Sneezing, head-shaking, runny nose, already on Gallimycin

[sashanellie]

Hi everyone,
My situation is - I know it is respiratory. I know from reading so many posts about this that I must NOT add to my flock. The girls have been on Gallimycin for a few days so far (5). Their noses DID clear up mostly, but one is still runny and sneezing.

My hens are free ranging, but in the coop at night. For the last few days they have been in the coop/run with the medicine water, etc. This morning I found one round-worm in someone's poop. A different problem, but I recently wormed with Wazine and here's my need for advice:

1) I am SICK of treating the girls with medicine, and I want to eat the eggs again.

2) Knowing that I can't add to the flock, but don't want to cull unless they appear to be suffering, can I just let them live with the symptoms, wait another week, and start eating eggs again?

3) The sneezy one is still an older pullet, and has not even started laying. She's so pretty, a creamy splash marans.

Advice? Thanks so much.

 

[Eggcessive]

If they are suffering from a virus such as infectious bronchitis, the disease will have to run it's course over 3-4 weeks or so. Antibiotics will only be useful to help prevent secondary bacterial infections which are common. If I were you, I would get a sick bird tested by the state vet or local agricultural agent to see if it is IB, MG, or whatever. That way, you will know exactly what you are dealing with, and how to treat it. IB will make your flock carriers for up to a year after they have all recovered, but MG, coryza, ILT will make them carriers for life. Are sneezing and runny nose the only symptoms? The egg withdrawal time for Gallimycin is 1 day, but for Wazine, it is 14 days. Here are links about those diseases, and some for your state vet in the US, and testing centers around the country:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044
http://www.usaha.org/Portals/6/StateAnimalHealthOfficials.pdf
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/nahln/downloads/all_nahln_lab_list.pdf

 

[sashanellie]

Thank you so much for such specific information. I will follow up with the testing.
Symptoms:
* sneezing
* nasally sound
* runny nose
* occasional puffy eye but not right now
* black nasal crust which has basically gone on all but the sneezy one since the gallimycin