Sneezing, bubbly eyes and crusty beaks

[nuttinfancy]

The lab couldn't find the report on my hen and said they would call when they did- no word from them all week. Hopefully results will be in soon. I was told by the vet Tuesday to return to plain water for the other hens but went out today and 4 are sneezing-2 with small amount of crust on the top of the beak. So back to medicating. I immediately mixed the Duramycin (5 tsps.) to one gallon of water. I hope they get that report and let me know what I am dealing with.
I am also building a new coop today and moving the girls over to it to see if that helps-if it is something in their coop maybe I can keep it clean and empty long enough to kill it.

 

[Eggcessive]

With the disease your flock has with the foul smell, I would think it was infectious coryza. MG or mycoplasma can be a secondary infection of severe coryza. Here are a couple of good articles that tell you about the disease and how long the coryza bacteria are infectious after cleaning and disinfecting:
http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/pou...overview_of_infectious_coryza_in_poultry.html
http://showsilkies.com/index.php?op...2:infectious-coryza&catid=87:disease-database

 

[nuttinfancy]

Talked to the Dr. Necropsy showed + for MS (Mycoplasma synoviae) . There are still a couple tests to come back and he thinks we may have Bronchitis or Newcastle along with the MS. I am relieved to know it isn't Coryza. We aren't out of the woods with the threat of losing more ( as some are still sick) but it is good to know what I am facing now.
Treatment is to keep them on 5 tsp. Duramycin per gallon water and bring them off it after 7 days. We may have to do a round or 2 more of antibiotics until the weather gets more stable.
While they may remain carriers of the MS, I can still get new flocks and raise more offspring. Of course I won't be adding new ones right away. I have been in fear of having to cull the whole flock and it is such a relief to know I shouldn't have to do that. Hope this helps someone else out there. I am so glad I contacted the State Lab and had the necropsy done. I would recommend everyone dealing with something like this to do the same. In most states, necropsies are free of charge.

 

[Eggcessive]

Thank you so much for the follow-up about your necropsy results. There are other good antibiotics to treat mycoplasma if the Duramycin stops working. Erythromycin (brand name Gallimycin) and Tylosin (Tylan Soluble Powder, or Tylan 50 injectable) will treat mycoplasma as well as the tetracycline drugs that you are using. There are 3 types of Newcastles disease, and the worst kind Exotic Newcastles is not found in the US. I wish you luck with your flock, and please keep us posted if there are more results.

 

[nuttinfancy]

I received the final necropsy report yesterday- luckily no Newcastle or Bronchitis, Final diagnosis was MS with Sinusitis and Conjunctivitis for my gal Lila. Poor girl just couldn't recover from all those going through her at one time. The stag I lost had all the same symptoms except for the swollen eye so he probably had the same.

I have 2 options for dealing with the MS. I can cull the whole flock, clean all coops, wait a month and start with only tested fowl and pray that a wild bird or some other carrier doesn't enter the yard OR keep all that I have and work out a thorough biosecurity plan to keep all symptoms at a minimum. The latter would require monthly dosing with antibiotics which would interfere with my plans for my flock. It would be impossible to eat or sell eggs when they are continually on antibiotics.

My dream was to start a breeding program for some of the rarest breeds so, much thought as to which road to travel. I love my little rescued flock and have a tough decision to make as I would never subject other fowl to this awful disease nor would I deliberately sell a chicken that may be positive for MS.

Hope this thread has helped someone else and if you have any questions I can relay to you what I have been told by my vet and share my experience with you.

A bit of advice I can share- if you are going to sell birds, please find someone to do testing ( from what I understand a blood test can be done) to see if your flock is carrying this as not all will show signs of the illness but can certainly pass it on to others.

 

[dawg53]

Sorry you're going through this. Perhaps there was a carrier in your rescued flock without your knowledge. Good luck with whatever decision you make.

 

[chickwhispers]

So sorry about your troubles. I hope the rest all get better! Good luck to you!

 

[OldChurchEggery1]

What dawg53 said could be what happened. It's for that reason that I'll never get adult birds again. I had to put down everything I had after I bought a beautiful trio of Jersey Giants at our state poultry show. Since only Avian Influenza testing is needed to show, they must have come into contact with ILT or something else floating around at the show. Even after an isolation period of 2 weeks I observed nothing and integrated them into my flock. It was not long after that I noticed some snicking in the coop at night when I closed up the flock. Within days my own birds started crusting up with watery eyes and started dropping like flies. The state vet told me it would be okay to save eggs from the flock to hatch so all of my juveniles and adults had to be put down and the carcasses burned. It was such a major disappointment and my daughter was really upset by the whole affair. She did like all the hatching that took place afterward, though! It was a drastic route to take, but I did not want to knowingly sell birds that could have been carriers.

 

[nuttinfancy]

Thank you. It is going to be a difficult decision but I want what is best for them. It is an awful thing to watch one get so sick and if they aren't going to have a good quality of life it may be best to let them go. There are 3 left that showed the symptoms and one of them is sick again now-I don't expect her to pull through it this time.
I am wrestling with the thought of culling those 3 and monitoring how things go from there. Any thoughts? How would some of you handle it? And don't worry about offending me- I understand if you all would cull..

 

[nuttinfancy]

What dawg53 said could be what happened. It's for that reason that I'll never get adult birds again. I had to put down everything I had after I bought a beautiful trio of Jersey Giants at our state poultry show. Since only Avian Influenza testing is needed to show, they must have come into contact with ILT or something else floating around at the show. Even after an isolation period of 2 weeks I observed nothing and integrated them into my flock. It was not long after that I noticed some snicking in the coop at night when I closed up the flock. Within days my own birds started crusting up with watery eyes and started dropping like flies. The state vet told me it would be okay to save eggs from the flock to hatch so all of my juveniles and adults had to be put down and the carcasses burned. It was such a major disappointment and my daughter was really upset by the whole affair. She did like all the hatching that took place afterward, though! It was a drastic route to take, but I did not want to knowingly sell birds that could have been carriers.

So sorry you had to deal with that! I am glad to hear you got to hatch from the original flock. I thought of collecting my eggs but they are on antibiotics now and I know that isn't a wise choice to hatch with medication. I hope I don't sound cold or callous but it would be an easier decision if they were all sickly-most are fine, happy birds and that makes it hard.