Respitory Illness, Bubbly Eyes and Coughing

[HuskerHens18]

I would ask the poultry lab whether medicating them with Tylan would affect the testing. In humans getting cultures for strep throat and other infections can be affected if the patient has already had antibiotics. However, if you send in a body for a necropsy, they should be able to get a diagnosis. Sorry that I don’t have more info since I haven’t had testing or necropsies dine before.

Okay I will hold off. My vet sends in dead birds to UNL, so I'm thinking he might be able to do the same for mg testing. I left him a message, hopefully he will respond by morning.

 

[MaryZoe]

Thank you, I suppose my dreams of being a chicken breeder are over. There's no way I could cull my birds, it's just impossible. I love them so much, they mean the world to me. I'll get in contact about testing and see what I can do. Should I give them the Tylan anyway or is that a bad idea before they're tested?

Don't necessarily despair about your chicken days being over. I treated my ms/mg positive chickens with antibiotics, and after 2 to 3 months, my farm was declared clean. My chickens lived an entire year here with no symptoms. As I said in an earlier post, I eventually decided to trade them in, but I was told directly by an NPIP state-employee that it was unnecessary for me to do so. My hens brooded their chicks successfully and had great laying rates. None showed any symptoms at all. He said I could re-open my flock based on his observations.

But just so you know, if you go through the state (which I recommend because it's a LOT cheaper), you will be registered with the state. They will quarantine your farm and require you to remain closed until you pass a series of inspections. Also, I hope you realize that you have to sacrifice a chicken to get it tested. It was hard for me.

Also, my experience was that it took longer than 3-10 days for ms/mg to spread. It was slow spreading, and it took up to three weeks before we could be sure it was not still spreading in my flock. As a matter of fact, for the state to declare my farm "clean," we had to wait a full six weeks with no symptoms.

But please don't despair. First get your birds tested (before you panic), then treat them and do everything to keep their coops, feed, and water sources as clean as possible. I changed my chix waterers daily, their nesting boxes and coops regularly, and spoiled them with probiotics and limited healthful treats.

Good luck! mz

 

[HuskerHens18]

Don't necessarily despair about your chicken days being over. I treated my ms/mg positive chickens with antibiotics, and after 2 to 3 months, my farm was declared clean. My chickens lived an entire year here with no symptoms. As I said in an earlier post, I eventually decided to trade them in, but I was told directly by an NPIP state-employee that it was unnecessary for me to do so. My hens brooded their chicks successfully and had great laying rates. None showed any symptoms at all. He said I could re-open my flock based on his observations.

But just so you know, if you go through the state (which I recommend because it's a LOT cheaper), you will be registered with the state. They will quarantine your farm and require you to remain closed until you pass a series of inspections. Also, I hope you realize that you have to sacrifice a chicken to get it tested. It was hard for me.

Also, my experience was that it took longer than 3-10 days for ms/mg to spread. It was slow spreading, and it took up to three weeks before we could be sure it was not still spreading in my flock. As a matter of fact, for the state to declare my farm "clean," we had to wait a full six weeks with no symptoms.

But please don't despair. First get your birds tested (before you panic), then treat them and do everything to keep their coops, feed, and water sources as clean as possible. I changed my chix waterers daily, their nesting boxes and coops regularly, and spoiled them with probiotics and limited healthful treats.

Good luck! mz

Oh boy... don't think I'm going through with it now. No way I could choose one to die. I don't have the heart for that. If one does die I will send it in, I've done it before.

Which brings up a new question, in order to test for Marek's you need to do a special request, is it the same for mg? I've sent several necropsies in late June early July and they never said anything about mg. But of course then I hadn't suspected it so didn't ask.

 

[MaryZoe]

I have heard that there is also a swab that tests for ms/mg, but that was not an option for my chix. You could certainly ask about it. If your birds were necropsied in the past, you can be sure they tested for ms/mg. You can ask for a copy of the results and see exactly what tests were done and what the results were, but you would have been told if they were positive for anything, I'm sure.

I went through a vet, and it cost me something like $180 to complete the testing (they quoted me less but charged me more...). But I know the state does not charge anything near that.

Most healthy birds will not die from ms/mg unless they get another complicating factor that affects their immune system, but the problem is that the ms/mg weakens them, so they are more likely to pick up secondary infections as well. But I had some birds that seemed to have had slight symptoms off and on for their 1.5 years that I had them. Most showed zero symptoms at all, but one or two had raspy breathing every couple of months.

More to consider: while the Tylan did help many of my birds, first of all it is a pain because you have to inject each bird individually at least three days in a row, and secondly some of my birds did not respond well to it. I found that I had to catch it early for the Tylan to be effective. The doxycycline that the vet prescribed was more expensive than the Tylan, but I just put it in their water (for 21 days!), which was easier than Tylan to administer. However, I'm not sure your vet will prescribe the doxy unless your chix test positive for ms/mg.

Good luck! I hope your flock gets over whatever it is!

 

[Eggcessive]

Since each state is different you could get a lot of your questions answered by the state poultry lab. Some states are better than others in dealing with private citizens. Some may want you to go through a local vet.

 

[Eggcessive]

Many people use Tylan 50 injectable orally, due to it possibly causing muscle damage at the injection site, and also some don’t feel comfortable giving shots. Vets may prescribe Tylan Soluble Power to add to the water. Dosage is 1 tsp or 5 grams per gallon of water for 3-5 days.

 

[HuskerHens18]

Thank you both!
Vet got back with me and he doesn't know off the top of his head how UNL tests, so I'll have to call UNL directly. I'll also get a copy of the necropsy reports to see what was tested.