Chicken bald back

[ChickenPoopGarden]

I can't believe this is happening, and I don't have a good feeling about it- the boys let the chickens out this morning and said that Tulips eyes were half closed. I thought that didn't sound right, but didn't get the time to check her till after lunch.

Found her hunched and picked her up without much resistance. One eye was totally covered in froth and her or ital areas are swollen.

I brought her in, and hubby offered to go in for some Tylan. I went back out to get the little feeder and drinker and found that Princess Leia is also affected!

Which basically means they all have it, doesn't it?

I'm gutted! How did they get it? It has been ages since the new girls were introduced (how naiive am I? )I never even thought about quarantine! But strangely, it was the first bunch of girls I occasionally heard sneezing and saw gaping.

Too late now. Chickens from both sources are I'll, and long after the 'stressor' of travel and introduction.

Any tips on nursing a chicken with mycoplasma gallisepticum, please?

[Millie-Annie]

My Marigold chicken had mycoplasma. I had Baytril to put in her water and she was fine. The vet said to treat them both, by Millie never got it. Once they have it, my vet told me it can be brought on by stress, but it never came back.

 

It was easy to treat and she perked up really quickly

[Ursula123]

CPG can your husband not offer any advice as I have a distant recollection that I read in one of your previous posts that he was a vet, forgive me if I have you confused with someone else.

[ChickenPoopGarden]

Yes, Hubs to the rescue. We have injected them all with Tylan as only 3looked unaffected and some were too poorly to drink.

Tonight only three of them made it into the coop, the other five were huddled underneath it

I am sick with worry...

I reckon the thunderstorm must have been the big stressor that set them all off. Poor chickens.

[Ursula123]

Hopefully the antibiotics will kick in soon.

The thunder although spectacular really does stress animals.

Do let us know in the morning how they are.

[Millie-Annie]

Fingers crossed for them

[ChickenPoopGarden]

Ok, so this morning I let them out of the coop a little late- around 7.15- and they were all still roosting despite it having been daylight for ages.

I see some improvement in Tulip and Princess Leia, who were the worst yesterday, but Boadicea is worse and so is Lavender, who is so small that I worry how she will weather this.

I have given them all mealworms today, as appetites are well down.

I suppose they have only been medicated for 24 hrs, so maybe after the full course we will be back to normal.

[Chickabee]

Try not to worry. It really doesn't mean the whole flock will,get it. Just treat it as well as you can and use good hygiene. Good luck

[Millie-Annie]

I hope as the day has gone on they have improved. I am keeping everything crossed for you, you have been through so much

[Hippie Chick]

That's a truly horrible thing to have happened, I'm so sorry to hear they're ill.

 

You treated them really quickly so I hope there's a bigger improvement tomorrow for all of them and they're back to normal quickly.

[ChickenPoopGarden]

Well, they all seem a little better this morning. Titanic still has diarrhoea (maybe unrelated?) And Tulip's eyes were so gummed up that she was blind until I wiped them with the Tylan medicated drinking water. She was NOT pleased. Boadicea is still keeping one eye winked closed.

We injected them all again today as they barely seem to be drinking, so we can't rely on them being medicated by the water.

Has anyone else been through this? I would love a bit of experienced insight!

[Millie-Annie]

I have had experience of mycoplasma but she wasn't as poorly as yours, so hopefully someone will come along soon and reassure you more than I can.

 

I used to make mine the poorly breakfast, I am sure I got it off here a few years ago.

 

Apple sauce, live natural yoghurt, porridge oats and some times I used to put a bit of wet cat food in and meal worms

 

There was a reason for it, but I cant remember it

[Daphne]

Yes All you can do is to carry on as best you can. The facts of the matter are that there are various strains of myco, some are worse than others. In most cases birds recover, but occasionally they don't. And even if they do pull through, it is not uncommon for them to be weakened, and less good doers thereafter. I am sorry that this is not reassuring, but I think it's best to be clear, and your birds may well make a full and proper recovery, let's keep our fingers firmly crossed The best thing is that you have gone for for injectable Tylan, it's the fastest acting. You are doing everything right, and it is a good idea to let your birds eat more or less eat whatever they like. That wet breakfast sounds excellent as there is a protein dose, and the wet food means a bit of liquid is getting into them as well, which is essential. However, if a bird has diarrohea then I just give wet pellet porridge as it's less unfamiliar to their digestive systems, perhaps with a mealworm or corn or whatever they like to get them interested. A couple of my birds will eat from my hand even if they won't eat from the bowl when they are ill, I do spend extra time mollycoddling!

 

The other thing is to keep hygiene levels up to stop contamination. I often take one of those squirts hand gels out with me so I am not handling two birds with potentially infectious hands, and when the birds are slightly better I would do a deep clean with something like VirkonS.

 

Oh, and I meant to say, the ill birds should be isolated if you can manage it, and look after the well birds before you go to the ill birds.

 

Good Luck

[Millie-Annie]

How are they today?

[ChickenPoopGarden]

Well, they continue to improve. Tulip is now the only one perceivably I'll because she still looks like she's been punched in the eye BUT she is bright and squabbling with the others for s"Ooops, word censored!"s. None of them are hunched up any more.

I reckon Titanic's diarrhoea must be unrelated so I'll Google it for a diagnosis... Meanwhile, I'll check the chicken poop post on here for ideas.

[Millie-Annie]

its the probably the antibiotics. Definitely give her some live yoghurt

[mullethunter]

Yoghurt isn't really good for chickens as they are lactose intolerant. You'd be better with something like Beryl's Bacteria.

[Millie-Annie]

How are your girls doing now?