Respiratory disease in chicken/duck mixed flock; do I treat both?

[EricaG5301]

Hello!

I am new to raising chickens (and ducks). About a month after introducing 4 new pullets to our flock of 10 ducks, I noticed one of them had a swollen eye. I quarantined her for a while and was treating naturally for coryza (colloidal silver, garlic, ACV). She seemed better, except for the eye, so i re-introduced her to the flock about 3 weeks later. Several weeks after that, a second chicken started showing signs of illness (funny sounds, runny nose, red around her eyes). I have decided decided to start treating with antibiotics (tetracycline).

My questions are: 1) Do I also need to treat my ducks or do I quarantine the chickens and just treat them? And, 2) Do I need to disinfect my chicken/duck house?

My flock is free-range. They share feeders and waterers and are only quartered together at night in a large shed. My ducks basically live on our pond and only come down to eat a couple of times per day. If they are carriers of whatever this is, won’t they just catch it again? I never use antibiotics in my house and am loathe to treat an entire flock if it’s not necessary.

 

[azygous]

No, you do not need to treat the entire kit and kaboodle, just the individuals showing symptoms.

There are several respiratory diseases, some viral, others bacterial. All pretty much are permanent in poultry exposed to them. Only those individuals with below par immune systems will show symptoms, usually triggered by stress. It can happen again and again.

The antibiotic will not treat the underlying virus if that's what's behind it. It will only treat superficially micoplasma and secondary bacterial infection.

 

[EricaG5301]

No, you do not need to treat the entire kit and kaboodle, just the individuals showing symptoms.

There are several respiratory diseases, some viral, others bacterial. All pretty much are permanent in poultry exposed to them. Only those individuals with below par immune systems will show symptoms, usually triggered by stress. It can happen again and again.

The antibiotic will not treat the underlying virus if that's what's behind it. It will only treat superficially micoplasma and secondary bacterial infection.

Thank you for the reply! The antibiotic I have is meant to be put in water; should I keep the chickens separate during the treatment?

 

[Eggcessive]

Mycoplasma or MG is common in all poultry, and can cause the eyelid swelling/gunky eye. Coryza is more a chicken disease, and has a bad odor. They are treated with different antibiotics. I would try Tylan first for possible MG, clean out eyes, apply some antibiotic ointment to the eyes twice a day. Can you get antibiotics to treat the water? Tylan is a little better, but tetracycline can work.

 

[EricaG5301]

@Eggcessive, I don’t have access to Tylan but a farmer friend gave me some tetracycline to be put in the water. Do I need to separate the chickens and ducks and just treat the chickens? They share water normally

 

[Eggcessive]

I would separate the sick chickens and treat the ones that show symptoms. Do you know the dosage of the product? Sometimes we can help with that if we know the name, if it is a powder, and the brand. Is it oxytetracycline or Duramycin (tetracycline?) Are all of the ducks symptom-free?