Help! chicken and turkey with rattly breathing!

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Anne W

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My chickens and turkeys are kept away from each other but one of each has got rattly breathing. Never had this in the 14 years I have kept chickens - vet says it's probably mycoplasma and has given me Baytril 10% for them and to put in the water for the others. I have been giving the Baytril by mouth to the turkey for a couple of days plus in the water and today noticed one of the chickens had it so have started doing the same for her plus in the water for the others. I would imagine it is due to the damned freezing weather but am so worried for them. Not just those affected but incase the others get it as well.

Is there anything else I can do for them?
 
Hi Anne-does sound like Myco. The only other thing I might do is isolate them somewhere warmer just as the weather is so awful and reduce chance of spreading. Loads of people tutt-tutt at baytril and say they prefer Tylan BUT if you actually look up bug sensitivities then Baytril does seem superior for treatment of Myco.species.Im sure you are doing everything you can , its thought to spread from wild birds mainly I think - they will be about right now searching for food . They should show a noticeable improvement in 2-3 days on the anit bios. You need to discard eggs while on Baytril . Hope they get better soon-Im sure they wil! Ros
 
Thankyou Ros - I hope they do respond - makes me so miserable when any of my livestock are ill. They haven't got gungey eyes or nasal passages - hopefully caught it early on.
 
If it doesn't work, you might be able to suggest injection of Tylan 200 to your vet... I've seen really good results with this.

Myco can also be carried in the flock and stress causes the birds immune system to weaken allowing myco infection to take hold - the snow will have stressed everybody's birds recently.

Loads of people on Twitter were saying to me over the last few days how it was funny, their birds were stupid and wouldn't go out in the snow to feed. - Chickens are creatures of great routine and habit and are very cautious with change. Changing simple things like their food can stress them. Changing the colour of the floor to white is going to cause them to be pretty stressed out.

I hope they get over it. It sounds like you caught it early so should see some results. I would definately try to boost their immune system at the same time with Garlic and ACV in the water. The ACV will help cut through the mucus in the upper respiratory tract too.

Let us know how you get on. The snow is thawing here now and we have some rain, so hopefully it will get a little easier soon.
 
Thanks Tim - I will put ACV and garlic in the water as you suggest. It really has been a terrible time weather -wise. I don't think it helped having it so mild beforehand - it got too cold too quick. They haven't been eating all their food either which probably hasn't helped. Much milder here too - hopefully we will all have a bit of respite.
 
I am sorry Anne,hopefully by the time you read this they will both be better.
I don't know if it would help or not,but this product might,it's called wheeze-ease,it's a herbal remedy that you spray into a bird house or loft,the birds breathe it in and it does help.
A lot of pigeon people use it in their lofts,it helps with their breathing and I have used it with success in the past for snakes with respiratory problems,who were also being injected with baytril.
It doesn't suggest using it for poultry,but,they also don't suggest it for reptiles or humans,a lot of reptile/herpetologists do recomend it.
http://www.24parrot.com/Wheeze-Eeze-Respiratory-Aid-Ready-to-Use--250ml-P6341/
 
Suggested Tylan injection to vet but she insisted that baytril by mouth the best option - I suppose you have to trust them but I do wonder at times. :( Both birds are in the house in different rooms incase different problems. Both still rattling but chicken hasn't got gungy eyes any more so improvement hopefully. Not eating a lot but are eating small amounts of chopped boilled egg and cheese and some layers and wheat. Made them spagetti but Lillian, the hen, tossed it out all over the place in disgust! Buffy, the turkey quite liked it.

Can anyone think of anything else I could do ?
 
I have checked Victoria Roberts Book Diseases of Free Range Poultry and she says "Tylan 200 as an injection will keep the disease under control, but it will only be cured by culling" and "it is also carried on clothing, hands and boots for several hours".

With this in mind I would see to your other birds first before the sick birds.

Other than this, the actual respiratory problem, that could be caused by Mycoplasma, is a secondary infection - and it's the birds immune system that needs to beat this. I would give them the best diet you can, lots of fresh greens, garlic in the water, ACV in the water for at least a week and of course layers pellets ad lib, not forgetting grit if it's not in the pellets.

Hope this helps a little. I've been there and it's very frustrating when they don't seem to be improving that's for sure.
 
Thanks Tim - they have plenty of fresh grass as well as weeds etc. They have addlib layers and grit but will start putting ACV and garlic in the water to strengthen their imune system. The vet told me to put baytril in the water for the others which I have been doing.
 
Does this mean that I won't be able to get any more birds without putting them at risk?
 
---I put a post on here for Anne -meant to be a pm-Woops sorry, --but it is worth checking yourself the bugs that cause RTI/Myco in poultry and the actual(microbiological) drug sensitivities. ! Dont worry!!! Ros
 
Unfortunately yes. Chances are, your whole flock are carrying it. But it's not uncommon and can be managed.

Yes, some birds get sick and die, some never have a problem. They do build up an immunity. The first attack is the worst. The biggest risk is bringing in youngsters to an older flock. It used to be called Roup.

Birds usually don't have a problem unless they get stressed. If they are free range, and have a good diet, they will have a good immune system and will be unlikely to become ill.

It is very difficult to avoid myco these days in a free range environment - the wild birds can bring it in so easily.

Even if you culled and started again, you could still find the wild birds have got it. There is now a vaccine but when I researched it a couple of years ago, it needed to be given by a fine mist and the machine was expensive and the vaccines come in vials of 1000 doses....

Victoria Roberts does say after the bit about injecting with Tylan 200 = "If your flock has mycoplasma (as most backyard flocks do) it may be sensible to inject on purchase of birds from elsewhere."

I wouldn't be too concerned, keep them fit and healthy and act immediately if you see any signs of infection.

Chickens and Turkeys will infect one another, other species have slightly different types of Myco.
 
Thanks Ros and Tim - the hen who has it is about 10 yrs old but the turkey only 6 months - both ends of the spectrum - but then I suppose elderly will have a suppressed immune system and youndg probably haven't built one up. I think the stress factor was the freezing weather - minus 12 here one night. I have got into perspective now - evenings/nights have a nasty habit of making things seem insurmountable.

The hen is so much better today - rattling away yesterday and only slightly today - she was worse than the turkey who seems not much different really. Patience I suppose - time will tell.
 
Hi Anne,so pleased your hen is better.I think with immune systems, older immune systems cope better with everything.What usually makes older people/animals not so good with infections etc when they are older are other factors.
Some years ago a stray dog I took in brought kennel cough into my pack.He was very sick and nearly died,a lot of dog ppl assumed my old 17yr old dog would get it,and die.He didn't,his immune system had come accross so many different kennel cough's over the years he was fine.My young dogs that were aboput 6 months old did get it, but not as bad as the stray,who was also 6 months.Bit of useless information,a dogs immune system isn't fully developed until they are 8 months old.I never have any dogs vaccinated until they are 8 months old,as,vaccinating before then can supposedly suppress their immune system developement.

i've no idea when a hen's immune system is fully developed,but,i'm sure your turkey will get over this.
 
Hi Anne,

When one of my chooks was quite young (can't remember how many weeks) she was very poorly with unconfirmed Myco, after a course of anti-bios & lots of TLC she came through. My vet isn't a specialist poultry vet but a small animal vet & learning very fast about chooks! His advice was obviously to give the medicine but also to make sure she ate & drank as when they're so poorly they are very lethargic & often don't eat & then can't fight the illness. He gave me a plastic syringe to feed liquidised food direct into her throat & suggested baby food! This I did for a couple of days about 3 or 4 times a day. Sounded odd at the time but something worked as she's still here!

If baby food isn't what you want to give yours, it would work with anything pureed that's highly nutritious, the main thing is to make sure she eats something.
 
Yes, Lucylou, I did give some mashed down layers for first day or so then gave chopped boiled egg and cheese for the protein. The chicken is now fully recovered but in the house in a cage still as weather is dreadful. She has been eating lots of layers and corn. The turkey - also in a cage in the house - has at long last stopped rattling last night - she sneezes a bit but have been giving her antibiotics for a week now and thought she was never going to get better. She is also eating her layers and corn. Am going to put them into a shed or the garage later to acclimatise them a bit to the cold before putting them back out - afraid to put them out in this wet weather incase it comes back. The others have been having antibiotics in their water each day so fingers crossed they will be ok.

As I write this, the chicken is in the same room and noticed she has been scratching herself a fair amount so will have a look to see if she has 'lodgers' - might dust her anyway. :roll:
 
Yes - thanks Ros - I think she was making sure Christmas dinner was well and truly over :lol:
 
So pleased they are both better now,so you don't have turkey on New Year's day then lol.
 
Ssshh! Don't let her hear you Lydia or she'll start rattling again :lol:
 
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