[iwantanallotment]

I just lost two 7 wk old chicks to mycoplasma recently, as some of you may know.

Just wondering....I have adolescents/POL with sneezes now. No chestiness/discharge etc. Just the odd few sneezes, and only the same 2 hens.

The remaining chick is thriving, 9 wks now - no bogeys to dig out for 2 days now, although she *does* sneeze. Eyes & chest clear, no gasping so I'm not worried. Still on Baytril anyway, to be safe.

BUT.......is it ok to ignore these sneezes among the older girls? 

Sorry to add but been thinking........I've kept poultry myself, and grew up with my family keeping poultry - NEVER have I known such illness/disease as there is now?!  All those years and I never, ever saw a sick bird, even among the ex-batts we took in. Now it seems par for the course.

Were we just lucky in the past or are things different now?
Maybe I'm just upset 'cos of the chicks that died, in which case ignore me 

[joyfull]

Hi, just keep a close eye on them, if they start to get sinus swelling, snotty noses and chestiness then get them on antibiotics straight away. Check that they have no straw or stuff up their nostrils etc.
There are lots of illness going round - I have lost some young ones recently (only had them a week before they started dying) so like you am paranoid about any little sign of illness - sneeze, sleeping, odd pooh etc. Joyfullxx

[kitkat]

Same for me, My Brahma seems to be fine now but the Sablepoots are probably only 90% better after treatment, my head tells me what needs to happen now, but my heart tells me different
     It does make you wonder about the illnesses around though and i think its got to be breeders who are more concerned about money than health[i'd never make a breeder].
    I've bought a lot of birds in and had a lot of problems. I have friends who have just bought a few Warrens for the eggs and dont have problems ever, i keep mine cleaner and better fed than all of them but always seem to have trouble.
    Years ago people didn't use antibiotics and all these lotions and potions, perhaps it the lack of meat in their diets

[GrannieAnnie]

In all the years we have kept chooks on and off, (mainly hybrids!) we have never had any probs, but since  bringing in birds from various sources, we've had several bouts of something, probably myco.

One of the young hens we took off someone earlier in the year developed a sneeze while they were in quarantine.  Brian said she was okay and to put them with our older layers.  Several of them then developed sneezing and the nasal discharge, but not eyes.  Being on aureomycin helped, but a couple of them have a permanent cough now, so to be safe I've put them on aureomycin again.

But it doesn't seem to bother them and they are still laying and eating and drinking well.

But it does make you paranoid!

[Aunt Sally]

There is a lot more sickness about and as grannie says it seems to be mainly mycoplasma.

Back garden flocks/pet chickens are hugely popular nowadays and this means that more chickens are being bred and moved about - often to dealers who then move them on again - than ever before and sometimes these people don't have the birds welfare at heart but as kitkat said they are more interested in financial profit. 

If a breeder/dealer has illness in their birds they should pay very close attention to biosecurity and not allow birds in or out. 

[Aunt Sally]

Just realised that this question is about mycoplasma in particular.

Once a bird has had mycoplasma they never get rid of it and it can flare up again at times of stress such as moulting.  Myco is extremely infectious but it is the secondary infections (bacterial) that causes the worst of the symptoms so it is very important to get antibiotics to treat or prevent any secondary infections and keep the housing and run scrupulously clean and dust free to prevent them.

[joyfull]

Also , auntie it is not advisable to breed from any bird that has had myco as this can pass through the egg into the chick 

[Aunt Sally]

Absolutely right Joyfull

[karlooben]

i have one of my young girls that has poss mycoplasma shes now on tylan from the vet ysterday , so far shes only got bogey nostrils and thats all so i am not to overly worried shes in the quantime corner with one of her sisters for company an both are eating an drinking well . most of my girls have sneezed on and of even though out the summer it does worry me but everything sneezes at somepoint but it doesnt always amount to anything but now i do watch mine like a hawk .

[GrannieAnnie]

I think we can get a bit paranoid at times, like when the cou cou started sneezing and shaking her head a lot.  Brian said to me that chickens always shake their heads a lot, but now he realises how serious these things can be!

Yes you are right Auntie, myco usually isn't the killer, but all the secondary infections they can get.

This year at 3 different times, we have brought in birds from sources other than our usual, and we've had problems.  So now, there won't be any more brought in unless I know they have been well cared for and vaccinated.  However, once our pure breeds start giving me some fertile eggs and I get my minijector, all my birds will be vaccinated! 

[Foxy]

Took me a while to work out "minijector" thought it was a breed I hadn't heard off!!! Was about to scrounge some hatching eggs!!!

[Aunt Sally]

Once a bird has mycoplasma they have it for life.  That is the biggest problem I suppose, they are always then a potential source of infection for your other birds.

[iwantanallotment]

Thanks all for the input.  Glad I'm not being drama queen.

That is an excellent point Auntie, about more hens being bred & bought/moved about so naturally disease is more common. Never thought of it that way. How true.

Wish I had the nerve to try incubating & rearing chicks - but even then myco can be in the bought eggs, can't it?  

Looks like we all need a minijector, Grannie - or do they do a microjector, for titchy flocks?  

And again auntie, exactly - that's another big fear - that older hens who've had myco can get it again and pass it onto younger birds brought in later who can't fight it so well  What a horrid disease.

[GrannieAnnie]

I'm experimenting.  with an image!

right, that didn't work, but look at the link and the minijector is the bottom little blue implement!

http://catalogues.kellysearch.com/fwd/catalogue_page.asp?ck=30945461&cn=1&pg=90&pn=

[Foxy]

Thanks for the link Grannie, I am seriously considering it for next year!