UPDATE: Sneezing Chick / Runny Poo

[amyc]

So this afternoon I noticed that one of my BR chicks (3 weeks old) was sneezing. She does it pretty frequently, about every couple minutes. I also noticed she had a very runny poo that shot out a couple inches.

I segregated her and she's inside and I hope she's OK, but I'm also worried about the other 14 chicks that were in with her. I did have to cull a bird today - but she wasn't exhibiting the same symptoms. The culled bird wasn't eating or drinking, gasping for breath - but no runny poo or sneezing.

So, does anyone have any ideas what this could be? Any suggestions on how to keep it from spreading to the others?

 

[amyc]

Any ideas? I'm a paranoid chick mom....

 

[threehorses]

Well both are showing respiratory symptoms, I wouldn't call it a coincidence myself.

First things first - separate her. Always do the chores with her last. You'll need to give her something to get her gut back on track (Probiotics - living bacteria) and something to help her not get dehydrated from the diarrhea (electrolytes, pedialyte, etc).

What color are the droppings of this ill bird? Anything else you can tell us about the one culled? Same flock, same age, etc?

What's this bird eating? medicated food? If so, with what exactly?

Can you fill in a little more information for us please?

 

[amyc]

Sorry - the bird I culled was same age, 3 weeks old. They were in the same brooder together. They're on a medicated chick starter (20%) only - no treats.

The sick BR's poo was mostly clear, with a little bit of brown to it, but very liquidy.

UPDATE: This morning two more birds from the same flock are sneezing (didn't notice poo - got them out right away). I noticed the poo in the sick room from the first sickie was normal from overnight though.

I will get them some yogurt to put in with them, and a little pedialyte. They seem to be drinking OK, and the first sickie was eating when I went in to check on him this morning.

 

[amyc]

Wanted to update that the chick's sneezes have all been dry - there's no gunk or discharge coming out.

Also, I'm worried because I gave two chicks to a friend on Saturday. They weren't from the same brooder, and were older, but I keep them all in the same garage. How worried should I be that her chicks may be sick? She said that hers are appearing to be normal?

Also - I put a call into my vet, waiting for a call back from him.

 

[amyc]

I never heard back from the vet tonight, but I did go to TSC and they gave me an antibiotic - Duramycin to give to the birds. The manager there is very knowledgable about chickens and told me that I should dose all my chicks, just to be safe.

I did have another one start sneezing - so I moved her into the sick bay as well. I also gave them a little bit of yogurt, and some egg yolks. Other than the sneezing, no one is exhibiting any other symptoms.

Does anyone have any idea what this might be? I'm really getting freaked out, especially after reading the post about culling the entire flock.

 

[threehorses]

It's hard to tell. It might just be environmental, it might be a virus. It doesn't sound like a bacteria but unless you had a culture done it's really impossible to tell exactly.

Try the duramycin. Be ****sure**** to give them probiotics ***after*** the meds are done. Unfortunately, there are few probiotics you can give with a ---mycin drug. Do not give any milk products at all - it'll cause the meds not to work. You can give them for two weeks afterwards instead. You can probably get away with acidophilus tablets/capsules from the health food store which I would highly recommend if you're able to get them. Capsules are preferred. Break them open over the food en masse, or make a quickly eaten mash so that you know all the babies are getting it. Honestly if you get the capsules, you can break the capsules into a cup, mix some water with it, and dribble a little into the sides of each chick's mouth.

In the mean time, there's the possible culling issue. Unless you can get a body to the vet to test, there's no point in doing it. If you have one that dies, then cool it under water, pat dry, wrap in a paper towel and put it in a plastic bag in the fridge. Try to get that to your vet within 24 hours for a necropsy/histo and testing if you really want to know what's going on.


Hopefully they're just developing an immunity to something that was already there in your flock.