Update: Chicken still quarantined, still not sure what's wrong.

[MKandtheforce]

Here's a link to my previous thread concerning Chewbacca.

She seems to be a lot better. Her beak isn't as runny. Her main problem, however, is her eyes. She keeps them tightly closed, and when I open them, they're very watery and full of bubbles (mainly only one eye-- I can't tell if there's a real problem with the other or not). She's still eating like a champ, and even though she isn't too active, she never had been before and she's getting to be quite feisty when I hold her!

Does anyone have any more thoughts on what could be wrong with her and what I could do for her?

 

[Pyxis]

Sounds like mycoplasma if there's no smell. You want to treat her with Tylan or Tetracycline to cure the symptoms. Be warned she will carry it for life and she will get sick again any time she is stressed or her immune system is compromised. She'll also give it to your other birds, although from reading through the other thread where you said some were sneezing and sniffling, it sounds like they already have it too.

 

[Eggcessive]

Be sure that you keep the ammonia smell down in your coop by changing or stirring the litter and adding fresh because ammonia will keep eyes very irritated. Have a look at this link: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps031

 

[MKandtheforce]

Chewbacca is living in a little cage in the garage, and I change the bedding every couple days, so there's hardly any smell of ammonia. I also let her get outside time on nice days. I've been putting on vet-grade polysporin on her eye, but it doesn't seem to be doing anything.

There's only a very mild smell. If it's mycoplasma, will I have to cull her? And does giving her Tylan make it so I can't eat her eggs? Someone told me I can't eat eggs if she's had antibiotics. Regardless, if it's mycoplasma, should I not get any more chickens? I was hoping to get more next year.

For the rest of the flock, I've hardly noticed any sneezing lately, and nobody has discharge on their beaks or eyes.

 

[Pyxis]

I wouldn't eat the eggs if you put her on antibiotics. But if you don't put her on them, she will eventually get worse and die. You can get new birds, but she'll pass this sickness to them and they'll get it too and then you'll have to treat them and the cycle repeats. Any bird she gives it to will also carry it for life and shed it to other birds, and all sick birds will get sick again when they are stressed or immuno-compromised. So if you want to prevent all that, you'd have to cull her, yes Of course, it's also possible the rest of the flock already has it anyway and just had it more mildly than her. This information is true for both coryza and mycoplasma, but if she had coryza she'd stink to high heaven, so I'm leaning toward mycoplasma.

Also, you really don't want to EVER sell or give your birds to others, because then you'll pass on the disease to them and they'll have to go through the same thing. So once you get a bird, you have to keep it until it dies or you cull it. Same with hatching eggs - mycoplasma is really nasty in that it can pass to chicks right through the egg, so any chicks you hatch or are hatched from your eggs would likely have it too.

Sorry, it's a really sucky situation I myself had a mycoplasma scare last year and did tons of research and it's just not good.

 

[RhapsodyOwens]

Not sure of the symptoms here. One of my girls (RIR) had watery eyes, was walking stiff-legged, and was walking around puffed up like she was cold, with her wings hanging low. I wanted to try and stay away from antibiotics as much as possible, so I gave them all ACV and treated her with Epsom salt and olive oil. That was a month ago, and within 2 days she was right as rain, and laying great big eggs again.

 

[Pyxis]

Not sure of the symptoms here. One of my girls (RIR) had watery eyes, was walking stiff-legged, and was walking around puffed up like she was cold, with her wings hanging low. I wanted to try and stay away from antibiotics as much as possible, so I gave them all ACV and treated her with Epsom salt and olive oil. That was a month ago, and within 2 days she was right as rain, and laying great big eggs again.

Symptoms are nasal discharge, wheezing, eye discharge, bubbly foamy eyes, and I believe sneezing. Classic mycoplasma symptoms

 

[MKandtheforce]

Is there a test to see if it really is mycoplasma? I don't want to get more chickens in the future just to expose them to it. If she improves, I guess I won't cull her since she'd been with my flock before I noticed something was wrong, but I won't expose new chickens to the illness. This is so disheartening!

 

[Pyxis]

I asked the same thing when I took a chick to the vet and he jumped to the mycoplasma conclusion (really the chick just had a pecked eye and the one eye was watering because it was injured and he had no other symptoms; I've since learned that that vet says mycoplasma for EVERYTHING) and he told me there was a test, but it was costly, like over $100 costly. You could check with an exotic vet in your area and see what they tell you.

I'm really sorry, I know how bad this sucks. I got terrified after my vet told me the chick had mycoplasma. Since he was a TSC chick he had never been in contact with the rest of my flock, but I was still freaking out about him getting all the chicks sick and was panicking about if I would have to cull them and if not how to get them away from my flock and it was not. fun.

 

[MKandtheforce]

Oh wow. That's so expensive. It's expensive to just take a chicken to the vet, let alone that test.

I'm glad your chick ended up being okay. I hope Chewie gets better. I'll at least pick up the Tylan at the feed store today. :/