Tylan 50 for Infectious Bronchitis? Any advice on IB or CG?

[CatJane0x0]

Hey-- curious about using Tylan on my infected birds. I have 14 of them currently. 6 have died so far and were a bit younger. My oldest chicks (about a month old) have it the worst. I got most of them from Tractor Supply.

I started with 6 because it was the minimum you could buy....but feel horrible because I bought 3 silkies from a lady at a farm and the 2 smallest ones died within a couple days. Next two small Red chicks from TSC died the same way suddenly within a few days to make me figure the worst. But my remaining 5 chicks seemed wonderful including the remaining silkie and remained so....for the time.

I started the chicks in the bathroom with a light and a good floor heater. I checked them often to be panting in case it got too warm for their liking. Once the silkies and two reds passed away, they all seemed happy and content in there. Plenty of clean, dry bedding -- newspaper under paper towel. Always well watered and fed. Time went by and they all seemed bright eyed and happy. At night on April 28th, I noticed one chick had a sneeze. I figured it to be dust since I never encountered problems with extreme illnesses and her eyes were bright. Through the next days on I figured all was well since I didn't see too much else going on in there besides the now and then sneeze. (I feel awful about this.) Since they seemed well to me... I went out on May 1st (last shipment they'd get) and brought home some more from Tractor Supply. Just a few days ago I noticed bubbly eyes and also the nostrils. A couple of the ones from May 1st already show signs of sickness as well and have been put in the sick box with the water antibiotics.

They have a lot of clear mucus -- sometimes bubbling -- from their noses. They sneeze constantly and a few have bubbles in their eyes. One has a really bad eye with a horrible red ring today and can hardly open her eyes. Recently...they seem very tired and raise their necks up and gasp. Some seem to mouth breathe and I can hear mucus. I gave them antibiotics in their water for now. I didn't know what else to do. Should I give another water jar with electrolytes also for them?



I asked the people at Tractor Supply and they have never seen this. I don't believe their chicks had it. I can't say the same for the woman's farm yet. Could I have done this to them somehow just from keeping them? I grew up with many chickens and never saw this before. It is my first personal batch to raise on my own so I feel terrible!

I am preparing to pay out for a Necropsy on one or more of them in order to be sure. One of my smaller chicks passed away this morning and is in the fridge as I am told not to freeze them. The vet told me it may cost about hundred bucks to send them out for tests, but I know I need to do this.

If it is IB or MG even....is permanent in both cases? Will they be carriers? My Tractor Supply store has the Tylan 50.....should I give it a go? And if so, what is the dosage?

I am wondering if and when I may have to put down all my chicks....I wish I didn't have to do this. I don't want them to suffer and I don't want to encourage a virus or terrible diseases. I don't want to make any more bad mistakes. For what it is worth, I have learned A LOT and will be very cautious after the final day of this comes. Something that makes it all worse id that I have 2 mail ordered runner ducklings coming on the 19th and I may have to give them away for their safety. This really crushes me. But a lesson learned the hard way.

Thank you!!
(By the way...hello. This is my first post. )

Cat Jane

 

[chickenzoo]

Sorry this is your first post. It sounds a bit like MG, but the necropsy will let you know. I would contact your State Dept Of Animal & Agriculture, they often do necropsy s way cheaper than a vet - like free to $30 is what I pay here for up to 3 birds. they will also help you with info of what to do. If these birds are just pets, then treatment with Tylan, LA200 or better is Baytril from a vet is advisted. If you plan to breed your birds it is more difficult of a decision as many illnesses are thought to stay subdued until stressed and reoccur and spread. There are some vaccines on the market, and also some new products that have good success in treatment on many, it just depends on what they have.

 

[Tangerine farmer]

I brought home 4 chicks who infected my other 3 hens. I put them on Sulmet (after finding no luck with the teramycin drugs) ... that seemed to certainly help the sneezing and nose goo and the smell. it took a few days but then I had other issues and don't know if they are related to the mycoplasma bug or if I also have other issues working in my little flock/

Then I read about an antibiotic called Denagard (it's a tiamutin).. it supposedly will cure your carriers over a period of time..(you give it for a few days about every month.. you can still eat the eggs while dosing!!) It also addresses the swollen joint issue that mycoplasmas cause. This is my current problem.

I will not cull my carriers. I figure if I bring home more chicks and they get the disease, then they will get the med and become a carrier. I am not a breeder so they will not leave the farm.

You can check the search feature up at the top of the page and see what you can read about Denagard. I am throwing all my ammo at the chickens now and this is the last of the ammo/ I hope it "cures" them like one of the posters claims. I bought it at www.ValleyVetsupply.com and it cost $57 with shipping etc

You sound like you are not concerned with the joint problems, but the respiratory will (should) clear up with Sulmet,.. it could take a little while.

A necropsy will be great!! then you will know for sure.

 

[CatJane0x0]

Thanks so much for the advice! I do plan to have the vet send a dead chick over to MSU unless I get hold of them myself first -- the office near here is closed until Tuesday. I am waiting on our vet to call today yet. She had an emergency yesterday afternoon and actually left the clinic so I couldn't take the chicks in for check over advice and send in the sample chick(s). They are closed until Monday, but I was promised a call today. I hope I can take the fridge chick in today if they will let me drop it off at least before it becomes useless. I don't want it in my fridge for too much longer either! It makes me sad and nervous seeing it in there. I don't want to have to kill a living chick unless it is to end suffering or the doc tells me more sample chicks would be best for the lab results.

I do not plan to start over and breed them from what I know now. I would be afraid to have people bringing those bad germs and viruses back over since I most likely got this from the breeder near by. I found out that she attends a lot of swap meets which raises the odds. Also, I haven't broken that sensitive barrier of putting an animal down myself. I just hope I don't have to yet with these little guys.

Anyhow, thank you guys for the replies! I will look into the Denagard and Sulmet after I post this.


I'll update here when I get useful news. I look forward to peace of mind and peace for my chickens.



Cat Jane

 

[CatJane0x0]

...Well, they are gone. My mind is pretty numb, but I did it. I let them go a few hours ago and I feel terrible. I truly felt like joining them when it was done. At least they are at peace now.


This morning, I called the grain stores about this disease today and they told me they were unfamiliar with ever seeing or hearing of this sickness. I called the Alpena county MSU extension office this also after waiting with blood shot eyes all night and they told me they couldn't help me and also that they didn't know what a necropsy was. They told me to go online and check websites on the disease...which I have done at least 15 hours of already. They both sounded somewhat annoyed with me to top it off. Finally, I called the Alpena vet clinic asking again about a necropsy and the price. The secretary told me they could put the chicks down for reasonable price probably and would ask the doctor for prices on that and the necropsy. They didn't call back yet on it. I went to check on the chicks after resting through some of the afternoon and another little one had passed away.

I realized I had to figure this out alone aside from the help I have gotten from various members of this forum. I want to thank all of posters out there whether anyone sees this or not. I spent many hours reading what you've been though. Thanks to speckledhen for all of her very useful advice. Purple Chicken was very kind to help me come to my final choice. Thanks BYC for so much help and valuable information.


RIP my little 'lets. I'm sorry.


Cat Jane

 

[skya328]

I'm so sorry to hear that.

What a horrible decision to have to make. I've been dealing with some sick chickens (mainly young ones but now 2 older birds are sick) and I'm hoping it doesn't come to that for me, too.

 

[CatJane0x0]

UPDATE: The other night I had used Starter Fluid to do the job. I regret my weakness towards putting an animal down the quick way now that I have tried this method. I soaked a big rag with it and put it into a snap shut storage bin. I am not sure if they felt anything or not. I certainly recommend the more common ways mentioned on this board....if you have to do this. A crunch sound or seeing blood is better to remember in my opinion. Well, I left for a few hours. I was told it would work and to let them be for a while and that they didn't know what was happening. I came back four hours later (sometime after posting last night figuring them all gone) to find three of them still alive! They were cold and slightly dizzy...but very well aware of me watching them. It was so terrible. I felt like some jerk scientist with a bunch of specimens. Poor little guys. I took the three inside to check them over. I wanted to know just how much to hate myself I guess. I couldn't do it again...it upset me too much. I was preparing to put them down properly when I'd opened up the carrier (about 10 minutes or so later) and they came out instantly and started pecking around and looking at me with their little trusting eyes. I felt like a monster. I still do. At the same time I laughed very slightly because they seemed so stupid at that particular moment. At least they made it easier on me slightly when I saw that. I just want to say that if someone could live and not even pass out through that out in the cold weather....they have more than earned the right to live, right? I feel like hanging out in that box for a while.

Right now, I have the surviving few in the basement in a wire bottom cage with plenty of space. I have been watching them very closely.... especially after that whole event. They seem as they were before like it had never happened. I am both confused and upset about the whole thing. I just don't know what to do now.


To Skya328 -- Yeah, I hope the best over there for your choice. I am torn on whether I did the right thing or not in my case. Now I have three to decide the fates of along with two that have shown no signs yet. I am leaning on getting Denagard as mentioned above by Tangerine farmer. I don't know if I could do the injection types -- I think you have to with Tylan 50? I just don't understand this disease and I am not sure which it is yet even. I just couldn't take seeing the smaller ones wasting away either. I imagined seeing my ducks or other birds getting it, too. I was afraid of what could have came out of keeping so many of them going together with this illness at once.

 

[CatJane0x0]

I called the vet and finally sent out three chicks for the necropsy yesterday. The total was $120 for it to be done over at MSU for anyone that may wonder at some point. I didn't get a date for the results, but I am hoping they get here in a week or so. I will update once more when the results arrive.

I still have the five others down in the basement...awaiting their fates.

1 EE cockerel named Edgar
1 Red cockerel named Lou
2 brown pullets named Aloe & Rosemary
1 black sex-link pullet named Millie.

 

[CatJane0x0]

Well, the results came back this morning...and we don't know what to think. The vet told me that the pathologist found no diseases and that the birds were clean. The vet also told me that stress or improper heating probably caused the birds to become dehydrated and then pass away. She said dehydration made the chicks get the respiratory issues, bubbly eyes and runny noses. I sent one in that I had put down myself because he was showing all the symptoms-- he had been drinking plenty. The other two I know weren't drinking as much as they should have been, but I could feed them from my hand. I don't know why they wouldn't take to drinking even when beak-dipped. The chicks never seemed troubled since the first issue hit with the early four until this respiratory sickness showed up around a month of age. I thought the only way chicks got respiratory illnesses other than from diseases was from mold, irritable bedding types and ammonia. I had none of that present. I fed my chicks Dumor starter\\grower and sometimes boiled egg yolk & baby oatmeal. If a chick became dehydrated, as I have seen many times in the past, you simply dip the beak and hope for the best...not prepare for a spread of sickness to all. On the farm, chicks have wandered through damp grass\\chilly wind while separated or fallen into dishes....they usually either live or die of pneumonia. Not this odd sickness. I can't figure it out because I didn't lose a single hatched button quail. All nine are doing fine and getting big! I had to make them a bigger cage quickly! I raised them in the same heated room in the same style care. I kept them warm with brooder lights and a floor heater. I watched them to be panting or too huddled.


The final thing that concerns me now is my last five chicks. The vet told me that the ones who survive will be just fine and that I can put them with other chickens and not fear infecting my friends' flocks. I am not sure. She also told me to give antibiotics to my chicks...earlier on she had told me to give it even to the ones who seemed fine at the time. I am not too sure how I feel about using antibiotics at all. I wonder if when I gave the chicks that during the first problem if it made their immune systems overly weak and caused this current problem somehow. I have no idea, but I will not use it anymore. I don't care what she told me to do. Good old electrolytes are what my family always used in the past. That is what my runner duckling are getting as well...no antibiotics.

Well there went 120 dollars and on the other hand I put down\\lost so many chicks. I am not sure how to feel right now.


I currently plan to let the little guys keep fighting it and if they symptoms go away down the road, I will put a semi-grown pullet from a friend's farm in to test for a period. I don't know what else I can do...I still want to be cautious even despite what the doc said.

 

[speckledhen]

She said dehydration made the chicks get the respiratory issues, bubbly eyes and runny noses.

I hate to disagree with a vet, but that doesn't even make good sense. I think the test was wrong or they did the wrong test, personally. I think the birds you bought from the local person were carriers of something. If your TSC does things the way the others have that I've seen and keep chicks out in open tubs for everyone to handle, that alone could have passed something to those chicks, if they were handled by someone with sick chickens.

I believe you did the right thing by culling them. It's what I would have done. I will never treat respiratory illness here. All you do is weaken your flock, overall, when you do that. I'm so sorry for all the stress. I had not commented on your thread before because I rarely come into the Diseases area anymore. It's just too depressing for me.​