Sick hen. Mucus in mouth and partially swollen face

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Your post is almost describing my flock experience, and whatever this virus is has cost many lives of my flock and is highly contagious. For sure it transmits through the drinking water or even close contact. I think it is fowl pox, but really any other answer that follows may be more accurate because I can't test them so if I'm wrong please realize it is a virus, I just don't know which virus for sure. Because I'm probably wrong, this is only my working theory but it is a viral disease similar in characteristics to either herpes or corona depending if its pox or something else. It is not dangerous to humans. Antibiotics help some symptoms, but not the disease. I have learned to live with it but still do not have it under control. I have heard there may be a vaccine for it. Some chickens survive with almost no issues, but become carriers for life. They can beat the disease and never succomb to it, but they will be able to transmit it. My primary core adult chickens have never shown any symptoms except when they get worms, but the younger ones get devastated once they reach a certain age.

You will be told to cull your entire flock and clean your yard and coop. I live with it, and some of my chickens have gotten the pox and gone blind, some of them heal in a few days with only some scabs on their face. Some heal and then die the day after you would swear it had cleared up for them. Some die from symptoms that antibiotics would have prevented their death. The swelling may be an internal pox blister which also causes respiratory problems indicating an outbreak is occuring in that chicken, likely due to a weakened immune system.

Now I have learned to live with it by keeping their immune systems top notch and giving them a chance to beat the disease. But your death rate will be very high if it is the same disease we are both dealing with. And if a chicken gets worms or their immune system is even slightly weakened for some reason, it can devastate them.

You decide how you want to deal with your newly hatched babies knowing that in a few weeks their immune system may let down for a moment and the disease will ravage them unless you can give special treatment constantly, i.e. isolation, manual feeding if they go blind permanently or temporarily.

The combination of this disease with parasistic infections that weaken their immune system is pretty devastating. So with that, let's hope I am wrong and someone tells me that it's just a parasite or bacterial infection, but it is a virus and maybe you can find a way to test.

For your current sick chicken, try to see if he has parasites that have weakened his immune system and for that reason he is showing symptoms. I find if I can stop the parasite early, they can clear the symptoms of the virus on their own in a few days, with some help cleaning the wounds from you.

Finally if your flock is small, maybe consider culling or isolation. But how does one justify culling healthy happy adults with no symptoms for years because they are carrying some dormant virus. Sorry it's a lot of typing but your post is just like my flock. I have so many hapoy survivors that suffered early with this disease, and have lived months with no signs after recovery.
 
I've narrowed it down to either cholera or the flu. I have 11 adults and 20 babies. Most of the babies are in the barn with the chickens in a special brooder.
 
They have avian influenza. I figured it out bc some of my chicks are starting to get it and they're only 2 months old. Fowl cholera only affects chicks older than 4 months. Now I can formulate a plan for treatment. I found some very useful information in a book called chicken health for dummies. It lists various diseases and symptoms, among other things. It's available on Kindle and has some very useful information.
 
Hi i just saw your posts and it somehow looks like my flock. I had similar problems. My healthy birds were getting infected very quickly and dying. I asked the vet to come have a look but they've refused. I send them pics and they said my flock has ND. I remember i have vaccinated my birds but my vet says it could be another strain of ND virus. And it makes sense. In my area there are many broiler farms and they are a kind of mafia. They don't have any regard for bio security of their farms or the surrounding villages. Few weeks ago they dumped their dead chickens( probably with ND) near our village. After that the virus quickly spread to our village killing most of the birds. I myself have lost about 30 birds in last 10 days. So be very careful and separate your sick birds. If it is ND it can be very messy
 
I’m sorry that you’ve not gotten many answers and that your flock is so sick. I’m not an expert at all, but I did want to let you know that it’s not uncommon to use antibiotics that are for other livestock. I have used Corid(believe it’s actually labeled for cattle), Terramycin Scours(cattle antibiotics), and de-wormer(labeled for goats). I usually just hunt around, find the dosages, and save them when I find what I’m looking for.

I did just purchase some things from the Poultry Store and they seem to be helping my bunch. I have some sneezing, and slight nare discharge. I’ll link you to that in case you’re interested — https://www.thepoultrystore.com/
 
I considered using cow antibiotics, but the smallest dose is .5 for something that weighs 10lbs and I was worried about it being too strong of a dose. That was for injectable antibiotics. However, I was able to find some broad spectrum bird antibiotics that can be added to water. I put a bunch in a small bottle and forcibly make my chickens drink it. It seems to help and they're starting to get better. However, I've lost a rooster and a hen to the illness. It's rough to deal with this sort of thing with limited information. Would cow antibiotics be too strong for chickens?
 
I am currently giving two of mine Terramycin Scours for cattle and went with the maximum dosage for mine. I followed what @Eggcessive posted and dissolved in water. So, my recommendation would be to search at the top for the different meds or even symptom key words. I am constantly reading and researching as I try to become a better chicken keeper. You might also look at indications for Tylan/Tylosin. I hope any of this random information helps you out. It’s the pits when you don’t have a vet that can see them, you’re rural like me, etc. and all you can do is make an educated guess. Hang in there!
 
Tiffy316 said:
They have avian influenza. I figured it out bc some of my chicks are starting to get it and they're only 2 months old. Fowl cholera only affects chicks older than 4 months. Now I can formulate a plan for treatment. I found some very useful information in a book called chicken health for dummies. It lists various diseases and symptoms, among other things. It's available on Kindle and has some very useful information.
Click to expand...
Where are you located Tiffy316? It is easy to read about illnesses in books and think that your chickens have terrible illnesses, such as avian flu or even fowl cholera. Avian flu is pretty rare, and if it was a problem in your area, you would probably be hearing about it onnyour local news. More likely, you are seeing one of the chronic respiratory diseases. Some are caused by viruses, such as infectious bronchitis or ILT, and do not respond to antibiotics. One is fungal and caused by mold, and also does not respond to AB’s. But bacterial and mycoplasma will respond to certain antibiotics. Mycoplasma (MG) may cause bubbles/foam in an eye, swelling of an eyelid or the face, sneeze or cough, rattles or wheezes while breathing, gasping, or symptoms can be mild. Tylosin, oxytetracycline, Denagard, or enrofloxacin may help treat symptoms. The chicken will have the disease all it’s life, though symptoms may go away or come and go. Survivors are carriers for life. It is good to close the flock to any new birds, and do not give any away until all birds are eventually gone. They may live for many years, but may have decreased laying or may not reach her potential. Many people bring in an illness like this from unknowingly buying a carrier or sick bird from someone. The best way to find out what disease you are dealing with, is to get a neceopsy done by your state vet if you lose another bird. Here is a link for contacting a state vet in your area:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

Here is a good link to read about many of the common respiratory diseases and symptoms:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/ps044
 
Eggcessive said:
Where are you located Tiffy316? It is easy to read about illnesses in books and think that your chickens have terrible illnesses, such as avian flu or even fowl cholera. Avian flu is pretty rare, and if it was a problem in your area, you would probably be hearing about it onnyour local news. More likely, you are seeing one of the chronic respiratory diseases. Some are caused by viruses, such as infectious bronchitis or ILT, and do not respond to antibiotics. One is fungal and caused by mold, and also does not respond to AB’s. But bacterial and mycoplasma will respond to certain antibiotics. Mycoplasma (MG) may cause bubbles/foam in an eye, swelling of an eyelid or the face, sneeze or cough, rattles or wheezes while breathing, gasping, or symptoms can be mild. Tylosin, oxytetracycline, Denagard, or enrofloxacin may help treat symptoms. The chicken will have the disease all it’s life, though symptoms may go away or come and go. Survivors are carriers for life. It is good to close the flock to any new birds, and do not give any away until all birds are eventually gone. They may live for many years, but may have decreased laying or may not reach her potential. Many people bring in an illness like this from unknowingly buying a carrier or sick bird from someone. The best way to find out what disease you are dealing with, is to get a neceopsy done by your state vet if you lose another bird. Here is a link for contacting a state vet in your area:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

Here is a good link to read about many of the common respiratory diseases and symptoms:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/ps044
Click to expand...
I live in KS
 

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