Urgent-Online vet recommendations? Very concerned about illness in my flock!

[NatJ]

I brought 3 silkie pullets home about a week ago, before I realized this was an illness and not just stress in one chicken. They are 12 weeks old. We have kept them on a separate part of the property and we have done hand washing and shoe changes between handling the different sets of chickens (ironically to make sure the silkies weren’t bringing anything in). Is it possible to test them to see if they now have it? If they don’t I feel it’s probably best to move them on before they do. I had ordered a separate coop for them but probably have time to cancel it.

As a practical matter, trying to keep any other chickens on the same property without them being exposed to the disease will be almost impossible.

Since there's a good chance the silkies are already exposed, I would probably continue with your original plan to get the coop and keep them.

 

[3qkate]

Quick update and follow-up question- my flock is doing very well now that they finished the medicine. The sickest chicken seems fully recovered and has been consistently laying eggs again. I have seen some other threads about vaccinating for MP in order to add new chickens into an infected flock. None of these threads have any definitive information. Does anyone here have insight? Mainly I'm asking because we would like to help protect the silkie pullets we already have. It's also hard to wrap our heads around not being able to add any chickens to our flock, since that was always the plan. @Eggcessive @Buffy Brahma Mama

 

[Buffy Brahma Mama]

Quick update and follow-up question- my flock is doing very well now that they finished the medicine. The sickest chicken seems fully recovered and has been consistently laying eggs again. I have seen some other threads about vaccinating for MP in order to add new chickens into an infected flock. None of these threads have any definitive information. Does anyone here have insight? Mainly I'm asking because we would like to help protect the silkie pullets we already have. It's also hard to wrap our heads around not being able to add any chickens to our flock, since that was always the plan. @Eggcessive @Buffy Brahma Mama

Hello! Glad they are doing better : ) keep up with the recommendations to boost their immune systems for the long term. I cant recall, but were they tested and confirmed for MP?

I have only looked into the vaccines a little bit, but it seems like these are mostly used in commercial settings to maintain egg production. They were previously using a live vaccine of a non-virulent strain of MP. I am not sure if they have developed any rDNA vaccines for this purpose yet. It sounds like the current vaccines are given at 3 weeks of age and are most effective when administered as eye drops.

Have you spoken to a reputable avian vet about the vaccine and if they recommend it?

As an aside, if you have a separate flock of silkies, it may be possible to prevent spread of MP if you follow excellent biosecurity. However, if there are wild birds in the area, the chance of it spreading to them regardless of interaction with the other flock is still possible, and depending on your set up of food and waterers, may be highly probable.

Mortality is low for birds with MP and most, if not all, will recover without further issue.
Given that it causes initial respiratory illness in some birds, as well as reduced feed conversion and weight loss, you will need to keep up with more than just normal maintenance to ensure they are in top health.

If it were me, I would do extensive research before vaccinating the other birds, particularly if these are pets. There can be great variability in reliability and risk of many poultry vaccines. Remember that the driving factor in creation of the MP vaccines is for commercial purpose, to maintain productivity and increase/maintain profits. Commercial farms may be willing to accept more adverse risk, as there is not necessarily a companion animal component in the mix.

Good luck and I hope they all remain healthy : )

 

[3qkate]

Hello! Glad they are doing better : ) keep up with the recommendations to boost their immune systems for the long term. I cant recall, but were they tested and confirmed for MP?

I have only looked into the vaccines a little bit, but it seems like these are mostly used in commercial settings to maintain egg production. They were previously using a live vaccine of a non-virulent strain of MP. I am not sure if they have developed any rDNA vaccines for this purpose yet. It sounds like the current vaccines are given at 3 weeks of age and are most effective when administered as eye drops.

Have you spoken to a reputable avian vet about the vaccine and if they recommend it?

As an aside, if you have a separate flock of silkies, it may be possible to prevent spread of MP if you follow excellent biosecurity. However, if there are wild birds in the area, the chance of it spreading to them regardless of interaction with the other flock is still possible, and depending on your set up of food and waterers, may be highly probable.

Mortality is low for birds with MP and most, if not all, will recover without further issue.
Given that it causes initial respiratory illness in some birds, as well as reduced feed conversion and weight loss, you will need to keep up with more than just normal maintenance to ensure they are in top health.

If it were me, I would do extensive research before vaccinating the other birds, particularly if these are pets. There can be great variability in reliability and risk of many poultry vaccines. Remember that the driving factor in creation of the MP vaccines is for commercial purpose, to maintain productivity and increase/maintain profits. Commercial farms may be willing to accept more adverse risk, as there is not necessarily a companion animal component in the mix.

Good luck and I hope they all remain healthy : )

Talking to an avian vet was the first thing I tried. The vet that finally agreed to see us and diagnosed the MP said she didn't know about vaccines and didn't want to weigh in on a decision like that. I made an appointment with the next nearest reputable avian vet, but it was a month before they could see me (3 weeks out now). I called a few places today to see if they would do a consult. No takers. It's bananas!

I would have immediately given the silkies away if I could be certain they weren't already exposed. They have been kept separate from the rest, and we are maintaining good biosecurity between the two flocks but with my small kids I'm not sure we could do it forever. Our lot is mostly wooded and we are in a conservation area so there are many many wild birds here, including turkeys.

What did you end up doing when your flock had it? Did you close your flock? I'm sure I'm overthinking it, just trying to be responsible over here.

 

[Buffy Brahma Mama]

Talking to an avian vet was the first thing I tried. The vet that finally agreed to see us and diagnosed the MP said she didn't know about vaccines and didn't want to weigh in on a decision like that. I made an appointment with the next nearest reputable avian vet, but it was a month before they could see me (3 weeks out now). I called a few places today to see if they would do a consult. No takers. It's bananas!

I would have immediately given the silkies away if I could be certain they weren't already exposed. They have been kept separate from the rest, and we are maintaining good biosecurity between the two flocks but with my small kids I'm not sure we could do it forever. Our lot is mostly wooded and we are in a conservation area so there are many many wild birds here, including turkeys.

What did you end up doing when your flock had it? Did you close your flock? I'm sure I'm overthinking it, just trying to be responsible over here.

Given the current situation as described, I wouldn't worry about vaccinating the silkies.

It is likely the other flock does have mycoplasma, but personally, I feel it's important to have a definitive diagnosis before I treat. The treatment you performed did seem to work well on the symptoms, so that is good news and I would continue to boost immune systems and monitor health regularly. If they show negative signs of infection in the future, you may choose to treat again.
For my flocks, I believe it was passed through the egg from the parent birds, as the chick that showed symptoms was sick with runny eyes and nasal discharge straight from the incubator. I tested to confirm. The father of this bird exhibited open mouth breathing when he first came from the hatchery, and thus I believe this is how the MP got in, as opposed to wild birds. We did bring him to the vet and they did not know what the open mouth breathing was from, but did not test for anything. He recovered after a few weeks with no further issues. The chick with the watery eyes has improved dramatically since being allowed to free range and with focus on boosting immunity. If her condition worsened she would then be treated with conventional medicine and removed from our organic system, solely to be kept as a companion animal.

For biosecurity, changing shoes (and clothes if handling birds) for the two flocks is helpful. Also, given that you have a lot of good habitat for wildlife nearby, using stainless steam table pans for water can be helpful. If you don't have a commercial dishwasher that sanitizes, take a disinfecting wipe and wipe the pans each morning before you let them out, let sit for 10 min or until dry, rinse and then fill with clean water. Try not to let food spill to the ground out of your food bins. MP can be transmitted through feed that has been sitting where wild birds can get it. It's helpful to prop the bins up on blocks to help prevent rodents from getting in. Sanitize your food bins regularly as well.

For my flocks, I practice no-kill biosecurity, as though I do use and sell the extra eggs, I also treat the birds as companion animals. I focus on immune health and accept that because MP is at least in some members (if not all) of the flocks, I may have reduced production and increased health care costs. I basically set aside some extra $ each year in case the birds need extra vet care. I do spend extra on immune supporting foods and supplements for them, including vitamins in their water periodically, orego-stim in water, greek yogurt, fruits and vegetables that support gut health, an enriched environment that promotes foraging and minimal stress, no excessive artificial lighting etc. When all of those things are optimized, then I assess where things are for the birds and if further improvements need to be made. I will add more birds in time, but will likely hatch most if not all, additions.

I hope this helps. Some studies estimate that up to 80% of backyard flocks have MP. Most flock owners probably will not even know it, as many birds will not show symptoms, will recover quickly, or tests are not performed to confirm.

Best wishes to you. Try not to worry and just do the best you can and adjust as needed.
: )

 

[Zoboomafoo20]

Help me! I'm feeling so worried about my flock of hens. I have been concerned about one in particular for the last week or so, a 1 year old welsummer. She stopped laying eggs at least two weeks ago and has been sleepy, with droopy eyes during the day. I was hoping she was just stressed because the rooster has taken a new interest in her and she has a big bald patch on her back from him. In the meantime, I've started to wonder about others in the flock. The rooster is now sneezing and others are looking a little pale in the comb with some droopiness to their eyes as well. It is a nightmare trying to find a vet here that will see chickens. I finally got an appointment for two days from now, but I'm not super confident my welsummer will make it until then. I really don't want to lose any! Advice is greatly appreciated!!

I don't know how to check to see if she's eggbound but she isn't doing the penguin pose as I've read about. After a very dry spring, we have had a ton of rain and a drop in temperature so I'm not sure if that can cause any issues. Lastly, sometimes the chickens will get into the compost. I know now that this is a bad scenario so I will keep them out going forward.

Hello! My chicken, Koala, had a droopy eye too. She had also been sneezing a lot. We took her to the vet and the vet said it was a bacterial infection and that she had knots in the back of her throat. We got medicine and she is better now! Here is a photo of when her eye was droopy.