Serama Roo not breathing well

chickndoglover

In the Brooder
10 Years
Mar 10, 2009
73
8
41
Victoria, BC Canada
I wonder if anyone has any ideas for me, I have a little serama roo that I hatched out about 1 1/2 years ago his 2 sister and a couple of his brothers all died within the first year of a respiratory problem when their combs turn dark purple and they couldn't breath properly, all I have left is him and his brother is in another pen with a female serama (not my breeding). Anyway last fall my banty flock got a respiratory problem (I think from the coop, old trailer and I found mold in the ceiling) the other chickens all seemed to shake the breathing problem with no other ill effects, but him it has lingered on and just lately it has become really quite bad, I gave him some tylan (that was left over from treating my turkey) and I put it in his water for 7 days. He really doesnt seem to be any better at all. This is why I wont let my pair hatch anymore chicks this seems like a problem in some seramas and it is heartbreaking, he is such a sweet little guy I dont know what to try for him. Any ideas?
 
Hi chickndoglover,

I'm sorry, but you may be right about his strain not being very strong. It sounds as though he and all the rest have had a respiratory disease just waiting for them to get a bit stressed, then it shows up while their immunity is low (perhaps Mycoplasma Gallisepticum, perhaps something else). Treatment with antibiotics would be your best bet to try to help him, but it won't cure him (the disease may return, and if you bring in new birds they'll catch it eventually).

If you're determine to try everything, a vet visit might be in order. That way you could get antibiotics geared to his particular infection (the bug may have become resistant to tylan).

It's hard to know what else to suggest. Maybe extra vitamins could give him a chance, but I don't know.

So sorry about your birds, it seems like terribly bad luck. I know in the past if I got attached to a bird it was always the one to suffer some kind of problem (e.g. hawk attack). It's just one of those things.

Good luck,
Erica
 
Thank you Erica for your response, I am going to talk to my vet again. This is one of the reasons I have stopped adding birds to my flock, losing them to either predators or illness breaks my heart everytime.
 
I know this is a long time after my initial post, but I thought I would post what happened to my little Serama. His breathing got progressively worse and nothing I tried worked and my vet couldnt help so I had him put to sleep and my vet performed a necropsy and he had a very large tumor in his crop. It made me feel better that it wasnt a respiratory problem that would effect all my birds, but I felt bad for the little guy.
 

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