Respiratory Illness

[Familyfarm898]

Our chickens are passing something around that I believe is resulting in respiratory infections. They exhibit labored breathing, lethargy and some have diarrhea. The first one had it about a month ago, she died in the way to the vet. Then my favorite rooster got it, he’s the only one that recovered with only vetRx and vitamins. Next another hen got it, I got her out of the coop and into the barn, got an injection of tylan 50 in her, she died that night. She was absolutely skin and bone so I think she was hiding her illness for a few days. Yesterday I saw another chicken acting lethargic, with her head tucked in. I grabbed her, isolated her and got tylan 50 in her. She’s still warm and cozy in the barn and I just gave her her second dose of tylan. I’m disinfecting the waters daily from here on out, all chickens have vitamins in their water. I don’t like giving antibiotics to my chickens but, at this point I’m thinking I need to order water soluble tylan and treat everyone. I’ve dealt with Mareks but never something like this. Does dosing all of them sound like the right course of action? Thanks!

 

[Eggcessive]

If you lose another chicken, I would contact your state vet for a necropsy. That way, they can identify exactly what disease you are seeing. MG is a common one. If you had Mareks kill one in the past, they may have low immunity due to possible underlying unsymptomatic Mareks, and the respiratory disease is pushing them over the edge. Tylan or tylosin canntreat symptoms in sick birds, but will not prevent healthy ones from getting sick. Here is a list of state poultry labs to contact, and be sure to keep the body cold, not frozen:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

 

[Familyfarm898]

If you lose another chicken, I would contact your state vet for a necropsy. That way, they can identify exactly what disease you are seeing. MG is a common one. If you had Mareks kill one in the past, they may have low immunity due to possible underlying unsymptomatic Mareks, and the respiratory disease is pushing them over the edge. Tylan or tylosin canntreat symptoms in sick birds, but will not prevent healthy ones from getting sick. Here is a list of state poultry labs to contact, and be sure to keep the body cold, not frozen:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

Thanks. These are the vaccinated chickens but I know any vaccine is not 100%. It’s been a year and a half since we’ve seen any Mareks here. Still, I realize that may be an issue. But, I also think they’ve been stressed. We removed the guineas that were tormenting them. Now I need to remove some roosters.

 

[Eggcessive]

Make sure that you have good ventilation in your coop with overhead windows. Keep the coop and run as dust free and dry as possible. Prevent ammonia odors by removing droppins and changing bedding when needed. Stress can bring on a relapse inrespiratory diseases. Many times chickens will become sick during a molt or during the cold winter weather.