How Quickly Does Albendazole Work?

[MillyJude]

Hi

 

We may have had a case of mycoplasma in my little flock of 9, i have lodt one and another is poorly,, but the rest seem fine and are on tylan.

 

The advice says that the others will remain carriers and to consider culling them all, dont think I could do that as they are just pets.

 

But what do other people do?

 

How do you introduce new birds into your flock? We are meant to be getting 3 ex-batts in a couple of weeks, do you think will they be vaccinated for myco?

 

Thanks

[Redwing]

I'm so sorry you lost your boy in the end

 

Ex batts will have been vaccinated against Myco, the vaccinations arent always reliable (as so many chicks are treated at once etc) but they should have a good chance. As ex batts are not always very strong on rescue it would make sense anyway to keep them separate for a while which should give this outbreak to pass anyway

 

Your birds will always be an infected flock. I personally would recommend against showing any, selling any or breeding any to sell

 

If you simply want to keep the flock as pets then I wouldnt cull them but bear it in mind at times of stress (like moulting) and when adding new birds that you may get problems and be ready with the meds

 

Having some sort of isolation area would be prudent, this could be as simple as a secondhand rabbit hutch, this is always a good idea for any chook owner to have somewhere they can remove a sick bird to anyway.

 

If you ever have to rehome them for one reason or another I would consider this very carefully indeed

 

Chin up, it could be worse, many Myco cases are misdiagnosed anyway and are simply respiritory problems so bearing in mind the above points you may find that your flock settles down just fine.

 

I think you have a nicer attitude to the seller than I would have!

[Saronne]

I had a similar problem about 4 years ago. My vet suggested my flock might even have 'bird flu' (it was around that time of the scare) and would I like him to contact DEFRA? I said no thank you as the Tylan he prescribed was working and so it must have been a bacterial infection, (I work for the NHS - but surely a Vet would know that!)

 

The happy news is, apart from one or two oldies who have passed away in the last 12 months or so, the affected flock is still with me and merrily going about their business. And the worst bird affected survived and still lays eggs at age 5 years! She's a crazy leghorn/? cross who lays blue eggs. There is hope.

[MillyJude]

Thanks, that makes me feel better, they are just pets so we wont sell, breed or eat them so that should be ok.

 

We had just got a second coop, so the ex batts could settle in away from the attentions of the cockerel , so that can be the isolation area which is handy.

 

I dont know about the breeder, the vet said it was really common so I dont want to be unfair. I was thinking about swapping breeder but then I found a post on here about someone getting birds from the other local place that had myco too! Maybe Suffolk is plague territory?

[Saronne]

I think Myco is common, and as Redwing mentioned, can flare up during times of stress. It's best practise to isolate newbies for a couple of weeks for their protection as well as your established flock's. I learned that the hard way.

[gongladosh]

That said, all of mine have been treated for Myco, there's nothing wrong with them now and it's not come back at any point - even when we've lost hens and have integrated new ones.

 

Yes, they technically remain carriers, but there's nothing wrong with them, and nor have they infected any of my newer girls.

 

Carry on as you are, they'll be fine.

[The Dogmother]

I always quarantine new hens too.

 

Vets will always recommend that you isolate a sick bird (and I would) but to be honest by the time the symptoms are apparent, the others will have been exposed to it anyway. So isolate but bear this in mind.

[MillyJude]

Hi

Thanks for your replies, i have fenced off a section of their field and we have a second coop in there so all organised for when the ex-batts come on Saturday.

 

The existing girls are on day 8 of tylan (the vet said to do 5), they are much improved but two are still sneezing, including one that has been sneezing since we got her 2 months ago, but has never seemed ill.

 

So i wondered what you thought, should i keep on with the tylan in the water or syringe the two sneezers with it directly? Maybe a stronger dose? (I rung the vet yesterday but he has not got back to me yet)

 

Can a chicken sneeze for another reason? Its not a very sneezy noise, more like a snatching sound (i wormed them 2 wks ago)

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks

[The Dogmother]

Some chickens will just sneeze habitually, or when they have a cold, much like humans really.

[MillyJude]

Thank you! Maybe Billie is just a sneezer then.

 

I should probably confess to putting some sugar in with the tylan to make it more enticing (although they have no other water available) and i only change it every other day cos the water containers i have are so big.

 

Would this stop it working properly? The official tylan instructions say change every three days, vet said every day, so i thought every other day should be ok.

 

Thanks

[mollyripkim]

I've had a girl with myco this year and the vet said it was important to make a fresh batch of Tylan every day which I did, from memory it was 5 grams of Tylan to a litre of water.

[MillyJude]

Hmm, the stuff we have is .5g in a litre of water, which seems a tiny amount, but presumably is right.

 

The vet has rung, they said to give Billie Baytril for a week and see if that stops it, so am going to pick it up now

 

Thanks for your help

[mollyripkim]

Just checked my bottle of Tylan powder and it definitely days 5 grams per 1 litre of water, there is nothing to say the strength of it on the bottle though so maybe you have a stronger one.

Hope Billy gets better soon.

[MillyJude]

Ooh, i just looked up the tylan instructions (on NOAH) and it says to not agitate or stir it till it dissolves ???

 

I have definitely been agitating it, swooshing it round and round in fact, do you think thats vital??

 

I struggled with the dosing as its such a small amount, .5g is 1/10 of a teaspoon apparently, so for my 4 litre glug i used just under half a teaspoon, does that seem ok? It is a really small amount but thats what it says on the label (tylan 100)

[The Dogmother]

Sorry, can't help; I've only ever used the injectable version.

 

The way you've dosed it sounds OK to me though.

[Redwing]

There are different dose ones I think - there is a version for cage birds or pigeons that is 5g per litre that much I do know. My poultry version from the vet is 5g per 10 litres of water so the same dose as the OP has been given

[MillyJude]

Hi

 

Sorry i have another question,

 

Billie is sneezy but is fine otherwise, If it is mycoplasma she will always be a carrier anyway, so do i need to drug her until i clear her symptoms if they are not bothering her ?

 

I have Baytril but the vet said we could never eat her eggs if she has that, so i was wondering about using acv to try to clear her sneezing and then see how she goes?

 

What do you think?

 

Thanks

[The Dogmother]

Never heard that one about not eating the eggs after Baytril - I've always been told to withdraw eggs during the dosing and for 7 days after the last dose.

[MillyJude]

I did a bit of googling when the vet said it and it seems there has been a change in the regulations about Baytril, a lot of people have been told never to eat the eggs.

 

I think personally i would ignore the new rules, she isn't laying yet anyway, (she is only about 18wks old) but my OH is not keen.

 

So if Acv is an option that would be better, but have no experience with this so i don't know what to do,