Seeking advice for possible rooster cold

[black5wann]

I have a rooster who has had some symptoms of an upper respiratory illness (I think). Possibly something like coryza from my amateur research.

He shakes his head and opens his mouth especially in the morning and at night. Sometimes his eyes are watery. And he has definite ear wax blockage. This has been going on for about a month. I was hoping it’d resolve on its own. The weird thing is sometimes he seems perfectly healthy, he still is eating, crowing, mating, poop is normal, etc. But then there’s moments where he seems very bothered with the head shaking and mouth opening. Sometimes when he’s in the coop and I listen close to his mouth I can hear his breath, not heavy wheezing, but audible breaths - I don’t hear this all the time though.

We cleaned the coop and stopped using pdz dust as we thought maybe it was just a dust thing. But he is still has the symptoms after just using pine shaving (and we clean the coop every day). We’ve been cleaning his ears with hydrogen peroxide and tried feeding him vetrx as well as various other boosters like ropa poultry and nutridrench. Rest of flock doesn’t have any of these symptoms.

We scheduled a vet visit, but it doesn’t specialize in chickens - just an exotic animal hospital (seems to be more bunnies and such). Couldn’t find a chicken specific vet in Orlando area.

My question is, is it worth visiting a vet like this? I’m afraid it will cause him more stress than good, but if it’s something that has an easy treatment I’d like to know. I’m not sure at what point to resort to something like this as much of the time he seems absolutely fine. Any advice on this as well as other treatment/diagnoses is much appreciated.

 

[thecatumbrella]

I'm pretty sure respiratory illnesses are something you don't want to mess around with in chickens. I personally would bring him in to the vet, and then possibly quarantine. Check out Poultry DVM: Symptom Checker

Can someone else chime in?

Sorry your guy isn't feeling well

 

[Eggcessive]

Are there any bubbles or foam in his eyes at any time? Is there any white gunk? Any nasal drainage? Does he sneeze cough, have rattles or wheezes? Coryza is a serious messy respiratory disease with swollen eyes or the face, pus in the eyes and sinuses, and has a bad odor. MG may cause bubbles in either eye, and swelling around the eyelid, and may or may not have other symptoms. Then a bronchitis virus may cause sneezing every few minutes, congestion, but they usually go about their day, active, eating and drinking.

 

[black5wann]

I thought it may be bronchitis as well. It’s definitely not something that seems extreme or dire, but the main thing I’m worried about is the duration. He isn’t getting worse but some days he seems more symptomatic and some less. There’s some small bubbles or droplets right on the corner of his eyes at times (but not always) - I’ll try and get a photo of this. There is no swelling or major changes in eyes/face. No white gunk. There may have been a little black gunk under his eye but minor - nothing seeping from nostrils. There’s not a bad odor EXCEPT when we’ve cleaned his ears the wax buildup did have an unpleasant scent to it, but I didn’t smell anything before the actual cleaning.

The major symptoms are the head shaking / mouth opening. And also the ear buildup (not seeping but blockage was visible when lifting ear cover). The breathing almost sounds like if you were to purposefully bresth in through your nose and out. But it’s steady and not wheezing. This I don’t detect all the time.

One other piece of info - I did look down his mouth and noticed sometimes food pellets would be stuck to the back of his throat - not sure if that just happens or would be a sign of mucus or something. But after he drank and then I looked again it was swallowed. I swabbed for gapeworm and didn’t see red strings but also not sure how well I did that or how accurate it is.

 

[Eggcessive]

You cannot really see gapeworms, a red Y shaped worm unless you a doing a necropsy after death when you can dissect the trachea (windpipe.) Also they are rare, and wouldn’t cause the other symptoms.The bubbles in the corner of the eye do sound like MG. Bronchitis doesn’t cause those. Only a test would tell you for sure, and would need to be done while he has symptoms. Bronchitis lasts around a month, and it usually goes through the whole flock eventually. It doesn’t respond to antibiotics, but MG can be treated by some, such as Tylosin in the water. Here’s where to buy it:
https://jedds.com/products/tylosin-powder

 

[black5wann]

Thanks for this info. If I did a Tyolsin treatment and it isn’t MG could that be detrimental health wise? I’ve read you shouldn’t overuse antibiotics, but I have never used them before.

Is it worth just trying that treatment even if symptoms are not getting worse or more severe? Would I treat the whole flock? Everyone’s definitely been exposed closely to the the rooster, but nobody else has those symptoms.

 

[Eggcessive]

Tylosin is one of the safer antibiotics and approved for chickens. That is what I would use. Dosage is 1 tsp of Tylosin powder in water for 5 days. If using injectable Tylan 50 or 200, dosage is given orally, not in water. I can give that dosage if needed. There is no egg withdrawal for hens.

 

[black5wann]

Ok I may give that a shot - will let you know. I snapped a couple pics for further info. I managed to capture what I’m referring to with the bubbles in eyes. It’s not anything huge just looks like droplets around tear duct area (or at least where that would be on a human).

He definitely had some wax coming out of his ear today which I peroxided again. It’s not completely blocked or anything though.

 

[Jenbirdee]

Please @Eggcessive What is the dosage for Tylan 200 for a duck My little runner duck has been squeak and hiccup and coughing for a couple months now and I tried Vet RX and cleaned out the coop got fresh straw from new place and the past week have been giving her Oxine AH first by spray and last 3 days by nebulizer but her chest still sounds congested her quack voice is getting raspy. At first I though she had something stuck in her throat here is her thread if you have time to check it out
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/runner-duck-cough-or-hiccups.1606047/

by the way i also have baytril and amoxicillin i don’t know which is best

 

[Eggcessive]

If you do not see any bubbles or foam in an eye, swollen eyelid or face, or nasal secretions and congestion, your duck may have a virus. Antibiotics won’t help that. When using Tylan 200, which is 4 times stronger than Tylan 50, the dosage is 0.05 ml per pound of weight given 3 times a day. Give it orally with a needle-less syringe. 1 ml (needle-less) syringes for those tiny doses are available at most pharmacies for giving medicine to animals and babies.