested and ID the bug. If you have a virus present- there is no cure. Tylan, Sulmet, all of the tetracylines, and even the prohibited drug baytril/enrofloxacin will not cure this if it is a virus. Get more info, so you can come up with a plan. If you have a bug that has a carrier state, you can make a decision to cull vs treat based more in fact and less on guesswork.