What more can we do?

[Danielmc]

About two months ago, two new chickens we got came with some sort of respiratory disease. They were sneezing away, lethargic, and their eyes were sealing. One died within a couple days, and the other was so bad we had her put down at the vets.

It didn't take long before one by one, our chickens started showing the same symptoms.

We responded with tylan soluble + anti-stress herbal pills (prescribed by the vet) crushed in the water + prednisone for the coughing. When none of it was working, we added tylan 200 injectable, once a day for three days, on top of all that. That did the trick.

In the end, every single one (except for one, oddly enough!) was coughing, but even the ones that were on death's door had a full recovery. Luckily, we had a chick being raised by mum in the garage at that stage, so they avoided all that.

For some reason, two kept on sneezing away even after all the treatments ended. They regained their energy and started laying eggs again, but they were still sneezing a bit. Since whatever it was is most likely a carrier disease, the vet didn't think much of it.

A few weeks ago, we introduced the mother back along with the baby (now three and a half months old), and two new chickens (reaching our max). We put tylan in the water as a preventative measure in case they got ill. None started sneezing.

Now, out of the blue, mother has started sneezing. So we put tylan in the water - she is still full of energy, for the most part, but sneezing pretty badly. Am thinking I will give her a course of the injections starting tomorrow, as she (and the baby + 2 new ones) are the only ones to not have had it.

Is there anything else that we can do, not just for the mother who is sneezing, but also to try to get the other two that have been sneezing for two months now to stop it? None of the others have ever gotten symptoms BACK - so I am hoping that once mother is clear, she will be fine, and I'd love to be able to help out these other two that never quite got rid of it to be totally fine again.

Thanks for the tips!

 

[Pyxis]

That sounds like mycoplasma, a very nasty respiratory disease for which there is no real cure. The birds will carry it for life and will pass it to any new birds that join the flock. They'll have flare ups whenever they're stressed or their immune systems are compromised. It sounds like you're doing well, treating with Tylan which is recommended. you could try adding some vitamins to their water, like poultry nutri-drench.

Mycoplasma can actually pass to chicks through the eggs, so any birds that are hatched from your eggs will most likely hatch with the disease. Now that your flock has it, please please please don't sell any of your birds or chicks you hatch, or sell your eggs to others to hatch. You wouldn't want what happened to you to happen to someone else.

 

[purpletree23]

Just sneezing and not acting or looking sick? If their eyes are clear and they aren't acting sick I think I would look for another cause of the sneezing. Is the coop overly dusty? Is there enough ventilation. Is there a strong smell of ammonia?

Do they sneeze when they are outside? To me this is the most important question. If they don't then the cause is in the coop.

What kind of bedding do you use? Has it gotten wet and then dried or is it still wet? Could there be a mold or fungus growing. I like to save medication as a last resort if possible.

 

[Danielmc]

Re not getting any more, passing them on, etc., no worries there - we are at our max number and don't plan on getting any more, nor giving these to others. They are just our pets!

Well, just sneezing and not acting sick is how they are now. They had never done so before they had the 'near death experience' a couple months ago when the two sick chickens arrived. The ones that do sneeze do so outside the coop as well. The bedding is straw, it gets replaced on a weekly basis and is generally always dry, though with poo in it of course.


The mother that had gotten it just had her last injection today, and I decided to inject again one of the two that had been sneezing for a couple months, as hers had gotten worse (ironically, the other one that has been sneezing since has been doing so a lot less!). Sadly since I posted last, two more as of the last couple days have started sneezing a bit again, but they too are acting pretty normal.

Is there any point in medicating the water (again), or injecting these two (also again, as they had previously been ill, and the injections back then solved it)? I guess not - the most likely culprit is a virus that will live with them forever, with bouts of sneezing from time to time (which hopefully keeps going away). Should I avoid more medicine after I finish this round with these two that are getting it, unless they lose their energy and have other signs other than the sneezing?

 

[fiberart57]

I'm with purpletree23 about looking at different causes. Some chicken food crumbles are really dusty. It sounds as though there may be environmental factors to consider.
Mary