Sneezing and wheezing

[Wyorp Rock]

Rinse the pullet's eye with saline, see if she's got any type of debris in it.

Bubbles could indicate Mycoplasma, look to see if she's got mucous in the nostrils, anything inside the beak, etc.

 

[Mason Farm and Ranch]

Now with the addition of foamy eye symptom, it seems it has little chance not to be mycoplasma, right? I Googled it and couldn't find anything else with that symptom, but please, please, please tell me I'm wrong!

You're not wrong. Bubble Eye is almost exclusively a symptom of Mycoplasma Gallisepticum.

No biggie. You already did the hard part, you caught it, and you caught it early.

It's a respiratory infection. You get them, I get them, birds get them. Some articles act like it's some horrible contagious disease that requires you purge your flock. The reality is, most backyard chickens have it. You would only need to cull your flock if they are specifically a breeding flock. Even if you manage to obtain a MG free bird, they will likely pick it up. Birds fly over your coop can poop it right in there. And if one has it, it's likely they all have it. The recent stresses probably made it flare up.

A dose of Oxytetracycline will clear it up. Mycoplasma is resistant to antibiotics, additional treatmentay be needed, and occasional flare ups occur.

 

[NestingMillenial]

Ok, so I checked them both, nostrils and beak.

The BC Maran was fine though I could still hear her breathing same as yesterday.

The Barnevelder, the one with a foamy eye yesterday, her eye was now a bit red/irritated looking and I could see that there might have been some nasal discharge during the night (though her beak was now dry). Cleaned her with saline and looked in her beak: see picture. Is that plaque also a symptom of the mycoplasma or is it possible some chickens of the flock also have wet fowl pox (so far I only saw dry fowl pox on the others, but I haven't rechecked all their throats recently).

I was reading an older thread with the same symptoms about breathing and foamy eyes, and turns out it was e-coli: you think it possible here, or am I just grasping at straws?

The only vet where I live who see chickens says they won't be able to see any before 3-4 weeks out. I was thinking of sending a test to my State vet but that will probably take days before we get a result (for example, they apparently have a pre-registration process that can take a couple before I can even send a sample). I am warry of blindly treating with antibiotics, but should I go ahead and treat with Oxytetracycline? Or maybe with whichever antibiotics is broader spectrum, in case there's still any doubt about the cause herew? while registering with the state vet and sending the sample. Or would it just make it worse?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Is there a bad odor?
The yellow material could be from sinus infection due to MG but it could also be canker.

Chickens get respiratory diseases. MG is a contagious respiratory disease that will make birds carriers for life and they can relapse from time to time. Symptoms can sometimes be managed with antibiotics, but there is no cure. Respiratory diseases also affect the overall health of the chicken and have been known to affect the reproductive system.

It's best to go ahead and start with your lab and get this going so you can find out what you're dealing with so you know how to treat and move forward.

For MG, Tylan/Tylosin is commonly used to treat symptoms. Eyes would still need to cleaned/flushed with saline and if there's swelling, Terramycin in the eyes as well. For the material inside the beak - it's best to determine if it's MG, Canker or ? Canker is from a protozoa and would require different medication.


Here's some reading about diseases
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/ps044

 

[NestingMillenial]

Is there a bad odor?
The yellow material could be from sinus infection due to MG but it could also be canker

I didn't notice a bad odor but I'm also coming down with a cold or something so I might not be able to tell.
I mentioned wet fowl pow because my flock is going through the dry form right now (you actually helped me with the one who showed symptoms first in another thread)

It's best to go ahead and start with your lab and get this going so you can find out what you're dealing with so you know how to treat and move forward.

Ok!
I have started the paperwork yesterday with the state vet. Hopefully they'll process it quickly and I can order a battery of tests ASAP, and proceed from there.

If that's mycoplasma, I read some accounts where relapses happened every month or even couple weeks, and required antibiotics all iver again : is that likely?

Ethically speaking, I'm also not sure about how much damage to wildlife I'd be inflicting by keeping a reservoir flock of MG carriers (they free range the backyard all day every day so they're not contained much). Not to mention repeatedly using antibiotics doesn't help with breeding antibiotics resistance... I really really don't want to cull my pullets, I already grew attached to them, but I'm wondering what the future will look like if that's MG and I try to keep them as a close flock.

 

[Mason Farm and Ranch]

Ok, so I checked them both, nostrils and beak.

The BC Maran was fine though I could still hear her breathing same as yesterday.

The Barnevelder, the one with a foamy eye yesterday, her eye was now a bit red/irritated looking and I could see that there might have been some nasal discharge during the night (though her beak was now dry). Cleaned her with saline and looked in her beak: see picture. Is that plaque also a symptom of the mycoplasma or is it possible some chickens of the flock also have wet fowl pox (so far I only saw dry fowl pox on the others, but I haven't rechecked all their throats recently).

I was reading an older thread with the same symptoms about breathing and foamy eyes, and turns out it was e-coli: you think it possible here, or am I just grasping at straws?

The only vet where I live who see chickens says they won't be able to see any before 3-4 weeks out. I was thinking of sending a test to my State vet but that will probably take days before we get a result (for example, they apparently have a pre-registration process that can take a couple before I can even send a sample). I am warry of blindly treating with antibiotics, but should I go ahead and treat with Oxytetracycline? Or maybe with whichever antibiotics is broader spectrum, in case there's still any doubt about the cause herew? while registering with the state vet and sending the sample. Or would it just make it worse?

Plaques form from MG. The mouth is a common place. Yes, treat with the Oxytetracycline. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO REMOVE THE PLAQUE. It will fall off on it's own.

With the plaques, you may need to treat with Metronidazole orally. But be sure to provide a vitamin boost. In my experience Metronidazole can cause wryneck if the bird is not eating properly.

 

[Mason Farm and Ranch]

Ok, so I checked them both, nostrils and beak.

The BC Maran was fine though I could still hear her breathing same as yesterday.

The Barnevelder, the one with a foamy eye yesterday, her eye was now a bit red/irritated looking and I could see that there might have been some nasal discharge during the night (though her beak was now dry). Cleaned her with saline and looked in her beak: see picture. Is that plaque also a symptom of the mycoplasma or is it possible some chickens of the flock also have wet fowl pox (so far I only saw dry fowl pox on the others, but I haven't rechecked all their throats recently).

I was reading an older thread with the same symptoms about breathing and foamy eyes, and turns out it was e-coli: you think it possible here, or am I just grasping at straws?

The only vet where I live who see chickens says they won't be able to see any before 3-4 weeks out. I was thinking of sending a test to my State vet but that will probably take days before we get a result (for example, they apparently have a pre-registration process that can take a couple before I can even send a sample). I am warry of blindly treating with antibiotics, but should I go ahead and treat with Oxytetracycline? Or maybe with whichever antibiotics is broader spectrum, in case there's still any doubt about the cause herew? while registering with the state vet and sending the sample. Or would it just make it worse?

Oh, fowl pox. If you have Valacyclovir, it will clear up symptoms quickly in a bird with a severe case. My Cream Legbar got it pretty bad. Her comb was so heavily covered in lesions it fell over her eyes and she couldn't see.

I crushed up a 1000 mg tablet in 30 ml of water and gave her a dropper full twice a day. She was clearing up within the next day.

It's not a cure, it just clears the symptoms. You can check poultrydmv.org for dosage if you want to be more precise.

 

[NestingMillenial]

Ok, thank you. I will look into all of those and see if I can get that without a prescription (no vet here have accepted to help in any form as long as it's for a chicken or that I am not a registered patient, which they said themselves would take weeks - I am a broken record, but this is all so infuriating)

 

[Mason Farm and Ranch]

Ok, thank you. I will look into all of those and see if I can get that without a prescription (no vet here have accepted to help in any form as long as it's for a chicken or that I am not a registered patient, which they said themselves would take weeks - I am a broken record, but this is all so infuriating)

Metronidazole you can purchase from an aquatic supplier. It is sold as a fish antibiotic. Oxytetracycline is sold at TSC and feed stores. Valacyclovir is the generic name for Valtrex, unfortunately it is a prescription only medicine.


Believe it or not, I got it for shingles outbreak. Shingles is a chicken pox and like both, fowl pox is a herpes virus. I figured if it worked for one... Poultrydmv.org shows it to be viable for fowl pox virus too. It wasn't a huge leap.

 

[NestingMillenial]

Ok, I'll get started on finding what you tow @Wyorp Rock and @Mason Farm and Ranch recommended, drug wise. I will try and get them tested first, if that's possible to get results within a day or two, otherwise I guess I will just treat them with antibiotics for the very likely mycoplasma at least, and wait results for the mouth (in case it's canker I mean).

Tylan/Tylosin or Oxytetracycline -> do you guys have suggestions when it comes to dosage and administration routes (injections and where, or orally, etc) for either of those?