CatsCube Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Well today I have discovered a few chickens on my flock have what looks like a clear case of Coryza. One is badly effected and its who head and comb are swollen, so it cant open its eyes and its gasping. On checking over the rest of my girls I would say another 5 are effected some with slightly puffy or cloudy eyes and a couple of swollen combs and looking hunched. I have found an online supplier of Tylan to treat this however realistically I need to think what is going to be the best course of action. From what I have read most likely the whole flock will be infected but treatment means death rate is low. However they will always be carriers and it can pop up at any time again, plus importantly I cannot introduce further birds to them as it will be passed on to them. I have 16 chickens currently and they all live together in the same house and run. Has anyone dealt with this before? Im I likely to have permanently sickly birds where I will keep getting this illness rear its head and chicken losses? Or Im I petter off culling the flock? Its not being a very good run up to xmas in our house when it comes to pets, our Cat went missing a week ago and I have been putting up posters and slips through doors. Kids are devastated, not sure how to break the news on the chickens to them as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Sorry to hear about that. Please bear in mind that Tylan is on prescription only, so shouldn't be available via the internet. I would take them to the vet asap as it's very infectious and the whole flock will need to be treated, as well as cleaning and disinfecting everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Sounds like mycoplasma. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatsCube Posted December 14, 2012 Author Share Posted December 14, 2012 Yes its def Coryza or Myco, it seems to be the smell that tells them apart. I have a vet appointment in under an hour, will take a couple of the girls along. Just got home from work and had a quick look in the fading light. One dead (not the worst one) I reckon about 10 more now with symptoms of various degrees Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Do let us know how you get on. Myco is relatively common and usually, but not always, treatable. Infectious coryza is less common and if you have unfortunately got that, I'd be interested to know how the vet treats it. Fingers crossed for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 I'm afraid that it sounds like Coryza; it is pretty virulent and can sweep through a flock very quickly. I'm really sorry, but the usual recommendation is to cull, disinfect and start again. they can try to treat with Tylan, but my source tells me that it's not always successful if they've had the infection for a few days, and that surviving birds often fail to thrive. I really hope it's not Coryza. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatsCube Posted December 14, 2012 Author Share Posted December 14, 2012 Right been to vet, its myco. I have injected the whole flock this evening with tylan. Out of my 18 remaining chickens (one had died while I was at work) only 5 are showing no symptoms at this stage. I will treat them all again on sunday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Interesting, must be a very bad strain then as it;s rare for their faces to swell so much when they have Myco. Bit of a relief though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatsCube Posted December 16, 2012 Author Share Posted December 16, 2012 Well I have now had a second chicken die. Hes a pic to show what Im up against (this is the one that died last night) This is the guidelines Im going by on how to deal with it: Treatment Antibiotic treatment will not completely cure the disease but will reduce the incidence to a tolerably low level. Tylan Soluble is licensed for the treatment of mycoplasma, as is Baytril. These oral preparations are effective in young stock but seem to be less effective in older stock. Tylan 200 injection (not licensed for poultry) is effective with 0.5ml in the breast muscle of an adult large fowl, 0.3ml for bantams, 0.75-1ml for adult turkeys, repeated 48 hours later if still sneezing. If still noisy after that the bird must be culled as the organism will be too deeply entrenched within the airsacs and hollow bones to be removed, the bird remaining a carrier which will infect others. So second dose of Tylan is this afternoon, then on Tuesday I will have to look at culling any birds that still look affected. Its unfortunate that at this time of year and the shorter days I don't get to spend as much time with my girls otherwise I may have spotted it earlier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 It sounds as though you've got a particularly nasty strain of myco You're right it is difficult to keep on top of medical issues when there is so little daylight, so don't beat yourself up about that. Whenever I've had to inject Tylan I have done 2 courses maximum (ie 4 injections). The vet said I could try more, but I figured that if the bird wasn't responding after all that it was time to PTS/cull. Its distressing, but try to keep your spirits up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 What a shame. I hope you can overcome it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 It sounds as though you've got a particularly nasty strain of myco You're right it is difficult to keep on top of medical issues when there is so little daylight, so don't beat yourself up about that. Whenever I've had to inject Tylan I have done 2 courses maximum (ie 4 injections). The vet said I could try more, but I figured that if the bird wasn't responding after all that it was time to PTS/cull. Its distressing, but try to keep your spirits up. I couldn't agree more, hope that you get it sorted soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatsCube Posted December 16, 2012 Author Share Posted December 16, 2012 Well I have some pretty good news. I got home from work today at 4 and administered the second injection to the flock. I dispatched one as instead of looking better after the first injection it looked worse, so decided it would be fairer to put it out of its misery. As for the rest, when I picked each one up and brought them indoors into better light to inject and bathe their faces I found they all looked great! Even some that had previously had one or both eyes swollen shut and filthy mucus covered beaks where bright and lovely looking, no sneezing, no gasping. I gave them all the second dose anyway. So now its just a case of seeing if it comes back after the drug wears off. From what I have read they never get it as bad as they do first time around, and tend to build up an immunity. So now its just a case of seeing how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimi5 Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 That is good news!! Well done for hanging in there!!! These things happen so suddenly, I lost my cockerel today to Mareks he seemed fine yesterday and today I had to have hin PTS. Watching my girls like hawk now! Let's hope your's continue to make good progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatsCube Posted December 16, 2012 Author Share Posted December 16, 2012 The draw back unfortunately of a lot of the fany bantum breeds is they are so often more susceptible to illnesses. In particular mereks. I have lost a couple to it before, I never had an issue with it spreading to the rest of the flock. Fingers crossed it goes no further for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 That sounds positive Cat; dose them up on Nutridrops; that should help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
