What went wrong??? There is a chance to lose all my birds.

[epitidios]

I went to the vet today. He said that i should stop the antibiotics for two days, and then if i see symptoms of swollen head syndrome, then i should start killing my chickens. There is a big chance to lose them all....

What on Earth went wrong? I had them clean, feed them, and give clean fresh water every day. If the worst case scenario become reality, then i will stay with only one baby chick that i had isolated due to tape worm infection.

 

[oesdog]

Sorry mate - can;t really say what went wrong maybe you will never know. - Thoughts are with you though and I know if you have to cull it is gonna be sooo hard to do.
All I can say is be very careful with the issolated chick (scrub ! Use medi scrub and never touch it after the others!!!!!!!!) Guard it! As you say it may be the only one to survive this thing.

Hard for you to start over.

 

[jenjscott]

Have one autopsied by your state vet. There are several diseases that present this way, and they will do the definitive testing and let you know if there are any alternatives. (not sure what tests your vet has done). This doesn't mean that you did anything wrong. Diseases like this usually come in with new birds that are carriers and sometimes they have no symptoms. There is even a slight chance that it was contracted from wild birds. Your Livestock and poultry commission or equivalent should be able to give you a lot of information on biosecurity measures so you can help prevent this from happening again

 

[epitidios]

He is pretty sure that is Swollen head syndrome. I took one bird there. I will make a break on the antibiotics for 2 days and then i will start another round. If the symptoms continue then i will have to kill them all. These birds are my first ever flock. It will be really difficult to do this...

15 chickens and 2 turkeys...

 

[OhMyItsAndyy]

This really is so sad to hear. But you've done what you could for your birds. You've tried to keep them safe and healthy, and it's just been one of those things. And 15 chickens and two turkeys is alot of vet bills. It's a real shame. My thoughts are with you, and I hope the god they recover xxx

 

[Rohnasmom]

Just the thought of your pain, breaks my heart. I have never heard of swollen head will do some research so I know what to watch out for...Prayers are with you. Let us know how you make out.

 

[jenjscott]

Merck manual says persistence of the virus has not been demonstrated, so I don't know why you would have to cull them all. MG, on the other hand, will have carriers even after the symptoms have subsided.

 

[500592]

good luck with your chickens

 

[epitidios]

Well, on Thursday i will start giving them the antibiotics again. I hope that their immune system can find a way to fight the virus. If after the 2nd round of antibiotics they are ok then there will be a party here.

 

[epitidios]

So far they look ok. Some of them sneeze a bit but in general their look is normal. No weight loss, still lay eggs. I hope that they will skip it. I will start the antibiotics tomorrow again for five more days. That will make sure that no bacterial infection will put them down.