Sulfadimethoxine vs denegard

[nwbearcat1998]

My local vet recommended over the phone that I dose with sulfadimethoxine after describing respiratory disease but after reading online that you shouldn't give to chickens after 12 weeks of age and all of mine are.

My wyandotte hens just started laying, does this mean I can never eat the eggs again.

It's only been 36hrs of sulfadimethoxine, I'm thinking about switching to Denagard instead but worried that I have ruined my eggs with the sulfadimethoxine.

I'm hoping for some words of encouragement from this forum that I can switch safely to Denagard and wait 2-3 weeks of egg withdrawal.

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. Can you give any info the vet gave you as to what he thought they have, and can you describe symptoms? Is there any bad odor around the beak?

Sulfadimethoxine has been used in poultry for many years, for treatment of coccidiosis and coryza, and sulfamethazine was used longer. Most people use an egg withdrawal of 3 weeks, but there is no real egg withdrawal time, because as most antibiotics, it is not approved for poultry. A lot depends on if you use a drug to save their life. Is anyone who will be eating the eggs allergic to sulfa drugs?

Denagard is specifically for treatment of mycoplasma or MG, a respiratory disease. MG can cause bubbles in an eye, swelling of an eye, and conjunctivitis. Sulfa drugs are better for infectious coryza, a disease that may cause a bad odor around the beak. It is characterized by thick nasal drainage, swelling of the face, pus from an eye due to sinus infection, coughing and wheezing. Here is some reading about sulfa drugs:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...he-eggs-after-given-sulfadimethoxine.1163418/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/advice-needed-on-the-use-of-sulfadimethoxine.811819/

 

[nwbearcat1998]

Hello, I have a flock of 10 and am very new to chickens. I recently purchased 5 new birds from a auction to go from 5 to 10 birds.

One of my Brahma's started with crusty breathing and sneezing. Three of my others started doing the same thing with some nasal drainage and some eye swelling including my rooster. I had planned on o isolate but made the decision not to because the rooster had it and I knew he would've spread it to them all because he's very active.

I gave the 4 two doses of Tylan 50, 1/2cc, and the rest of the flock one dose and started the sulfadimethoxine yesterday afternoon after calling local vet.

 

[nwbearcat1998]

There has been no bad smells from the beak and I have no idea of any sulfa allergies in my family of four, two of which are littles, 4 and 2

 

[dawg53]

There's a five day slaughter withdrawal period and generally a 3 week egg withdrawal period after using sulfadimethoxine. I'd wait several days to see if there's any improvement before switching to Denagard, and especially after using tylan 50 (particularly for MG because tylan treats MG.)

Denagard specifically treats mycoplasma diseases as mentioned by Eggcessive. Since there's no foul odor coming from the birds' mouth, I'd go ahead and order the Denagard, you have nothing to lose.
You have to wait several days after using antibiotics to see if there's improvement, dont expect over night miracles after using them.

It's best not to acquire birds from auctions, yard sales, Craigslist, farmer down the road etc...
When you introduce new birds to your existing flock, you're risking the health of your flock. New birds should be quarantined away from your existing flock for at least 6 weeks to observe and inspect your new birds for parasites, symptoms of disease and their over all health. This is called 'biosecurity.'

It's best to purchase birds from hatcheries or trustworthy breeders.

 

[nwbearcat1998]

Thanks, it's interesting that none of the new birds are sick. It's just my existing flock.

I think I'm going to stop the sulfadimethoxine now and order the Denagard and if any symptoms are being shown this weekend, use the Denagard next week.

Thoughts??

 

[Eggcessive]

Your symptoms sound more like MG (mycoplasma,) so Tylan and denagard are probably the best. Why not try and get some testing on a few sick birds, which can be done by nasal or oral swabs here:
https://zoologix.com/zoo/index.htm
I haven’t used them, but others have said they have had help identifying respiratory diseases.

If hou should lose a bird or put it down, getting a necropsy on a refrigerated, but not frozen body can be an excellent way to identify the disease. Here is a list of state vets:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

 

[nwbearcat1998]

I did try calling zoologix last week and they told me that it's $95 for the respiratory panel. I'm not willing to spend that much to find out the type of respiratory disease.

I'm going to order the Denagard and start this weekend if symptoms are still present.

 

[Eggcessive]

They might do just a MG test, and not the whole panel for less, but I don’t know.

 

[nwbearcat1998]

They might do just a MG test, and not the whole panel for less, but I don’t know.

I asked and that was $65 Still more than I'm willing to spend