Should I be using doxycycline?

[Parissf1]

Hello everyone,

My pullets have a respiratory disease. Started with a couple birds that I isolated but now pretty much the whole flock is coughing. A few have watery eyes and nasal discharge. It seems to be either mycoplasma or coryza. I did some research and was going to get erythromycin but couldn’t get a prescription for it. My next choice is doxycycline but I have some questions:

Doxycycline is not approved to be used on chicken that is raised for meat/eggs. All packaging clearly states that it is not to be used on egg-laying hens. I started my flock solely for eggs. They are mostly about 13 weeks old, a couple are 4 months old. None of them has started laying yet. Since they haven’t started laying, can I give them doxycycline? Or does it not matter — if they are being raised for eggs, then I should not use doxycycline at all?

I am seeing conflicting information when I was doing some online research. Most say that it is not to be used on egg-laying hens. But I also saw studies on doxycycline withdrawal on eggs claiming that after 18 days it is pretty much non-existent in eggs?

Does anyone here have experience/knowledge on this matter?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I had given a *cycline medication prescribed by a farm vet after confirming the presence of clostridial bacteria in an entire flock.
He told me an egg withdrawal of 2 months.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would instead get Tylosin powder if you suspect mycoplasma. Have you seen bubbles or foam in an eye, or swollen eyelids? If not you could be dealing with a virus that won’t respond to antibiotics. Tylosin has no egg withdrawal time, and is actually one of the few antibiotics approved for chickens. Doxycycline has a month egg withdrawal I believe. Both drugs will treat MG. Here is where to find it, and dosage is 1 tsp per gallon of water for 3-5 days.
https://jedds.com/products/tylosin-powder

If you have a very sick bird, your state vet can perform a necropsy and give you a diagnosis. Here is a list of state vet labs to contact for a necropsy, and how to keep the body cold:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html

Here are symptoms of MG:
https://extension.umd.edu/sites/ext... Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) Infecti....pdf

 

[Parissf1]

Have you seen bubbles or foam in an eye, or swollen eyelids? If not you could be dealing with a virus that won’t respond to antibiotics.

Yea the eyes are bubbly and wet. When I smell her face, it’s a bit funky, kinda like doggy breath.

I think I’ll take up your advice and get Tylosin. It is going to be very hot here this week, so their drinking water might get very warm. Will this reduce the efficacy of the antibiotic?

Some background info regarding the situation: I’m so mad at myself. I bought 3 pullets last week, raised by a high school agriculture program. I’m new to chickens so I wasn’t aware of the type of respiratory diseases they could carry. I wish I had been more careful. The pullet in the picture above is the most sick, but I didn’t catch it until a few days after I added them to my flock. And within those few days, 4 out of 12 of my pullets started to have rales. Now a few more days later pretty much all of them are coughing and here we are. Learned a lot this past week so I won’t repeat this mistake again.

 

[Eggcessive]

The period of time that symptoms of many respiratory diseases can show up after exposure to a carrier is from 2-10 days on average. You can make fresh cool water twice a day, or keep some refrigerated. Unless you are dealing with coryza or canker inside the beak, I would treat for MG. Coryza usually causes very swollen eyes, thick gunky drainage, and a foul odor. Canker is foul smelling, and causes yellow gunk inside of the beak, on the tongue, and throat.

 

[Parissf1]

Sorry if this is a dumb question…

Yesterday started giving them Tylosin dissolved in their drinking water. I’m about to change out the water to give them their next dose, but I am at a loss as to how to dispose of the leftover water with antibiotics in it. I’m know I’m not supposed to pour it down the sink to prevent unintended antibiotic resistance. Dumping it in the garden seems to pose the same risk??

What is the proper way to dispose leftover drinking water with antibiotics?