sick again.... is this normal?

[trishlace]

I have recently treated my flock for a respitory infection of some sort with tylan injectable. A few of my chickens have returning symptoms, sneezing and wheezing. Is it normal to have a relapse so soon? I have read that with most respitory infections they can remain carriers, but does that mean that i will have to treat them on a regular basis with tylan?

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
Possibly the respiratory disease has built resistance to the tylan. If it's a virus which is always a good possibility, antibiotics wont treat it.

 

[speckledhen]

Carrier does mean that they can have periodic relapses, but if it was a virus in the first place, antibiotics will do nothing for it, just as in humans. That is why hardcore breeders just don't even think of treating respiratory illness at all; they just cull any symptomatic bird immediately.

 

[trishlace]

They all got better while using the tylan and some of them were pretty bad. We even thought that we had licked the illness for a while until a few started to sneeze again and wheeze a little but not as bad as before. Could it be that I didn't use the tylan for long enough(5 days) or should I start the duramyacin in the water again and see if that will help?

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
Tylan's effectiveness occurs during the recommended 3-5 day dosing period, dosing greater than 5 days wouldnt make any difference. Tylan is more potent than duramycin. Additionally, sick birds wont drink treated water, even if they do drink some, you dont know if they drank enough to be effective.