Unsecure chicken perches

[The 3 D's]

Hi all,

 

I will start from the beginning. We went away in August and took our chooks to their usual place where a lady looks after them along with loads of her own chickens and various other animals (inlcluding pigs and dogs) on her own field. When we brought them home one of our buff orps had a slightly closed eye. I though that maybe one of the other chooks at the place had pecked it as they were all mixed in together, so i thought that it would go after a few days. However, it didnt and it went into the other eye. So i decided to take her to the vets and they werent really sure what it was but they gave us some eye drops (not the easiest thing to do!) We did the recomended course of the drops and they did get slightly better...however she went downhill again. So we took her back and they said she may have some bacterial infection or something like that so they gave us some powder to put in their water. The vet said that if this didnt work then she may have to be put down. She did get slightly better from this however her eyes werent right but she seemed fine in herself, eating and everything so I couldnt put her down when she was like that. From then on its been a bit up and down, one of her eyes got nearly completely better while the other was completely shut and swollen (she was still fine) and now her other eye has gone a bit funny again.

 

Does anyone know what this may be. I hope I havent missed anything out as it has been ongoing for quite sometime.

 

Thanks

 

Matt

[loumabel]

sounds like it could be Mycoplasma. I have had a couple of outbreaks of this, it is a respiratory infection that causes the chickens eyes to swell up and close. Long courses of antibiotics can deal with the symptoms mine were on 'Baytril' for about a month in total and they will have it for the rest of their lives and be carriers for any new birds you may get. It can also reappear if the bird is under stress, such as moulting season or the intoduction of new birds etc. Is your vet used to dealing with chickens? most are not and it really does help to find one that knows about them, it can save you a lot of money and heartache too. I would take them back to a vet and get them all on a course of antibiotics. A good tonic in their water is also useful and gives them a boost and stops further outbreaks, Lifeguard is good and also another one called Herban is really good for chesty problems. If you do get a diagnosis of Mycoplasma, there are a lot of post on this forum about it with some really great advice. Good luck and hope your girls improve soon

[Rosey Supposey]

Hi, hope chook is holding up okay.

 

Just wanted to chime in with Loumabel about it possibly being Mycoplasma. It's not the end for a pet hen, but it does require some management. As Loumabel says, a long course of Baytril is the way forward (you'll probably be syringing it into chook's beak twice a day for a few weeks).

 

A vet knowledgeable on chickens really does make all the difference. There's no vet near me that even considers looking at chickens (one actually laughed at me for suggesting it), so I used to drive half an hour to closest one. She was fine-ish, but I've since found a chook specialist an hour away and we always go the distance and use him. The difference in the hen care is astonishing. Wish my GP was as good as my chook vet!

 

Do keep us up to date with how chook is The 3 D's x

[Redwing]

Its possibly a respiritory infection, not necessarily Myco which is an overused diagnosis for this sort of thing

 

As others have said a long course of antibiotics should sort it out

 

When looking for a chicken sitter ideally find someone who will come to you, failing that someone who has a completely separate coop and run at their place, there is always a danger of infection if coming in to contact with strange birds and also travelling stresses chickens and can lead to outbreaks of this sort of thing even if the host family flock is clear

[loumabel]

How is your girl doing, any news yet?

[The 3 D's]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Since I last posted, her other eye has got slightly better again, but the other one is still completely shut. With this Mycoplasma that some of you think it may be, is it contagious as my other chooks who are in with her all the time havent got any signs? And she seems to be breathing fine. So could it still be that.

The vets we take them to arent that great with chickens, they say that they can treat them however, when we go they are nearly always stuck for ideas and end up phoneing some where or looking in their chicken book.

I think I will find a new vet and then take her there this week as I know that if I take her there, they will almost probabily put her down as they said last time if that didnt work then thats whats next. And i personally dont think she needs putting down, she is eating fine. I think our vets are too keen on putting animals down as our guinea pig was 2 days from being put to sleep when her absess burst and she lived for another 2 years after that!

[Egghead68]

I think you should take her to a proper chicken vet asap (there is a list on this forum), get a proper diagnosis and go from there. No need for a chicken to be put down if it has a decent quality of life, in my opinion. Good luck.