Sudden death in bird, now all birds have signs of respiratory illness

[flumpus]

about a month ago I posted a question about one of my chicks having a swollen eye and another keeping it's eye closed for a day. both of those issues seemed to resolve in a couple of weeks and i didn't think anything else of it.

today, i found one of my birds dead in the coop (RIP Tiny). she was the runt of the group and yesterday i noticed she didn't seem 100%. she was kind of isolated, her comb seemed paler and her feathers looked dirty, like she hadn't been preening. this morning she was flat on the floor of the coop, as though she had fallen off the roost. no injuries or anything signs that she had been picked on. the other birds seemed to avoid her.

it reminded me of another strange thing which happened about 2-3 days ago. i looked out my window and noticed a dead wild bird on our roof, which was odd. i thought a hawk might've dropped it there and left it, but again, no signs of injury and the other wild birds seemed to avoid it. it's worth mentioning my birds mingle with wild birds as they're free range and will get into each others' spaces occasionally when i throw scratch/treats out.

back to the rest of the flock - i noticed more sneezing coming from a bunch of different birds, although none seem as quiet and sick as the runt did. i noticed a gurgling sound in several hens, it kind of sounds like a hookah pipe or blowing bubbles into a drink. aside from that, they all have high energy and a big appetite. i added electrolytes to their water and gave them baby food which had a boost of vitamin C in it.

one of my laying hens, Marceline, started making strange jerking movements with her head along with odd sounds that i can't tell if they're coughing, hiccups, or a strange sneeze. she seemed to be doing the most poorly out of the group so i isolated her in the house and plan to get her to a vet tomorrow.

by now, i understand there is a respiratory illness going around - but which? does this sound like coryza? MG? avian flu? newcastle? can any of these viruses jump to people, cats or dogs? and what is the best course of treatment/mitigation? will it gradually improve on it's own, or does it require antibiotics? i really don't want to cull my whole flock, but i also don't want to spread this to more birds.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

The eye swelling is common in coryza and MG. Ultimately the only way to know is a necropsy. I’ve been having similar problems and buried my first bird. I regret it now and have already the phone number of my state’s necropsy lab, a chicken sized box, and some ice packs to send one in for necropsy if I lose another bird.

You also need to decide if you get a diagnoses if you want to keep an enclosed flock. Never get new birds or sell the old until they are all gone and you can start over. Or you can cull the entire flock and start over I can’t cull mine. Unfortunately I already had 22 eggs in the incubator so I had no choice but to grow my flock.

As far as I am aware coryza and MG don’t transmit to humans and coryza does not transfer to eggs if you’re wanting to hatch chicks.

I hope things start looking up for you. I’m sorry you’re dealing with this.

 

[Mamatomany123]

The eye swelling is common in coryza and MG. Ultimately the only way to know is a necropsy. I’ve been having similar problems and buried my first bird. I regret it now and have already the phone number of my state’s necropsy lab, a chicken sized box, and some ice packs to send one in for necropsy if I lose another bird.

You also need to decide if you get a diagnoses if you want to keep an enclosed flock. Never get new birds or sell the old until they are all gone and you can start over. Or you can cull the entire flock and start over I can’t cull mine. Unfortunately I already had 22 eggs in the incubator so I had no choice but to grow my flock.

As far as I am aware coryza and MG don’t transmit to humans and coryza does not transfer to eggs if you’re wanting to hatch chicks.

I hope things start looking up for you. I’m sorry you’re dealing with this.

I agree with this. You can treat. I did with tylan 200. But the birds will stay carriers for life. Here is one of my girls when my flock got sick. 6 out of 10 showed symptoms, 1 almost died because she had mucus stuck. I managed to help her. 4 showed zero.symptoms but I know they are still carriers as they were exposed. I chose to close my flock. I did, unwillingly, end up with 4 more chicks and so far they have showed no symptoms at 8 weeks old but, like I said, 4 of my older girls bever did either.