Several birds ill with different symptoms over the last two weeks

[Wagging Tail Ranch]

Over the last 3 weeks up to today we have had several unusual things going on with our flock, we thought they were unrelated but now I am not sure.
About 3 weeks ago, we found a starling near our chicken yard dying, seemed paralyzed and unable to right itself. My husband dispatched it. A couple of days later our bantam mille fleur roo started getting wing drop. He was a rescue show bird and older so we thought perhaps he was just going down hill. It went on for a over a week getting better, getting worse and toppling over. He was fully [probably over vaccinated] from his show time so we thought perhaps he got into some spoiled feed. Definitely something neurological. but before we decided it was time to cull him, because he really seemed to be recovering, we found him dead. We found two of our cayugas dead in their run [they normally free range] dead at two different times during this time. They did not seem ill at all. They are last years ducks. Then one of the two 6 week old ducklings we found dead after a heavy rain. Two days ago, one of my 8 week old bantams was dead in the coop. Today, my silkie hen from last Fall has white foam that looks like shaving cream in her eyes and several of my hens in the other pen are coughing or sneezing. I thought we had a feed problem but now it's looking like something else. I tried to call the Ag office for advice- they aren't in. I tried to call several vet's but no one knows about chickens. We are a RURAL area! I have called our local chicken tester and several chicken friends but everyone has not called back or doesn't know. Any ideas

 

[Kiki]

I am so sorry your are having these problems.

Sounds like you could use some help trying to figure out what is going on.
I'm not quite sure but I am going to tag a few people below to see if they can offer some advice.

@Eggcessive
@casportpony

 

[wytecap]

I would recommend calling a wildlife rehabber in your area - these people are very in tuned with reports of diseases in wild birds. If you are in a rural area - I would also make contact with any local farmers who have poultry - as this does sound like something that crosses species. I do hope you keep them locked up tight at night and that they have coverage to use during rainstorms. No matter what the saying is - I learned that rain is not "a good day for ducks" !! They hate to get soaking wet. I would also recommend livestock electrolytes in their food and water and definitely some acidophilus supplementation as well. Best to you and your birds. It's heartbreaking to lose them - and more so when you don't know what's going on...

 

[wytecap]

Also - please take great care to not cross-contaminate !! Wash hands and utensils - even change shoes or step in a bleach solution before going from one pen to the other - just to be safe.

 

[Wagging Tail Ranch]

Hi All, My neighbor a chicken poultry tester and long time chicken keeper called me back. He feels that the wild bird was probably West Nile disease [most likely unrelated] and that my birds are sick/dying from molded feed. He said that this time of year, with our weather [Wisconsin] that the feed can become toxic within hours of getting damp and to put smaller amounts out and just feed more often and toss any wet feed. He also told me to go get some terramycin antibotic and put it in their water.

I went to Fleet Farm and Wisconsin passed some sort of law in January that prohibits the stores from selling it for chickens now. I bought some tablets for calves but now I have to figure out how to dilute it in the water to a safe amount. They are 250 mg tablets. He suggested that I don't want to make a big deal of it and try to get them tested because if the State gets involved they will quarantine me and make me and the chickens miserable since they don't have much to do right now.

Any idea how to make a 250 mg tablet diluted safe for chickens? We have about 65 birds. Thanks all.

 

[Kiki]

Did you buy Tylan 50?

 

[TinyBirds]

It seems strange the ducks would die since ducks are normally so healthy. You can try using whole corn or wheat etc so any wet feed on the ground would just germinate instead of molding. I would separate out any sick birds and treat just those that are actively sick or use tylan injections for any favorite birds. Sadly in many of these situations it ends up being a need to start over after all of these pass on eventually. I wouldnt add any new chicks until a year after these recover, and just a few at first as a test to be sure the survivers arent carriers of whatever it is. I think its pretty much impossible to tell with chickens what the specific illness or combo is without necropsy after death. There are places in each state to do that. If you choose to treat the birds, tylan injections work best for any type of respiratory illness, but i dont remember dosing info or anything because its been years since i had to do that. We ended up losing our birds to daytime predators anyway, so then we just went 2 yrs without chickens and started over. It's a very sad thing to go through so i'm very sorry. With tylan they recover in just a couple days, but could be carriers so any new birds added to the flock could still get sick i think.

 

[Wagging Tail Ranch]

Where can I get Tylan? I don't even know where to get meds for my chickens and because of the holiday everyone is gone. You don't think the Terramycin will work on the chickens? I know the Ducks you are not supposed to give meds too but they don't seem to be sick, we just find them dead.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm so very sorry to hear about your troubles.

There are so many diseases and conditions that can have similar symptoms, it would be very hard to know what's going on. The only way to know for sure is to have some testing performed. I don't see where you are located, so I'll give you a link to state labs.
If you still have the bodies, please consider sending a few for necropsy. You can refrigerate the bodies until you can get them sent.

http://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about your loss of different flock members. I have had a couple of wild birds around my coop who have become lame and died within a few days over a few years. Mareks has always terrified me, but have never had a chicken with it. With so many diseases out there that can be spread by the wild birds, it would be good to get some tested with a necropsy if you lose more. Even though diseases may be reportable, each state is different, and I would like to know if there was something bad going on in my flock. The 2 types of mycoplasma (MG and MS) can cause respiratory disease and the MS can cause lameness and swollen joints. This time of year west nile is a problem, and during certain years, avian influenza can be problematic with regional outbreaks. AI is really the one where states will force you to kill your flock, and I can understand that because of the risk. It is hard to know whether to get testing or necropsy when one has so many birds, but with the amount you have lost so far, I would certainly try to find an answer. The link that Wyorp Rock posted from University of Fla is very good with symptoms of all common poultry diseases, and one to bookmark.