Sick sex link

[melaniearej]

Hi, needing some advice on a 16 week old sick sex link. I had her for about 3 weeks along with 3 others that she came with. Last Sunday I noticed her isolating and then had a goopy nose and she sounds funny with breathing. I separated her by putting her in a dog crate on my porch and started her on oxytetracycline. I also have used the VetRx for 2 days now. She's not worse and not sure if she's better.
So my questions are.. should I change her to Tylan ( I have tylan 50 but afraid to do shots would rather use orally)
Also, no one else is showing any symptoms so is it possible she has something that is not contaigious? And how isolated do I need to keep her? I would really like to put her back in the run but still keep her in the dog crate to keep somewhat separate. I actually have two dog crates that I put together, one plastic one for the coop and then a metal one so she has more room. She has her own drinking and eating dishes that the others cannot access. I kind of feel if the others were going to get the illness they would already show signs since they have always been together. I also have a well established flock of 15 that doesn't seem to have any symptoms, I did not intergrade them yet as I was quarantining the new ones, however they are only separated by chicken wire, do I need to be concerned about the others?Sorry so many questions I am new at having chickens

 

[PeepersMama]

Quarantine is complete isolation of new birds. They shouldn't have any exposure to the new flock for two weeks minimum, but I would recommend a month. I recently had to cull half the flock because my $40 b-day present wasn't quarantined long enough. Like, pretend that if they come into contact with the rest of the flock they will all die. Make sure that only one person takes care of the new ones, and don't wear the same pair of shoes between flocks.
Don't worry, even some experienced chicken keepers don't know the imporatance of quarantining new birds. Most of the time, the flock will be fine, but after loosing half of my girls, I would only bring in new baby chicks in the spring, or hatching eggs.

Keep the sickie in the basment. It sounds like she has a respiratory infection, and those are very contagious. Even if the rest of the flock hasn't been showing any signs of sickness, some diseases have an incubation period before they actually kick in. Is the sickie new, or was she in your established flock? She may or may not have gotten sick from the newbies if she was there first. If she's a newbie, then it might be your flock who has built up an immunity to whatever she has. Times of stress can "re-activate" a dormant disease.

 

[melaniearej]

So she is a new one and now I just saw one of the other new ones with a runny nose! Ugh!
Have you had any experience with oxytetracycline or tylan?
I have been using the oxy but think I should switch to tylan. Not sure if I should stop the oxy and wait 24 hours to start the tylan.
i raised my established flock from babies. I don't see any signs of illness but maybe I should treat them with the oxytetracycline as a precaution. I hate to do that but I don't want to loose the whole flock. Lesson learned I will always raise my own from baby chicks for now on!
As far as them being isolated I will have redo my pen. My established flock free ranges all day so I am hoping they haven't had too much interaction but not sure.