Uh oh....suspecting respritory disease in one of our birds...

[quip17]

We have 3 RIR's - over a year old, 2 are Heritage, one (Maple) is utility crossed with Leg Horn.

All were treated with a spray for fleas last month in an effort to get our Maple to start laying. They have all been bug-free since and Maple has started to regrow feathers. I was hopeful.
Now, Maple has become very "gurgly" and earlier this week, we discovered one eye was closed and there was a bump close to her beak area. I have been getting a couple polysporn eye drops in her eye once a day (maybe I should do more) and she will open it on and off through the day.

Today she just seemed really gurgly and there was a funky smell around her face

The other two seem to be find right now, all three of them are eating and drinking well and walking around when I let them out.
We have had the birds since the beginning of July.
I am located in Southwester Ontario. I don't know if I can get antibiotics for her or what the cost will be. There is a Farm Store around the corner from me and a TSC in town. From what I have read, injectable is best? I have given a diabetic cat insulin before, so I think I should be able to handle it.

Do I treat the other two as well? I will set up an isolation coop for Maple in our dry garden shed...and I will have to figure out where I can get medication for her. Do you think I can find it at TSC?

My other option, which I am not a fan of, is culling. I am just scared that it will be reoccuring and will affect my other two

I have pictures on my camera, I will try to get them off.

~Quip~

 

[Amykins]

Is there a vet that can take a look at her? From the sounds of it I really think this is beyond self-care and you need a professional diagnosis. :/

 

[Eggcessive]

With the bad odor and the facial swelling it could be coryza that you are dealing with. MG, infectious bronchitis, ILT, and coryza are the most common respiratory diseases in chickens. Coryza is best treated with Sulfadimethoxine or Sulmet. The others are best treated with Tylan or oxyteracycline to prevent secondary infections. Testing is the best way to know how to proceed. Culling is best to get it out of your flock. Hereis a link to read about these and other common diseases: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[welasharon]

I had a hen come down with coryza. It smells like warm road kill. Very unpleasant. After much agonizing I decided to cull. I hated it at the time but I have not regretted the decision. It is nasty stuff and I did not want to deal with it again or risk the others. She was an o shamo hen and was in with another hen and a cock. That has been over a year now and no one else has gotten it. No clue where it came from. I took every thing out and burned what I could and bleached the rest. Whatever you decide I wish you the best. Take precautions not to spread it. I dealt with her last and showered afterwards and had shoes just for that pen.

 

[seminolewind]

I was just wondering how birds can get something like coryza after having them a year? I don't know much about it.

 

[Eggcessive]

I was just wondering how birds can get something like coryza after having them a year? I don't know much about it.

I've never seen it, but a lot of people go to feed stores where people wear their barn shoes, and swap meets where sick birds may be around, and then you track it home on your shoes, hands, or from a new bird. If a neighboring farm has coryza, then yours may get it too, just by chickens intermingling or people walking back and forth. Wild birds are responsible for transmission of many diseases..

 

[quip17]

I have moved her into the kid's playhouse (and discovered it makes a great coop LOL) and either tomorrow or Monday I can check in at the farm store or TSC. I have no idea if there is a vet that would look at her. Is it possible for a vet to look at her at no cost??

Her face smells like - um - infection...that's the only way I can describe it. Mind you, I don't often stop to sniff road kill

She has always seemed sleepier than the other two. She is still active but not as active as the others.

My kids will be so sad We lost one of girls about 24 hrs after bringing them home. She just died in her sleep without any warning or signs of sickness. We figured it was stress from the move and having been through a big move with her previous owner a week before.

Should I treat the others for anything?

Emily

 

[welasharon]

I still have not figured out how mine got it. I had had her for over a year and a half. I got her from a breeder down below Miami, I drove 14 hours there to get her and some others. I am very careful about not adding random birds to my flock. The o shamos are extremely game so they do not come in contact with each other or other chickens. There aren't chickens near me. I have special shoes I wear in my pens...some for the front yard pens and others for the back yard pens. I have NEVER brought a bird in from a common chicken yard. I have tolbunt polish, breda, white faced black Spanish, modern games and my o shamos...with those I take special care. I just cannot imagine how she got it. I was sweating bullets there for a bit!

 

[quip17]

oh sorry, I am seeing above what the others should be treated with...

 

[welasharon]

It's been long enough now that I don't remember what I did for her initially but I never did treat the others. After cleaning and burning everything I watched and waited. It's now been over a year with no others. She smelt horrid and her head and face swelled up. She had mucus or something liquid coming out.


Mind you, I don't often stop to sniff road kill

haha yeah...I ride a motorcycle and that smell gets under the face shield and stays longer than I can hold my breath.