Rooster hoarse and raspy

[REW_Chicken]

1) Silkie Rooster, 18 months old, roughly 2 pounds
2) When he crows it sounds like he has lost his voice. He has slightly raspy breathing.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? He has been acting off for about a month.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? We had one hen with a respiratory something. She ended up passing in quarantine. But no other birds are acting sick.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. No signs of trauma
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. We added 10 new pullets from a larger farm. The hen that passed in quarantine was one of the new pullets, but no others are showing any signs of distress or illness.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. He is eating and drinking normally (at least that I have seen) He eats scraps from your hand, and layer pellets with all the other chickens.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. Looks normal.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? VetRx in the water for all chickens, putting some VetRx in his mouth and on his beak. quarantine for a few days. He seemed to get better so we put him back with the rest of the flock. He gets depressed when he is away from the flock, and since he is acting normal, other than a hoarse sounding crow and raspy breathing, we have left him with the flock, while also monitoring all other chickens. Non have shown any symptoms.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? I would like to treat him myself if at all possible
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use The coop is a kit from a feed store. It has 3 nesting boxes on one side, and one large one on the other side. The coop is on top of a run of the same size. The bedding used is old hay during the winter, and grass clippings during the summer. We moved recently from UT to KS and brought our silkie, along with 5 other chickens with us on the move.

*edited to add* this is my daughter's pet. He will sit with her and let her read to him, he will lay on her chest and sun himself. He is a super sweet rooster, and I will do everything I can to make sure that he is okay.

 

[azygous]

If all of your chickens were exposed to the chicken that you say died in quarantine, then you very likely have a flock that now carries a respiratory disease. The most common of these is Mycoplasma g. Many chickens will be able to throw off the symptoms and get well on their own. Your rooster sounds like he's fighting off the symptoms pretty well, and I don't believe he needs an antibiotic at this time.

However, you might want to order this. https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=30E07BC1-7B6A-11D5-A192-00B0D0204AE5 Keep it on hand since any stress can kick off symptoms in the others, and perhaps not all will have a light case.

The way you administer this med is to withdraw .1ml for each pound of body weight, then twist off the needle from the syringe and give it orally twice a day for five straight days.

 

[REW_Chicken]

If all of your chickens were exposed to the chicken that you say died in quarantine, then you very likely have a flock that now carries a respiratory disease. The most common of these is Mycoplasma g. Many chickens will be able to throw off the symptoms and get well on their own. Your rooster sounds like he's fighting off the symptoms pretty well, and I don't believe he needs an antibiotic at this time.

However, you might want to order this. https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=30E07BC1-7B6A-11D5-A192-00B0D0204AE5 Keep it on hand since any stress can kick off symptoms in the others, and perhaps not all will have a light case.

The way you administer this med is to withdraw .1ml for each pound of body weight, then twist off the needle from the syringe and give it orally twice a day for five straight days.

Thank you so much!!!! This helps a ton!

 

[REW_Chicken]

If all of your chickens were exposed to the chicken that you say died in quarantine, then you very likely have a flock that now carries a respiratory disease. The most common of these is Mycoplasma g. Many chickens will be able to throw off the symptoms and get well on their own. Your rooster sounds like he's fighting off the symptoms pretty well, and I don't believe he needs an antibiotic at this time.

However, you might want to order this. https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=30E07BC1-7B6A-11D5-A192-00B0D0204AE5 Keep it on hand since any stress can kick off symptoms in the others, and perhaps not all will have a light case.

The way you administer this med is to withdraw .1ml for each pound of body weight, then twist off the needle from the syringe and give it orally twice a day for five straight days.

If I add more chickens to the flock, will they contract the respiratory disease too then? We have 4 chicks we were going to add to the flock in December when they are old enough to be outside, but if there is a chance that they can get sick too, then we might have to build another coop and separate run area for the birds with the respiratory disease....Right?

 

[azygous]

MG is more contagious while symptoms are present but you must assume any chickens exposed to the present flock will also get it. Once a flock has it, they have it for their lives. But not all are guaranteed to get sick.

You can test your flock for it. It costs around $100, more likely more now that inflation has become chronic. If you are interested, I can provide details. Occasionally, when a flock keeper discovers MG is in their flock, they will close out the flock and begin over after waiting a few weeks while disinfecting the premises. But if you are attached to your chickens, the disease is manageable. You must keep a closed flock, though, and not rehome or sell chickens.

 

[REW_Chicken]

MG is more contagious while symptoms are present but you must assume any chickens exposed to the present flock will also get it. Once a flock has it, they have it for their lives. But not all are guaranteed to get sick.

You can test your flock for it. It costs around $100, more likely more now that inflation has become chronic. If you are interested, I can provide details. Occasionally, when a flock keeper discovers MG is in their flock, they will close out the flock and begin over after waiting a few weeks while disinfecting the premises. But if you are attached to your chickens, the disease is manageable. You must keep a closed flock, though, and not rehome or sell chickens.

Thank you! That is what we were just discussing, We have 6 that everyone is very attached to 8 are new pullets and should start laying soon. I would love more details about the test, so we can make an informed choice

 

[azygous]

These folks will send you the testing materials and do the test. Order from this web site. The test kit is around $25. Zoologix Inc 9811 Owensmouth Ave, STE 4, Chatsworth, CA, 91311-9547 818-717-8880 www.zoologix.com They will mail you the test kit and you will swab the throat of the chicken you suspect has MG. Then you select Mycoplasma gallisepticum as the test you are requesting, and mail the test swabs back to them in the mailer they'll provide. This test is around $100, maybe more since I had it done.

 

[chiple22]

If all of your chickens were exposed to the chicken that you say died in quarantine, then you very likely have a flock that now carries a respiratory disease. The most common of these is Mycoplasma g. Many chickens will be able to throw off the symptoms and get well on their own. Your rooster sounds like he's fighting off the symptoms pretty well, and I don't believe he needs an antibiotic at this time.

However, you might want to order this. https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=30E07BC1-7B6A-11D5-A192-00B0D0204Keep it on hand since any stress can kick off symptoms in the others, and perhaps not all will have a light case.

The way you administer this med is to withdraw .1ml for each pound of body weight, then twist off the needle from the syringe and give it orally twice a day for five straight

 

[chiple22]

Get this..no prescription needed