Chickens have runny noses, what to do?

[DougalPig]

Hello, I currently only have 6 hens, of which 4 of them have runny/blocked noses. The liquid coming out is clear but quite thick. I had a silkie x hen with a slightly runny nose for a couple of weeks but she took a turn for the worse over the weekend and one morning I found her limp and lifeless and unfortunately died. The other 4 hens have only developed runny noses over the last few days and I don't want them getting worse and dying aswell! Apart from the runny noses they are very healthy, good healthy weights, eating and drinking lots and all laying. They are all under a year old aswell. I have been giving them tonic liquid diluted into their drinking water over the last day or so but whether it does any good or not I don't know? Im thinking I might need to get antibiotics in order to overcome whatever it is?

Thanks in advance

 

[rick]

Hi DougalPig,
That sounds very worrying! Separating the ill ones from the one that are not yet showing symptoms should be the first thing to do but after that, and if you can, you'll need a diagnosis from a vet and, yes, probably antibiotics all round. The antibiotic has to be the right one for the bacteria (I think its usually Mycoplasma causing the trouble) or it wont have any effect at all.
How long has it been happening? Swollen heads or faces would be a very bad sign indeed but I'm guessing you would have mentioned that in your description.

 

[Marigold]

hi Richard, and welcome to the forum.I'm sorry it's at such a worrying time.
Have a look at the main Poultrykeeper website (link is at the bottom of each forum page) The section on Respiratory diseases is here. https://poultrykeeper.com/respiratory-problems/ See if you think any of the articles seem to ring a bell especially Mycoplasma and Infectious Bronchitis.
As the articles explain, both these diseases are common in back garden flocks, both are speedily transmitted to all other birds in the flock, and affected birds never fully recover and will pass on the disease to any subsequent healthy newcomers to the flock. So, if this turns out to be the diagnosis, and if you ever hope to be rid of infection in your flock, the only real answer is an 'all out' policy, followed by very through disinfectation of the premises before re-stocking with new pullets, preferably vaccinated ones.
Of course we can't give veterinary advice on here, and you would need a proper diagnosis, but as one bird has already died, I'm very sorry to say the outlook isn't good for the others. Yes, some people do try to treat affected birds with antibiotics, but these are of limited use as infectious bronchitis is due to a virus so antibiotics are inappropriate, and even birds treated with antibiotics for mycoplasma, which is a bacterial infection, are highly likely to have repeated problems and pass on the lingering infection even if apparently recovered. Also, egg production will be affected, and you won't be able to eat the eggs for some time after antibiotic treatment, (some people say never again) because of the possibility of causing antibiotic resistance in the humans who eat the eggs, thus making human antibiotic treatment ineffective when needed. There's a thread about antibiotics at the top of the Chickens Health section, which goes into more details about this. See http://poultrykeeperforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=8760 Many responsible poultry keepers nowadays have decided never to treat their birds with antibiotics, because the risk to human health of resistance developing is great, and growing, largely from over-use.Also, of course, it can be disproportionately expensive to treat a whole flock.
Sorry this all sounds so gloomy. I hope your vet might have better news, but I feel you do need advice from a vet who can actually examine the birds.

 

[DougalPig]

Hello, thanks for the replys. Firstly Rick, I had the very poorly silkie x separated off from the others before she died. Given that most of them have the symptoms I think it would be less stressful for them if I kept them all together. There are no other signs of ill health at all. Very odd!

What a nightmare! Not great news then Marigold. The worse bit is that I bought 3 new pullets last week to replace some broodie hens I had that weren't laying any eggs. It will be awful if it is untreatable and they will only get worse I may be forced to cull them all!? I looked into antibiotics and heard similar things regarding egg consumption etc and really don't want to use them if I can help it.

Surely if this is a common problem among back garden flocks there is a more treatable solution to it? I have had birds with flu like symptoms in years past but I have not seen it spread like this before. The trouble is they don't seem poorly just runny noses currently.

I think I will leave it a few days see if this tonic does anything and then if any get worse I will take a couple to the vets.

Thanks

 

[valeriebutterley]

I'm very lucky to have mostly very healthy hens, my flock is closed, I only add to it now by hatching replacements. I''m still not sure I believe in hens having any antibiotics at all as I think they are passed down the food chain.

I simply love my girls, all of them, very large, or noisy to very small. I think I would now, however, cull, rather than go the antibiotic route.

I wish you all the best with your girls, hope it's just a Summer sniffle.

 

[Marigold]

Are your new pullets quarantined away from the others, Richard? It's exactly to avoid this kind of cross-infection that a quarantine period of at least two weeks is always a good idea. Usually it's to prevent newcomers infecting the existing flock, but in this case, it's possibly the other way round. Young pullets facing the stress of a new home and flock are often more prone to going down with infections as stress depletes their immune systems. If they were vaccinated, and you could at least separate them now, pending investigation into the others, they might have more of a chance.
It's common among back garden flocks because usually people keep hens mainly as pets and are reluctant to adopt an all-out policy when birds need replacemen, whether or not they appear infected. Also many people simply don't have the facilities to quarantine properly, so problems are never resolved.I see your post in the Welcome section says your previous experience was with a large flock of 50, so I expect they were kept commercially, culled to a schedule, and so wouldn't have passed any infection on to the next batch when they were culled. Research into treatments for smaller numbers of pet birds simply wouldn't be economic for medical companies, and commercially it makes more sense to treat the problem by routinely culling the whole flock, rather than attempting a cure for a disease which will reduce egg production and may return to infect another generation of birds.
I don't really think a tonic will do anything, but in a few days you should see what effect the incubation period has had on the rest of the birds. If you need to cull the older ones, you might then give the new pullets a bit longer to see if they are incubating it, and do succumb.

 

[rick]

Just remembered - Mycoplasma has a mild but distinct sickly sweet smell that may help to rule it in or out. No doubt all my chickens have a dormant infection as my CLB had it when she arrived (did give her Tylan from the vet that time) - probably brought on by stress of moving and she did have very small nostrils when she was a pullet which may not have helped either. None have had any symptoms since and that was about 2 years ago.
When they have clear discharge (or blowing bubbles) from the nostrils then they can get blocked as it dries making things worse. Some salt solution on a cotton ball works well to clean their beaks.

 

[DougalPig]

Thanks again for the replies. Rick the three older existing hens are the ones with the worst symptoms, the 3 pullets were introduced together after a couple of days as they all appeared healthy (including the existing ones). They are all together currently. I bought the pullets from a big farm selling lots of hybrids so presumably they have been vaccinated.

Yes I did keep alot of birds in the past, it wasn't a commercial flock though but several different pens of bantams, laying hens and even some ducks. I never had anything quite like this though. It makes sense with the commercial flocks, high productivity then cull before diseases take hold.. Im going to wait a few days and make a decision at the weekend. I have attached some photos, not great but just took on the perch now. The black hen is the worst, and the gunk out of her nose keeps clogging up as you can see. I keep cleaning it away but soon accumulates again. The other two have it dribbling out but not as bad and not so bunged up. Fingers crossed it clears up. As much as I keep them for eggs they are definetley pets aswell and it would be sad to see them die.

Thanks

 

[LadyA]

I once got a batch of 4 to add to an existing flock of 5 hybrids. Within a couple of hours of getting home, the 4 new girls were all snuffling & sneezing. They were in a separate house and run, and I decided to treat them, and see what happened. So, a course of antibiotics, and they all recovered. One of them continued with a sort of chronic sinusy honking thing all her life, but was in good health generally. However, she stopped laying and started crowing after about six months. Although the four recovered, only one of them lived beyond about 2 1/2. One just keeled over and died of a heart attack at 2. One just started laying very soft shelled eggs, every day, and it was such a strain on her, she had to be culled. The one with the chronic sinus thing, at about 2 1/2, she got another respiratory infection, and I decided to cull her. Oddly, the one who was the most ill when I got them, was the one who lived a long and healthy life, and died at over 5 years old. She was the only one that was a good layer too.
I have to say though, that if something like that happened now, with the benefit of several more years exerperience, I don't think I'd treat them. A little sniffle or so, yes. But not birds that were as ill as that four were. Respiratory infections in birds are pretty serious, because of the way they are made, with air sacs distributed through their body being part of their respiratory system, rather than just their lungs. It's harder to treat successfully.

There doesn't appear to be any foaminess or bubbling in your hens' eyes though? So, maybe it will clear up?

 

[DougalPig]

Thanks LadyA. Fingers crossed they are all clearing up! I just checked them all on the perch and the worst one has a completely dry nose! as do all of them bar one which is nearly dry! So fingers crossed it isn't as bad as I think.

 

[Marigold]

Well, that sounds hopeful. Please let us know how they get on. If nobody else becomes seriously ill, maybe you're OK. At least you know what to look out for, and what the possible effects of an infection might be. Good luck!

 

[DougalPig]

Thanks! will update next week.

 

[DougalPig]

Update: all 6 of my hens have clear dry noses and im getting on average 5 eggs a day. I did not expect that to happen! Very happy as they are a great group of hens.

 

[LadyA]

Excellent news!