Please help,some of my hens may have infectious coryza

[Missie]

Hi,I am at wits end where to purchase treatments-antibiotics or whatever to treat my hens,i think some have the infectious coryza,they have gooey eyes with white discharge,rattly chests,coughs and sneezing along with watery droppings.they are not laying and most of the infected ones seem to be tucking their heads in their wings,i have given all my hens all the treatments i can buy along with colloidal silver,they have acv regularly,spice in their food,have been wormed etc but i had new birds come into my flock and they kind of went downhill after that.

i am getting 3 eggs per day from the 12 which could lay,i have a further 16 hens which-9 were supposedly POL but have not as of yet!-these have been in for some 3-4 weeks and were purchased from a good source-Cambridge poultry.

i also purchased 6 isa browns from the poutlry pages @ £6.00 each but were only 12 weeks of age.

my girls are poorly and i am so worried about them,i do pick them up clean their eyes and disharge from their crusty noses but i feel so sorry for them and want them to get better i just do not know which is the right treatment and where to buy it,please help it would be so appreciated,i can upload pictures if it helps.
Thankyou,Missie x

[TMG]

i think you may have to pop one along to a vet 

[Foxy]

Agree with TMG, you will need to take one to a vet and obtain antibiotics, in this case Tylan to treat the whole flock asap.

[goosebusters75]

Hello, im sorry your hens are ill, you really should listen to the others and get a vet to check them over. Just take one and tell the vet they all have symptoms. One thing though, one of the main and obvious symptoms of coryza is a really foul smelling nasal discharge, do your hens have this? Im only asking because a lot of vets dont actually know much about poultry, and will take their lead from you, but if its not coryza, you may not get the right AB to treat them. Hope they are better for you soon.

[Missie]

Hello Goosebuster75,
I cannot notice the smell from their noses though they are crusty and i keep cleaning them,inside the coop in the morning smells really horrendous-i have to open the window and air it and clean it,i have noticed some milky droppings,some watery.The affected hens in quarantine have puffy eyes and almost closed over on one side with dishcarge coming from them and look sore.some are listless but eating something-not as much as the others though.it seems the two with all the problems are my black sussex crossbreeds-so i'm told,i have a white sussex and one isa which keeps sneezing and coughing.All the other hens are in bright spirits.

Thankyou all for the advice,i have booked into a vet tomorrow though she seems to have little knowledge like you said.
Missie.

Hello, im sorry your hens are ill, you really should listen to the others and get a vet to check them over. Just take one and tell the vet they all have symptoms. One thing though, one of the main and obvious symptoms of coryza is a really foul smelling nasal discharge, do your hens have this? Im only asking because a lot of vets dont actually know much about poultry, and will take their lead from you, but if its not coryza, you may not get the right AB to treat them. Hope they are better for you soon.

[Foxy]

Dont worry, most antibotics prescribed for poultry tend to target the main culprits of coryza and other respiratory infections. Baytril is the one they tend to have in stock
Make sure they have plenty of fresh water available, the fact that they have watery droppings indicates they may have a temperature.

[Missie]

Thankyou Foxy,

I have heard their is an egg withdrawal period with baytril,is this correct?all my hens are egg layers not eaters

Dont worry, most antibotics prescribed for poultry tend to target the main culprits of coryza and other respiratory infections. Baytril is the one they tend to have in stock
Make sure they have plenty of fresh water available, the fact that they have watery droppings indicates they may have a temperature.

[Aunt Sally]

Yes, you should not eat the eggs while they are on the antibiotic or for a week after the end of the course.

[IMOmimey]

please, please,please forgive me if i am wrong, I am no expert! This sounds like Mycoplasmosis to me. I have read that birds who have been vaccinated against these type of diseases can go on to be symptomless carriers. Therefore there is a higher risk by buying vaccinated birds, than by buying healthy looking unvaccinated ones. If a bird has no symptoms, the breeder would have no way of knowing they were selling carriers, (myco as a type of herpes can pass down into the eggs, thus infecting the chicks.  I no longer buy in vaccinated birds, and just buy from reputable breeders, and ALWAYS quarantine new birds, going into their pen last etc.
Good luck at the vets, let us know how you get on.

[Missie]

Hi IMOmimey...

Thank you ever so much and yes you were right,Mycoplasmosis!! The vet gave me 100G of Tylan though it does categorically say on the label "Tylan soluble should Not be used in layers producing eggs for human consumption" !!! So is this correct and if so do I need to have the vet change the antibiotics?All my hens are for laying eggs to eat!I have the treatment here but am afraid to use it until i am sure it is correct,I would appreciate and advice regards this.

Thanks again,Millie

 Soluble

please, please,please forgive me if i am wrong, I am no expert! This sounds like Mycoplasmosis to me. I have read that birds who have been vaccinated against these type of diseases can go on to be symptomless carriers. Therefore there is a higher risk by buying vaccinated birds, than by buying healthy looking unvaccinated ones. If a bird has no symptoms, the breeder would have no way of knowing they were selling carriers, (myco as a type of herpes can pass down into the eggs, thus infecting the chicks.  I no longer buy in vaccinated birds, and just buy from reputable breeders, and ALWAYS quarantine new birds, going into their pen last etc.
Good luck at the vets, let us know how you get on.

[hillfooter]

Tylan is effective against Chronic Respiratory Disease (Mycoplasmosis is another name for this).  All antibiotics will have an egg withdrawal period (as well as meat though not relevant here).  Your situation sounds quite serious with a lot of chx ill and many new chx recently introduced. I'd try and segregate the sick birds from the healthy ones if possible.  Chances are that you'll end up with some chx being carriers and it's quite possible even if you clear up this infection you will get reoccurances triggered by stress.  CRD is also known as stress disease so stress such as moulting, heat or other illness can trigger another outbreak.  You might need to consider culling some so having a vet who knows chx and can advise you would be a great advantage.

Baytril is a broad coverage A/B effective against Coryza and CRD so in future maybe prefereble to Tylan but for now use the TYLAN without further delay.  Your vet should have advised you whether to medicate the water for all the birds or just those displaying illness.

Regards

[TMG]

if i were you i'd phone the vet you saw and ask about medicating all of the birds or just the sick ones, i would medicate the sick ones without further delay, you'll just have to bin the eggs i'm afraid you won't be the first to have to do that

[IMOmimey]

once you have myco in your flock, you are likely to have it from then on.

 There are 2 schools of thought, 1 says all infected birds should be culled, even if they have recovered. This is because they will always carry this disease, including passing it to unborn chicks in the egg.Whenever stressed by anything, it will recurr, and new birds will catch it.

The other school of thought is that so many birds have been in contact with this horrid disease, that there is no point in culling as all new birds, as well as wild ones, can spread it. It is also said that vaccinated birds can still carry the disease, even though the vaccination may mean that they never get the symptoms.

 Its bad news I'm afraid, but either way, you can't let them suffer, if you are going to keep them, treat them straight away, if not, when culled you need to dispose of them preferably by incineration.

Poor you, a horrid decision to have to make. Aske the vet for his/her opinion/advice and go from there.

[Missie]

Thankyou for your advice,I shall speak to her today,i must admit i started treating them yesterday and am quite shocked that none are sneezing today,no coughing either and their runny noses are clearing up very well-i cannot even hear any rattly chest's....question please: if they spead the infection via the eggs does this mean they are inedible for human consumption,i wish to do everything correctly and by the book and i sell my eggs too so i want to be ultra careful.

Another thought is that the infection started when the light sussex's were introduced,i have a cockerel whom is beastly with the hens-chasing them around and for matter of words raping them in the morning and it is evident that some are clearly stressed by it squealing to get away.

once you have myco in your flock, you are likely to have it from then on.

 There are 2 schools of thought, 1 says all infected birds should be culled, even if they have recovered. This is because they will always carry this disease, including passing it to unborn chicks in the egg.Whenever stressed by anything, it will recurr, and new birds will catch it.

The other school of thought is that so many birds have been in contact with this horrid disease, that there is no point in culling as all new birds, as well as wild ones, can spread it. It is also said that vaccinated birds can still carry the disease, even though the vaccination may mean that they never get the symptoms.

 Its bad news I'm afraid, but either way, you can't let them suffer, if you are going to keep them, treat them straight away, if not, when culled you need to dispose of them preferably by incineration.

Poor you, a horrid decision to have to make. Aske the vet for his/her opinion/advice and go from there.

[TMG]

the eggs will be fine to eat once the withdrawel from the anti's has passed, you can still sell them too, as for the rampant cockeral, you've answered your own question there if he's making the hens miserable and you can't keep him seperated and you can't rehome him ..............................