What do I treat???

[kurby22]

I know a picture would be more helpful, but this chicken will NOT stay still enough to get a picture. She is patient zero for all the health issues in my flock and brought MG and IBV to my flock and her immune system is a bit more compromised than everyone else in the flock. My issue is that every chicken is showing signs of something different and I cannot keep going into the vet for every single chicken and it's individual issues even for fecal float tests. That gets spendy when you have 17 chickens! One had a sour crop, one had impacted crop, one had weird lumps on her face, three have dry pox, two sound gurgly when they breathe, one is sneezing, one was all fluffed up but had no other signs of issues, and the current chicken I am posting about has some yellowish lesions in her mouth and gurgly breathing--so now I don't know if she has wet pox, canker, or some other issue. SO, I started to suspect coccidiosis due to the ones that died being so thin, and gave the puffed up chicken a bit of straight CORID and then treated their waterers with it as well. The puffed up chicken has since looked significantly better (24 hours) so it makes me think that may be part of the issue. I know you can't provide vitamins while they're on CORID, but can you provide probiotics? I think it would help them to get some? The chickens with dry pox seem fine besides the pox, and the ones with crop issues either recovered or died (1 recovered, 1 died). The one with the lumps on her face and neck also died and both the ones that died were very thin, which makes me think they may have had coccidiosis. Can I treat patient zero with meds of some sort? I have been watching their poop closely and there are zero signs of any worms, but one chicken had normal looking poop (consistency wise) that was pretty green (as opposed to the runny bright green that happens when they're starving from other issues). Can I give them all an antifungal med and have it not counteract the CORID? They were on antibiotics for a couple weeks about a month ago and it didn't seem to do much, so that is how I reached the theory of coccidiosis, but with it being so wet there could also be mold or a number of other things...when no one has a similar symptom and almost all of them are sick...what do you do?? Sighhhhhhhh. I'm exhausted emotionally from worrying about them since the end of October. Thanks.

 

[Happy hen lover]

Oh you poor thing that's a lot of sick birds!
I will reach out to the wise chicken health folks to see what they can tell you

@Wyorp Rock , @azygous ,@Eggcessive

 

[kurby22]

Oh you poor thing that's a lot of sick birds!
I will reach out to the wise chicken health folks to see what they can tell you

Thank you. They are the wise ones…I’m just feeling so at a loss! They all went from being fine to all being sick at the blink of an eye and it’s been hard on me and my daughter

 

[Eggcessive]

Your vet could rule out coccidiosis and worms with a fecal float if you call and ask. Take in a large sample of several fresh chicken’s droppings. A respiratory disease can cause a decrease in immunity. Most diseases are chronic and make the whole flock carriers for life. Birds may be unthrifty and can get sick again during times of stress. What antibiotic did you use and what dosage? MG (mycoplasma gallisepticum) can respond to Tylosin (Tylan,) oxytetracyclne, denagard, or enrofloxacin, but not to all antibiotics. IB virus does not respond to any antibiotics, but will usually last about a month. Fowl pox lasts about a month. Canker causes yellow material inside the beak and throat, and smells very bad. Do you notice an odor? Wet fowl pox can look similar to canker, but without the bad odor. Since you have so many illnesses going around, it would be good to see pictures of symptoms and possibly get a necropsy or testing by your state vet. What have been the signs of the respiratory diseases so far?

 

[kurby22]

Okay I managed to hold her down and got this rather terrible pic in her mouth. She doesn’t smell terrible but she does have a bit of a fishy smell? More like the first time she had MG and IBV. No one has much for outward signs of illness, they mainly sneeze and sound like they have some congestion. Patient zero is the most obvious sickly one and stands in place and sleeps. I know her immunity system is really low, so I really expected to lose her before anyone else I’ve lost :-( The vet prescribed Enrofloxacin so that’s what I used to help with the MG the first two rounds. I also have Tylosin if needed. I stocked up on all the meds after the first round of illness back in August. I was treating the dry pox with chlorohexidine foam but not sure I can do much for wet pox? The first three pictures are of patient zero, Marianne. She’s an Isabel lavender laced English Orpington and such a sweet girl. The frizzle is the one with the most notable dry pox, the others scabs have already come off, the black pullet and the Ameraucanas (the second Ameraucana pic is the one that’s acted rather fluffed and cold but seemed better today when the sun was out) and the Mauve Orp were just to show the others with sniffles but nothing else noticeable.

 

[Myrshine]

If there is a fishy-like smell, then you're most likely dealing with Infectious Coryza. You can read about Infectious Coryza below:

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Have your vet do a swab to see if it's Canker. If so, then Metronidazole would be the treatment most commonly given.
It's contagious, so treating the flock's water for 3 days a month with Acidified Copper Sulfate can help lessen the spread.

 

[kurby22]

Have your vet do a swab to see if it's Canker. If so, then Metronidazole would be the treatment most commonly given.
It's contagious, so treating the flock's water for 3 days a month with Acidified Copper Sulfate can help lessen the spread.

Thanks, I will probably take her in next week. I guess I’m mostly just at a loss because at this point they seem to have all the things. And I don’t know what they can have that won’t counteract what they’re currently taking. I’m sure I can’t mix antibiotics and Corid and acidified copper into their water all at once. And VetRx, and probiotics…I just feel a bit of paralysis on how to deal with all the various issues. I don’t know enough to know what can mix together, what can cause issues, how to address multiple health issues…how do you treat coccidiosis, IBV, MG, and canker in the same chicken? I am also getting poor. This will be the FOURTH chicken I’ve taken to the vet in one month—and one cost $80 just to put to sleep. It just never seems to stop, every day is something new and I can’t cull them they’re my babies :-( I’m just a bit overwhelmed and tired and sad and frustrated.

 

[Eggcessive]

I think the yellow material in the beak with the fishy odor is more likely canker. It is a disease carried by pigeons and other wild birds. Metronidazole 250 mg given orally for 5-7 days is treatment.

 

[Amtorres]

How’s your flock doing now, hoping they’re recovering