coughs and sneezles

[beejud]

Hi folks, hope you can help me with this. One of my isa brown hybrids came out the coop this morning with a small bit of feather stuck to her beak. She sounded a bit snuffly and when I removed the fluff thinking it was annoying her it was attached to a little mucous plug in the nasal passage of her beak. She sounds quite gurgly as though she has a chesty cold. There were no signs of discharge or bubbles in the eyes which are bright and she seems perfectly cheerful, eating and scratching around. I have only had her and her seven chums about six or seven weeks and they are point of lay.They all came from the same source where they were housed in the one pen. Up until now they have all been fine and I'm not seeing these signs on any of the others at the moment. I had them on flubenvet several weeks ago so they have been wormed recently and I use maintenance amounts of ACV and garlic in their drinking water at all times. They eat layers pellets with an afternoon treat of corn or leftover boiled rice or shredded cabbage etc. I pick up droppings in the run virtually daily. This is a large fixed run which is grass although they are working on reducing it to bare earth of course.
Its Saturday and I am mindful that if I need to get anything from the vet it will need to be today and they are not chicken vets so it may be a lost cause anyway.
Do you good people have any advice on what I should do with my wee girl.
I also wondered if it could be stress related as there may have been some big fireworks last night. My dog who normally never bothers with fireworks crept into the living room shaking to sit with my son last night so he tells me. We were out and so unaware.

 

[foxy]

From your description it does sound like a respiratory infection of some sort. Mucous or discharge from the nostrils usually means the sinuses have become irritated. Other symptoms of gurgling, wheezing or rattling can mean the infection may be more deep seated or a secondary opportunistic infection.

Usually the diagnosis will be made by an vet and prescription antibiotics prescribed. You could try and phone a few vets to get an idea on the cost, but an average should be between £25 - £40. As a rule consults are usually cheaper through an avian or farm vet so it can be worth phoning around!

You may need to ask for a soluble antibiotic to be able to treat the entire flock through their drinking water as respiratory infections are contagious.

It might be an idea to check with your supplier if they have been vaccinated against the usual suspects, hybrids that are supplied through the major suppliers usually are. Also find out if his flock have had any health problems recently. If there is a latent infection, stress, changes in weather, coming up to lay can bring out symptoms of disease for example Mycoplasma.

What you can do in the meantime, is ensure bedding is clean and dust free, use a good quality dust extracted type, horse suppliers do some good brands eg. Aubiose. Check the house is dry no damp, dark corners. I use Stalosan F powder in the house in the winter which is an excellent dry powder disinfectanct. I use a sprinkling in the house under the bedding. You can also use in the run to keep bugs at bay.

 

[chrismahon]

Think Foxy has covered it all. If you don't treat respiratory infectiopns quickly they can cause permanent damage and the bird will be predisposed to respiratory infections. We have an Orpington we were too slow with and that was the result. We were warned of it by the vet when she was originally treated. We change the bedding in that coop more often than any others and use Aubiose for minimum dust.

 

[beejud]

Thank you both for the advice. I think I will have to try and get the soluble antibiotic because I suspect she is not the only one cackling. I asked the supplier at the time of purchase if they had been vaccinated and was told they had. He was raising them to sell on so not sure whether he will still have any remaining to know if he also has a problem. I tried phoning my vet but they were in the middle of emergency surgery so no one able to speak to me.
In the meantime I am pretty sure the coop is damp free and the bedding I use is hempcore which I think is fairly similar to Aubiose. I tend to be fairly liberal with the DE on the bedding, perches and nest boxes. Would the dust from that be causing problems? I have ordered Stalosan F which you suggested Foxy and I have also ordered something I read about online called Poultry Respite which seems to be for exactly this sort of problem. Has anyone tried this? Unfortunately none of it will be posted till Monday now so I think I will be visiting the vet then anyway. Is it likely to be Baytril I will require? I have seen that suggested in a few other threads but have not required medication before now so have no experience of it.
They certainly all seemed cheerful enough today but from what you say it looks like I shouldn't delay if suspecting respiratory problems.
It's good to have helpful advice on hand. Many thanks
Jud

 

[Chuck]

Colds and snuffles around the beak can be shaken off by chickens but if it gets down to the chest (with a rattle) then it becomes more serious & you need to follow the advice you've been given.

 

[foxy]

Just to answer your question around DE. Whilst it is natural and reasonably effective against mites, it is a dust. For the time being I would stop using for the time being as it may irritate the sensitive respiratory tracts of your birds. A tip I learn't with DE to avoid the dust potential. was to mix the DE with a little washing up liquid into a paste with water, and simply paint into the areas where mite tend to colonise.
As for respite believe it is more of a herbal tonic? therefore won't treat the cause of the infection. It would be better to see what your vet advises when they have a good look at your bird.

Finally yes, Baytril is one of the antibiotics used and is effective, there are a range of others they may prescribe too, some have a slightly different way of working. There are 3 main routes..injection into the breast muscle reserved usually for acutely unwell birds to get more of the active ingredient into the bird as quickly as possible. Orally with a syringe, or soluble in drinking water usually the route to treat more than one bird at a time.

 

[BabyBantam]

Hi, reading this with interest - one of my pekins is sneezing.... she doesn't seem to have any sort of wheeze or rattle when I listen to her breathing, nor does she seem 'snotty', but I have been hearing a little sneeze regularly this weekend.
Having read the above on housing not being damp - Their ark is not oiled or varnished, but the surface seems to dry out really quicky when it's been raining and nest box straw can get damp - should I be worried & doing anything to improve their home?
Having just coped with a death & £90 vet bill, I'm struggling with money & any advise that helps Nancy, but saves on bills would be greatfully received. I do have 6ml of Baytril in the fridge (that sadly was too late & not used on Blondie). Should I give this to Nancy no idea if the fridge is the best place for antibiotics?

 

[chrismahon]

Hi Baby Bantam. We keep our Baytril in a cupboard and its fine for months. Synulox when mixed has to go in the fridge and only lasts a week.
There is another possibility Beejud and that is a stress flare-up of ILT which gives sneezes and a runny nose, but swollen eyelids and runny eyes sometimes as well. They should have been given a mild ILT virus during the innoculation programme. What characterises this is the peculiar smell which permiates the bird caused by spreading the nasal disharge during preening. All ours that have ILT flare-ups have the same smell and they can last months or days. One took a year to stop and she's a happy little girl now -except for the possible 'gout' in her feet. Can't describe the smell, its just 'unique' to that condition in our experience -just stinky.

 

[beejud]

Thanks for more useful info and tips. The DE does create quite a cloud when being puffed in the coop so I will try that tip of painting it on the perches. Today I changed over all the hem core and sprayed the floor with disinfectant which is supposed to be effective on avian flu and just about all known ills to man or chicken. I read that the Respite tonic is largely vitamins and extra strong garlic so until it arrives I gave the girls a treat of warm layers mash with four cloves of garlic crushed and mixed through it. They enjoyed it but all reek of garlic now. Checked all the eyes but they seem clear and bright and still all cheerful so at the moment it is just the two chickens that sound a bit chesty and will probably be taking a trip to the vet tomorrow.Chris, I haven't noticed any smell or even much discharge apart from the initial stuck feather one and from what you say it would be quite distinctive. Of course I may have blown that possibility because now all you smell is garlic and more garlic!
Thanks everyone.