[Basil_UK]

Hello everyone ,  I am quite new to chicken keeping , and new to the forum.   I have 6 chooks  in my main coop, and 3 chicks ( 18wks) in a seperate coop.

I have been having issues with sneezing for about the last 3 months on and off. Jazz , who is a White Star, has always been a bit off,  she has always sneezed, about 3 weeks ago I became worried as she  had a really runny nose, was persistantly sneezing and smelt like a wet dog in a bad way.  when I noticed that her crop was really swollen and rock hard I took her to the vets, who told me that she was very poorly,  he said that she had Mycoplasma,  he gave her a shot of anti biotics, and gave me some to add to the water daily for a week.  He mentioned that she was underweight because he could feel her breast bone.  He was gobsmacked when I said that she was still laying every other day.

He basically said that if she gets any worsr then the kindest thing would be to cull her  .

Anyway , I gave the antibiotics, and after have used Life Guard tonic in their water to give them a boost.  Jazz is free from discharge from her nose, but she is still sneezing repeatedly. 
A few of the others have now started sneezing, Amber at one stage had bubbly eyes, and a loss of her underneath feathers, the tonic seems to have sorted the discharge out, however , they are still  sneezing and the feathers have not returned.   I use diaton to dust them and put it in their food as a wormer, and use poultry shield to clean their EGLU, so am really a little fanatical about the cleaning regime.  I also use Salotan every week over the ground in the coop area which is 24'x15', so they have loads of room , however, the ground is mostly soil,  it use to be my compost heap so its very good soil.   there are two large Oak trees in their coop with them.  If I am to go on what the vet said all my chooks are under weight , even though they eat everything that I give them.

If anyone could offer any advice I would be  really happy to hear where I am going wrong.  I forgot to mention that the farm whenre I got Jazz from was not great and feel that they were ill before I got them home,  I dont wnat to cull them , but I dont want them suffering.   Thanks in advance

[poultrygeist]

Hi Basil. Welcome

What is your feeding regime ?

ANd do they have grit ?

Rob

[GrannieAnnie]

If it is mycoplasma, they will carry it for the rest of their lives, and could possibly infect any other birds you add to the flock, however feeling the breastbone of a hybrid egg layer doesn't mean she is underweight.

Hybrids were developed for egg laying, not for producing meat.  Most hybrids should be between 1.75 and 2kgs in weight as all their energy goes into producing eggs.

Hope your girls will be okay

[hillfooter]

Sadly GrannieAnnie is right MG is a Chronic Respiratory disease which your birds will always be carriers of.  No  amount of special feeds or suppliments will cure them though a rigorous hygeine regime may help reduce the risk of secondary infections which frequently go hand in hand.  You can control the disease using antibiotics however it will return at frequent intervals under stress conditions such as moulting and it may be complicated with other diseases such as Coryza (which sounds what your smelly wet dog description was) during outbreaks.  Egg production will be permanently suppressed.  You should not breed from these birds or move any to another flock or introduce new birds unless they have been vaccinated for this disease.

I'm sorry to say you need to decide whether you are prepared to continue to nurse them at frequent intervals or cull, clean up, disinfect and quarentine your housing and ground for 3 weeks or more and restock with healthy birds.  You may just decide to cull really sick birds as they occur as your vet seems to be suggesting.

Your vet should advise you further on your options.

See also "My Chicken has a cold"  www.shagbarkbantams.com/page22.htm
 
If you decide to soldier on then I suggest you stop dusting them with Diatom as you need to keep dust down to a minimum as this is a respiratory disease you don't want to irritate their respiratory system.  See the web site above for info on using Diatomaceous Earth.  I wouldn't use it either in their feed.  It is of dubious value as a wormer and it could be causing your hen's crop problem.  Worm with Flubenvet.
Regards

[iwantanallotment]

Oooops....I'm throwing another thought your way 

I also have a White Star who's always sneezed. Not worried, as she's right in every other way. Eats well, is fit and active, lively etc. But she *is* way behind her not-sneezing sister of exactly the same age, and not laying yet @ 26 weeks.

However I did buy in un-vaccinated chicks that showed myco some time back. Some died. My White Star was vaccinated against it, but obviously may now be a carrier. And may also spread it to the rest of the flock, who will also become carriers.

It's a nasty thought, to be contaminated with this, but if eggs are for your own consumption and the birds are coping well without antibiotics, then the eggs are fully edible.

If your birds DO develop further signs and are suffering, then they need antibiotics and you cannot then eat the eggs.

An afterthought - even if you cull all your birds right now, Myco lives on long after...in the coop, soil in the run, everywhere your hens ventured. It's a b***er, soz 

[hillfooter]

One thing I'd disagree with iwantanallotment on is that MG (and Infectious Coryza) does not "live on" in the environment, in fact it is classed as a Mycoplasma not a virus but a type of bacteria which have very fragile cell walls which make them susceptible to even weak disinfectants and they will not live off the bird for more than a couple of days.  Three weeks vacancy after a clean and disinfection is generally considered very safe.

Commercial farmers break the cycle of CRD (Chronic Respiratory Disease) of which MG is the organism which causes the disease) by allowing a break between flocks.  They vaccinate new stock and control outbreaks with antibiotics and accept that there maybe some drop in production as a result.

Many people, including vets, refer to CRD as Mycoplasma as one of the the organisms which cause it is Mycoplasma Galliscepticum (hence MG) but the disease more properly ought to be called Mycoplasmosis or CRD.

Re eating eggs - there is no human health risk known from eating eggs from birds infected with this organism, however I believe meat from infected birds is condemned.

You might like to check the above with your vet.

CRD is one of the reasons I would not reccommend keeping exbatts with un vaccinated free range chickens.
Regards

[Aunt Sally]

hillfooter is corret on all points (except I have no knowledge about eating the meat or not of infected birds)

Mycoplasma is like a bacterium but without a cell wall - that's the thick hard covering that bacteria and plant cells have.  Having no cell wall only a cell membrane as hillfooter says it is extremely fragile and in dry conditions it will behydrate very quickly.  As it doesn't form spores like some bacteria it dies !  It is easily passed from bird to bird and to chicks through the egg from an infected mum.

Eglu's are very easy to clean Basil !  I have never used more than water (sometime with a little washing up liquid in) to clean mine

[Sarah Mitchell]

Hi All

Does anyone know if it is possible to get hold of MG vaccine for small backyard flocks and has anyone used it/ administered it themselves?  Thanks

Sarah

[Basil_UK]

Thank you all for your comments,  its reasurring to hear  from experts.

Poultrygeist, in response to your answer ,the have organic layers pellets, which I had been adding diatonm to , however, stopped today !  Scoop of organic corn late afternoon,  the have access to oystershell and grit and fresh water with a tonic in. I quite often put greens, fruit and veggie leftovers usually at weekends.  once a week I give them a litle treat of meal worms.  They all eat really well

Thanks again for you great advice.

Basil