Respiratory illness in hen Questions. Please Respond.

[PumpknMoonshine]

I have an Australorp 1 1/2 old. She came down with a respiratory illness and is now in isolation. She was lethargic, breathing heavily, lightly wheezing with not much of an appetite. Took her to vet and was given a steroid shot, pills and Tylan. I suggested the Tylan to use as a preemptive for the rest of the flock since they've been exposed (I'm throwing out all eggs) though none are showing signs. Put her in isolation and this morning she had a little more perk to her, she still has labored breathing and prefers to sit.

it's a nice day out so I opened the window and she called back to her buddies in the yard, her little voice is so raspy and squeaky right now. She is eating and drinking. Mixing the correct dosage of Tylan to water and soaking bits of bread to give her. Pill time is ridiculous, have to hide that in bread too and watch her closely. So here comes the question..... The vet said I'd know within 48 hours if she is gonna make it, if she doesn't I'm certainly taking her for a necropsy (hate to think about it though) I have 10 days left of medication if she makes it and seems 100% do I reintroduce her to the flock? When should I if I should? Are all my other birds carriers now too since exposed? They free range and have all grown up together, so could they all be carriers and she is just weak? Sorry for all the ????s I've just heard so many horror stories.


Okay that's it for now. Looked around online but just couldn't seem to get a straight answer. Please help.

 

[Eggcessive]

Do you know how she became infected--did you get these birds from someone else, or has someone else with chickens been on your property maybe exposing your chickens to germs from their chickens? Most hard care chicken people will tell you to cull this bird. If your sick bird became ill with the others, they are probably all exposed already. She may have gotten ill because she was stressed in some way, and she will probably get sick whenever she is stressed again. Some chose to treat their sick chickens when they get sick and close their flock--no birds in , none out, that means absolutely no giving away or selling birds or hatching eggs until the last bird dies. You can in turn spread the disease on your clothes, hair, and shoes whenever you visit a feed store, chicken show, or swap meet. If you cull this sick bird, it's hard to say if any of the others will get sick, but she will make them carriers if they aren't already. This is always a sad situation, and involves difficult decisions.

 

[PumpknMoonshine]

Oh I was fearing the response I got would be that. No one else with chickens, no other chickens on property. The vet said it could easily be the wild birds. No I've had all these chickens together as a group for a year, took all the right precautions. I like the closed flock idea. Thank you for responding. I'll be debating the options. I can make the hard decisions when I have to.

 

[Eggcessive]

What is the pill that your vet prescribed? Tylan is what most people use to treat respiratory diseases with, and sometimes sulfa drugs to help with air sacculitis which can be a secondary infection from E.Coli or other bacteria. Here is a list of the common respiratory infections in chickens with symptoms: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[heartsizedfarm]

Have you considered gapeworm? If you google it you may see videos of hens with that condition. If it looks like what your hen has you may want to worm with Safeguard.

 

[PumpknMoonshine]

She was prescribed baytril. Thanks for the list am about to go over it . So if she does pull through, I guess I have to throw out her eggs due to baytril?

 

[dawg53]

I doubt it's gapeworm since they are rare in chickens. Additionally, the gapeworm symptoms arnt there in this instance. But I do agree a regular worming with safeguard might be in order.

 

[PumpknMoonshine]

Doesn't seem to be to gapeworm (which looks awful btw) but a deworming couldn't hurt. Thanks
The little monster certainly is perking up, just bit and drew blood while I was popping her pill in.

 

[PumpknMoonshine]

I'm just going to have to wait and see if she improves after 10 days.

 

[bertiesmum]

Hi,
We got two hens from an auction (never buying from an auction again) and when we got them home we realised they had a respiratory disorder. We treated them for two weeks and they are back to health. It took a good week for us to notice change. I know a lot of people would say to cull but we don't show or breed from our hens so we kept them isolated for a month then mixed them with the others. It's been nearly a year now and they are all doing really well and we are so pleased we stuck by it. I know a lot of people disagree with cat food but we gave them a bit of cat ford each day for the first week to build there strength up. Hope you find the solution that works best for you.