Nightmare

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I have 102 Chickens various breeds, 25 of them chicks. Chicks are kept in a completely different place.

I have lost 3 chicks and 2 Large Fowl in the last two days, think more will die as the do not look good. Some seem to have conjuncttivitis (sp?) and some are sneezing/coughing, also others seem to be gasping for breath. I have got Anti-Biotics and cream for their eyes of the vet, a couple look as if they might come round but two or three seem to be still getting worse. Every day more seem to be falling ill.

Anything else I can do other than what I have done?

Thanks for help.
 
If they have a respiratory tract infection , then the antibiotics should have them improving in 24hrs or so. If they are not responding you may need a different anti biotic . If it were me and birds were still going down hill after this time I would ask the vet again, maybe microbiology swabs/change of antibiotic may be indicated? They can go off so fast ,that with the number of birds you have , personally I think any further decline needs acting on fast. There are many infectious agents that can cause repiratory infections , not all will be sensitive to the standard Baytril/Tylan and Aoxycillin etc. Another way of getting a fast answer is to ask if your vet will do a P.M. on any fresh dead birds to exclude other causes such as Infectious Bronchitis. It all costs money unfortunately but its little in terms of replacing a large no. of stock. I hope this is of help, Ros.
 
Hi, So sorry to hear you've been having problems. I'm no expert on chicken health but it sounds to me like it could be Mycoplasma- Have a look at this article http://poultrykeeper.com/chickens/health/mycoplasma-gallisepticum.html

If it is Mycoplasma the antibiotics should help the chicks and hens which are not too far gone. You could try the other remedies suggested in the article too- they are certainly well worth a try.

Hope this helps a little- hopefully someone with more experience in the health department will help out soon. Fingers crossed the rest of your flock start to pick up soon. (Just about to post this when Podstable appeared- :D )
 
Thanks to both of you, I am going to keep a very close eye on all of them today, if any getting worse then back to the vet I go! The vet mentioned a PM if any more die, but he was'nt able to quote cost which was a bit worrying, although losing all of them would be very expensive.

It does sound like Mycoplasma, the symptoms seem to match spot on.

Thanks again, I'll post here if any change.
 
I know all vets vary but I had a p.m. done in the Spring-was charged £40 -may give you a rough idea. Ros
 
Ahh £40 not to bad all things considered.

No deaths today so far and a few more seem to be picking up, reckon I'll lose two more then fingers crossed the rest I think will pull through.
 
To get a clear idea of what's going on, and bearing in mind how many chickens you have, it is likely you would need more that one pm, or have bloodtests from your flock, preferably a number from different runs.
 
You could put some garlic in their water too, I use Supagar whch i get from feed merchant. Respite is supposed to be very good. Alternatively a chopped up clove works well. hope your birds are improving.
 
They all seem to be improving, one more died yesterday which I thought would happen, another one which has been sick for the longest, yet seems to be the strongest, is now pulling through. All the rest of them seem to be getting more alert and back to themselves. So fingers crossed it stays that way.

Thanks for the tips, have ordered some respite and getting garlic today

I had 12 chickens for quite a while and someone I know was moving and couldn't take her Chickens with her, so I said I would take them as I have room, so sort of thrown in at the deepend! I've learnt more in the last few days than the past year.
 
podstable said:
I know all vets vary but I had a p.m. done in the Spring-was charged £40 -may give you a rough idea. Ros
Click to expand...

just wanted to add that...
our vets are unable to PM on site, and said the chciken had to travel to the lab in a licensed transporter. this was going to cost around £60, plus the PM fee, and any tests. so best part of £100, for a chicken that cost us £6. much loved, but could buy her sisters alot of food with that! :|
 
Well not good news, they went down hill again yesterday, one died last night and one this morning. One is away getting a PM done now. How my VET did it........, he filled in a form for me to take and I delivered it myself, they told me they would do it straight away but it might take a couple of days for tests results. VET said it would be £15, not sure if the place doing the PM charge on top of that but they said £5 - £10 for them to do it.

Hope I get to the bottom of this quick.
 
Good luck with the results and keep us posted, really hope you can get to the bottom of this, very depressing for you!
 
Got results back from PM, viral infection in lungs and air sacks. No Mention of cause. Vet recommended different anti-biotics, I'm reluctant to try more as it seems to have ran its course, no new ones getting sick and some making great recovery.

One more died tonight but it had been sick for quite a few days, some seemed to beat the infection, and thankfully, not that many considering the amount, died. I lost 9 hens and 6 chicks in the end.

On the bright side, the rest seem to have a new lease of life and are running around being very happy, hopefully that's the end of it. thanks for help and concern.
 
To look on the bright side, there's natural 'selection' going on here - the ones that survived were more resistant to the Virus and if you hatch from them in the future, their offspring will be more resistant to it.

In the long run, it's good for them but of course it's never nice losing birds in the short term..

In nature of course, only the strongest survive but with domestic animals, our intervention helps otherwise sick birds survive and that's good in the short term for us but longer term isn't so good for survival.

I hope this makes sense....
 
Yeah very good point!

I have heard of two more incidents this week from two other people that keep chickens in the local area of the same symptoms, seems its either going about this area or just common this time of year?
 
Not sure, I don't have a clue as to what it could be to be honest.

There has been alot of Coccidiosis this year as well as Marek's disease but this is a new one to me. It is possible I guess that this was a secondary infection that killed them but the underlying cause was something else.

Fortunately I haven't had any sick birds but the chickens are a closed flock and have been for some years. The weak / sick ones die off after the first couple of years and I am breeding with 3 to 5 year old hens - they are old battle axes and seem to produce good strong chicks.

The adult birds that survive of course are the birds with the best natural immunity to these diseases and will be passing on inherited immunity to their offspring. They get 'acquired' immunity from free ranging - having the right conditions and feed I guess. Prevention is better than cure. 0:-) Still get damn red mite though! :evil:

(I'll probably find most of them sick tomorrow now - me and my big mouth :oops: )
 
We have an old red hen, tough as old boots. We have named her "Yoda", she walks about slowly on her own and doesn't seem to have a care in the world. She looks old and behaves old, until we introduce new birds, she then turns into a karate expert, hence "Yoda" :-) She never got sick at all. "Use the Force"

Well all was well yesterday, I have 10 Brown leghorns, one being a Cockerel. All seperated from the other birds, opened them up this morning and one of the hens sneezing, eyes closed, small amount of blood splattered on wall where she was sneezing. Moved it away from the others but maybe to late to avoid infection.

So not the end of it yet :-(
 
Hi I notice that you mention blood splatters, plus how detailed was the PM? It mentions viral evidence was found? I am wondering whether on further analysis this might be a herpesvirus the one I am thinking is Infectious Laryngtracheitis, this would explain the symptoms. It depends on the depth of PM, observations would point in that direction,for example gross lesions on the trachea, mucous plugs, appearance of the eye sinuses etc.. however would need histology to comfirm.
If it is, then you may just have to wait it out in your flock, and focus on treating secondary infections. Good luck with it all.
 
Yes Viral evidence was found, Vet didn't really say a big lot on the PM, I'll maybe ring them back and ask for more details but as you say it might not of been that detailed.

The one that was sick this morning has improved dramatically! eyes opened again and although not very active is eating and drinking.

To be honest, although I am no expert and its the first time I have ever experienced anything like this, judging by the way it has went through the flock and how it has affected each bird differently I think the best course of action is to wait it out and hope for the best as generally, they do seem to be improving.

Thank for your input.
 
Hi there, Just wanted to say I hope that your chickens are ok now and that you have got to the bottom of the illness that was killing them. It is hard to figure out what is wrong with them especially when you are quite new to it, thats why this forum is so great as you can get advice from people who have far mor experience.
Best wishes, Claire.
 
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