URI in chicken still not getting better

[Julesrogers]

Hi all, I am a new chicken keeper and one of my silkie hens got sick. We had two from our original flock killed by hawks, and so we ended up getting better security and got 2 fully feathered young chickens to add to our 2 remaining silkies. About 2 weeks after adding them, I think the stress of combining got my silkie hen muppet sick. We treated with vetrx and then denagard in the water to help get it under control. She was open mouth breathing, she was making congested gurgling sounds, her eye was swollen up, drainage and bubbling around the eyes then because really lethargic and wouldn’t eat. Treating with the denagard helped and she got basically better until about 4 days ago when we had a really cold spell. Her eye puffed up again and she had the gurgling back so we pulled her inside. She has been inside since Saturday afternoon and I had to really coax her to eat and drink that first day, and now she has energy, she eats and drinks, her eye swelling is nearly gone, but her congestion is still there. I have continued with the rooster booster, electrolytes, and denagard and we took her to the vet who prescribed an anti inflammatory. I have been taking her in the bathroom with a really steamy shower every morning to help clear her out and pick out her boogers stops on her nostrils, but this congestion just won’t seem to go away!!! She even had a humidifier next to her crate to help clear her up.
Is this normal for it to take this long? Can anyone provide me with help on how to clear this up faster? I really would like to reintegrate her and it’s so sad seeing her in a crate for days on end now.
Thanks all!

 

[Eggcessive]

It sounds like you brought in a chronic respiratory disease with the new birds that you brought in. Unfortunately if it’s mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG or CRD) the respiratory disease is chronic and can get better then worse, and it lasts for life. Denagard is one of several antibiotics that can treat MG symptoms, but cannot cure it. With MG, they can get secondary infections or air sacculitis in severe cases. I would close your flock, since all birds would be carriers for life, even if they never show symptoms.

 

[Julesrogers]

It sounds like you brought in a chronic respiratory disease with the new birds that you brought in. Unfortunately if it’s mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG or CRD) the respiratory disease is chronic and can get better then worse, and it lasts for life. Denagard is one of several antibiotics that can treat MG symptoms, but cannot cure it. With MG, they can get secondary infections or air sacculitis in severe cases. I would close your flock, since all birds would be carriers for life, even if they never show symptoms.

Thanks for your reply! Yes this is the plan, it’s a rookie mistake and one that will affect the life of my birds. Our plan was to have a closed flock anyways, but definitely will after this.
Do you know if there is anything I can do to help speed up the recovery of her symptoms?

 

[Eggcessive]

Some birds may need extra warmth if they are suffering from a respiratory infection. Oxine is something you may want to check into using to help prevent or treat viruses, fungus, and bacteria in coops. Some use it directly in a vaporizer for chickens as well.
https://shagbarkbantams.com/the-many-uses-of-oxine-ah-animal-health/

If you ever lose a chicken, your state vet can usually do a necropsy where they look at the organs, and may test for certain diseases. It is the best way to find out exactly what they have. There are at least 8 respiratory diseases, so good to know what it is and what works to treat it.