Mycoplasma now what to do?

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wcah

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Today i took 3 of my flock to the vets to get this snotty nose and cough sorted as i had 1 die on Sunday. Now i was told it probable Mycoplasma and she injected the 3 hens and gave me the injections to do the rest. I did get a bit confused as i told her i had 3 chicks and she said you cart give then tylan as they are too young, i asked about medicated chick crumbs and she said that you can't get that. so what are the medicated chick crumbs for? Also she said that if i get new stock i need to get more Tylan and inject them as my original flock will always have this and spread it and it can reoccur.

Am i wrong in thinking that it would be easier and safer to cull all the flock and start again? I know it seem harsh but iv got 12 bantam eggs in the incubator now and next month I'm hoping to get 20 turkey eggs ready for the Christmas trade. I'm totally con fussed and relay sad about this and don't know the best way of dealing with it. Am i making a mountain out of a mole hill as they say
 
I am really sorry, a difficult position to be in. Once mycoplasma is in a flock it doesn't mean they will always have symptoms however, it may flare up under times of stress, they may benefit from antibiotics when this happens to prevent secondary infections overwhelming them.

You do have a few options, consider vaccination of your youngstock against mycoplasma. This vaccination will need to be given at 6 weeks, so strict biosecurity will need to be ensured during this period and treating your poorly chocks.

Culling your infected stock (all in all out principle) and disinfecting all housing etc..

Treatment of symptoms and prophalytic care (basic TLC

Good luck and keep us posted
 
I had the same situation about 5 years ago with one of my runs of Orpingtons.

Yes, it's possible to start again but is it really worth it? I'd say no. It is easy to pick up again and you'll be living in fear of bringing into the flock again. Medicated chick crubs are medicated with a drug for Coccidiosis (unrelated to this problem) although they are becoming less effective and fewer companies are doing this now.

What I did was changed my husbandary techniques. I had birds in runs, grouped for breeding. I rented part of a field and now birds always have grass to run on and they are not over-stocked. I reduced from around 200 to 100 birds. They always have fresh clean water, housing is cleaned weekly and they get some basic 'health foods' such as crushed garlic in water and ACV during times of stress or in bad weather. They get lots of free range so pick up a lot of 'bits and bobs' along the way!

From that day to this, I haven't seen Myco. I admit, I sold on my Orpingtons a few years ago but I think that there are more basic things that can be done to build a birds immune system in the first place than treating with antibiotics. For example if you brought birds in, quarantine them, get them used to their new home and then introduce them side by side in a run so that they can get used to one another gradually to save stressing them.

Personally (and this is very much a personal view, not veterinary) I would not be dosing new stock with Tylan... This is an antibiotic and there are issues surrounding antibiotics. I'm about to publish an article on Baytril a similar antibiotic and the concerns of its use. It has now been banned in the US. I will let you know when it's available.

The Chickenvet people have a very good approach and offer very good advice, it might be worth calling them and having a chat about it. They charge for their helpline, but a 20 minute chat now is cheaper than dosing one hen with Tylan I'd say. If you are in the South West, they are running some free tests for respiratory problems

The first Myco outbreak is always the worst and with a strong immune system (which takes time to build) and little or no stress (easier said than done..) you should be able to get back to normality...

Finally, there is a blood test that can confirm Mycoplasma which may be worthwhile as there are many similar respiritory problems in chickens and there is some more specific information here on Mycoplasma Gallisepticum: Mycoplasma Gallisepticum

Let us know how you get on.
Tim
 
Very interesting Tim and some sound advice on overstocking which most of us fall into however large or small the setup is. If they are in confined spaces they are almost bound to pick up any infection going and little chance to shake it off if they do get it. The amount of medication that I see is being given to poultry is alarming and much more than was given in the past but if there is no easy access to antibiotics, you have no choice but to look to alternatives, one of which is the space/stocking issue as you said.
I think one of the things that brings high stress levels is introducing new stock. The upheaval that goes on between the existing stock and the new is obvious but less obvious I think is the effect it has on lowering the resistance to disease. Change of routine or pens are others, even though they seem to have accepted them easily.
 
I agree with Chuck and firmly believe that the root cause of most illness in chickens is STRESS which compromises their immune system. They like routine and hate any change and seemingly minor things can upset them. I changed the colour of a feeder from green to orange and it took them several hours to accept it, except one, who took several days before she would eat from what was her usual feeder position. Just like humans, chickens can only tolerate so much stress and then they go downhill fast.
 
Having reading about Mycoplasma im not 100% convinced that is what it is, they dont have swollen sinusses, no discharge or bubbles from eyes, laying well, eating well, moving about well. They only have snotty noses, a few rattle when breathing, and most of them are making like snezzing/hic up sounds. Is the vet right? I clean them out every week and disifect there feeders and water pots, and disifect the coop every 2 months.
I did have to move the flock to a new shed about 8 weeks ago as somthing managed to open there sliding door and get in and killed on and dadle injured another, for 4 weeks i tryed to convince them that there house was SAFE ( i made a few adjustments to there door) but only the rooster would go inside all the others 7 of them would at roosting time hide all over the place, and we had to collect them up every night and put them in there house, 4 weeks of this i decided to move them to a different pen. All was fine for about 4 weeks then they started doing hic-up/sneezing sounds, then the snot started. I started of by worming them with flubenvet (someting like that) left it a week still the same, then i added crushed garlic to there water, 2 weeks later no improvment, but they wernt getting worse either so i left it at that thought it could be due to the weather, beeing cold one week then realy warm the next, then beeing very wet. But last weekend 1 chicken come out the coop looking realy sad, wings down and hardly eating or mooving, by lunch she had died. That when i thought id ring round for a chicken vet. Any way then next day Sunday i let the ducks out a 1 of them looked very sad, and slowly came out of her house and lay down, (normaly they fly out the house straight on to the pond) i put some food by her and she nibbled. with in 30mins she had died so now alarmbells were going. That why i took them to the vets, but she thinks the duck is un related as it has no snot. I spoke to they guy i bought them off about them being contajus to new flock, and he said give it a week with the tylan, then give them the best quality honey about 2mls down there beeks, leave it for 10 days and give him a ring back and he will bring one of his chickens to live with me for a month and see if she catches any thing which i supose is one way of testing if they are contajus.
Thanks for your info and replys
 
If they are hybrids it can be an ILT immunisation flareup Wcah. Similar symptoms to Myco. It can flare up when stressed for two years apparently, although we have a cockerel who still gets mild signs after 3 years -swollen eyes, green poo and loss of appetite. That is also contageous for chickens that haven't been immunised.
 
Could it be IB and not Myco? I still don't really understand the difference! Mine were diagnosed with both via a blood test, but didn't have any of the symptoms of Myco that I've read about - bubbles in the eyes etc. They just sneeze and are wheezy.

Also what is the point of having hens vaccinated against these diseases? As far as I can see I would have been better having all unvaccinated hens as it seems the only reason mine are infected is because one of the vaccinated hens, for some reason, was infected with the disease from the vaccination and then spread it to the others - all vaccinated. My two new hens who were also vaccinated still became infected. If none of them had been vaccinated I probably wouldn't have had a problem!
 
I was talking to someone at the National. He thought the only strain of IB still around is the immunisation one and they should stop administering it as it is completely unnecessary.
 
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