Silkies sneezing - help!

[Ericadeer]

Hi everyone, I am hoping for some
Advice. My 4 silkes are 15 weeks old and this is my first time raising chickens so there’s a lot of trial and error happening lol. So, we went out of town for Thanksgiving, and of course the night we left it rained for the first time since they’ve been outside in their coop/run. And it poured! We left first thing in the morning and when I got home they were all drenched and just walking around in the rain. I brought them in, dried them, fed them some treats, and noticed one was sneezing and has a watery discharge from nostrils. Now two are sneezing and have watery noses. I treated them both with baytril a farmer friend gave me, as well at vetrx. I have them in the garage in a makeshift coop to stay warm and dry until they seem better. But my problem is they don’t seem to be getting better, or worse. And it’s been 2 weeks now. They eat and drink like normal and forage around all day. But they sneeze, and have watery noses. ‍ Should I try denagard? My farmer friend also has that lol. Please Help!!
Oh and floor is always wood shavings and we haven’t had sneezing before.
Thank you so much

 

[boskelli1571]

Ok - stop with the using any/all medications. Denagard is for worming and will be of no use for sniffles/coryza.
Think it through - they got soaked and are now showing symptoms of a cold. You can continue with the Vetrx that is safe enough.
Do you have a veterinary near by that could treat these birds if necessary?
Silkies do poorly if allowed to get soaked or cold, their feathers don't do a good job of keeping them warm and dry.
Personally, I would increase their protein intake to around 20-24% for a couple of weeks. Give them some electrolyte/vitamin powder in their water.
Make sure the coop is dry and draft proof - what type of shavings are they? pine? cedar?
Unless they get significantly worse, I would just adopt a 'wait and see approach' for now.
If they should start laying within the next 30 days, discard the eggs b/c of the Baytril. Good luck!

 

[Eggcessive]

Denagard is like baytril, an antibiotic that treats MG (mycoplasma gallisepticum.) Baytril is a great antibiotic for many different infections, but is banned by the FDA for chickens in the US because of emerging antibiotic resistance. Some vets do still use it. I would finish the Baytril since you have started it.

Does your farmer friend also have chickens? Be very careful not to transfer germs from his chickens to yours, and use good biosecurity. If he has those antibiotics and chickens, he may have MG in his flock.

To me, the sneezing could be due to infectious bronchitis virus. Viruses do not respond to antibiotics. IB virus lasts about a month in chickens and causes sneezing and some congestion that spreads through the flock. It causes the whole flock to become carriers for up to a year after. Most chickens recover, but can have reproductive problems later with decreased laying. MG can cause sneezing, but also may cause bubbles in eyes, swelling around an eye, and sinus infection which may cause pus in sinuses and in the eyes. MG causes the whole flock to be carriers for life.

Here is a good article about MG, IB, and the other common chickens diseases:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[CamTheChknKeeper]

Here is a good article about MG, IB, and the other common chickens diseases:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

wow! I started reading that article and sheesh, there are so many things that chickens can get!
I couldn’t even finish it. But I really appreciate seeing the link, thank you

 

[Ericadeer]

Denagard is like baytril, an antibiotic that treats MG (mycoplasma gallisepticum.) Baytril is a great antibiotic for many different infections, but is banned by the FDA for chickens in the US because of emerging antibiotic resistance. Some vets do still use it. I would finish the Baytril since you have started it.

Does your farmer friend also have chickens? Be very careful not to transfer germs from his chickens to yours, and use good biosecurity. If he has those antibiotics and chickens, he may have MG in his flock.

To me, the sneezing could be due to infectious bronchitis virus. Viruses do not respond to antibiotics. IB virus lasts about a month in chickens and causes sneezing and some congestion that spreads through the flock. It causes the whole flock to become carriers for up to a year after. Most chickens recover, but can have reproductive problems later with decreased laying. MG can cause sneezing, but also may cause bubbles in eyes, swelling around an eye, and sinus infection which may cause pus in sinuses and in the eyes. MG causes the whole flock to be carriers for life.

Here is a good article about MG, IB, and the other common chickens diseases:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

You are amazing, thank you so much for the advice. They definitely are not getting worse so And no bubbles or rattling sounds so I’m thinking it’s not MG. Farmer friend does not have chickens so no issues with biosecurity. Also- it’s been sunny so they’ve been free ranging in the sun and seem happy and as energetic as can be.... all good signs! Just some sneezes here and there, not much runny nose that I can see. I’ll finish baytril and hope for the best! We have pine shavings I believe and they are in the garage right now so probably not the best ventilation. We are building a new coop with better rain protection so they should be back out this week and hopefully knock the sneezing off!! Fingers crossed! Thank you again for your help. Super appreciate it!

 

[Eggcessive]

Ventilation is a big deal with chickens. Dust, dusty feed, ammonia odor from droppings, and mold spores from wet conditions or spilled water/feed can be problems that can contribute to respiratory diseases. Having good overhead ventilation from one end of the coop to the other can be helpful year round.

Chickens sneeze sometimes when they are eating feed or scratch, and as long as it isn’t the same one sneezing every few minutes, it may be environmental or normal.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I treated them both with baytril ... And it’s been 2 weeks now.

I’ll finish baytril and hope for the best!

How long have you been treating with Baytril?

 

[Eggcessive]

How long have you been treating with Baytril?

Good eye. Baytril is normally only given for 5 days.

 

[Ericadeer]

To first put it in the water for everyone because I figured it would spread to all of them. It didn’t seem to be helping any so I finished out the 5 days and stopped. Then I spoke with my vet who is the only one around me who has any experience at all with poultry and she said to try the baytril directly by mouth for the two affected for now, so I am on my 4th day of that. So there was probably a week break between those two treatments.

 

[Eggcessive]

I have never used Baytril, but others have said that many chickens will not take it in the water due to it’s bad taste. It is good that your vet is helpful to prescribe it. It is banned by the FDA in chickens, and a lot of vets are hesitant to prescribe it, even though most antibiotic are not approved for poultry. It is very effective against a wide variety of bacteria, such as MG and e.coli.