Sneezing and finished 2nd antib’s

[Keziamm]

Hi,
Hoping for advice and insight. Please excuse the waffle…
I’ve had chickens for over a decade…I like my big girls. Last summer there was a solo bedraggled looking polish frizzle needing a home. My heart went out and she joined our flock. This winter I saw “cold stress” for the first time and she is currently a house hen!

I then got paranoid about “cold stress” and our usa silkie Hekate. Her snuggle buddie passed late summer.

Enter patient zero! I went against my ethos and “bought” Hekate a friend. I went to, apparently, a reputable silkie breeder.
Within 48 hrs 2 original flock members had respiratory symptoms. Rattling resps, sneezing and clear, runny nasal discharge. Patient zero Hella, a hybrid Budgie and a Brahma, Merida all then isolated into kitchen!!! Once in we saw Hella (patient zero) had a small amount of sticky discharge to 1 nostril and a dry sounding sneeze.

A course of antibiotics for all 3. Budgie and Merida showed vast improvement in 3 days. We finished the antibiotics, Merida and Budgie made a break for freedom back to the flock. (No further resp. issues in flock)

Hella, in herself, is fine. She’s active, chatty, eating, drinking, pooping normally. She’s lay 2 eggs and now had 2 full courses of different antibiotics. She still has an intermittent “dry” sounding sneeze; her discharge is minimal and I only need to wipe away a small smidge every 2-3 days.

Any clues how to move forward? Yet more antibiotics?!
Or do we have another house hen and still no snuggle buddy for Hekate?!?

(Flubenvet worming up to date, poultry tonic in water, acv in another water bowl. Warm porridge with probiotics, vits, minerals every frosty morning. Fed ad-lib layers pellets, greens a plenty and frequent theft of rabbit pellets and hay!)

 

[Pyxis]

What antibiotics are you trying? Not all respiratory diseases can be treated with the same antibiotics.

Some are also viruses, and can't be treated at all aside from supportive care, and must just run their course.

Also be aware that most of them are incurable - the birds will always carry them and you will get symptoms when the birds are stressed, like molting or during cold weather, etc. Also means you should never sell or give away any birds, or you will be spreading it.

You can get testing done if you want to find out which disease specifically it is, which can tell you which antibiotic to use and if you do have one of the ones that aren't going to ever be cured.

 

[Eggcessive]

Some respiratory diseases can be caused by viruses, and no antibiotics will help. They have to run their course over weeks or a month or so. Infectious bronchitis is a common one. What antibiotics have you given? For mycoplasma (MG,) Tylosin and oxytetracyclines are usually effective in treating symptoms. Other antibiotics may not. I would close your flock to new birds coming in or going out of the flock for life, or until you can find out what disease they carry. Infectious bronchitis makes them carriers for 5 months to a year. MG makes them carriers for life.

 

[Keziamm]

Baytril 10 days from the first vet - that sorted Budgie and Merida. Hella then went onto doxycycline 5 day course. There was a reduction in discharge from doxycycline- maybe should’ve been a longer course? (I’d never had baytril prescribed for my hens before!)

So, swab for testing and by sounds of it a tricky conversation with the breeder.

That’s all so much food for thought. Lots of help, thank you.

Don’t worry though, I don’t sell or give away…they’re all pets first. Our legbar passed at 12 yrs old.