[mears]

my blue belle who seemed fine and happy this morning eating digging etc now has foam in her eyes and wet patches underneath and i think she has diahrea everyone else seems fine can anyone tell me what they think it might be please

[Aunt Sally]

She probably has a Mycoplasma infection. 

You'll need to get it checked by a vet and if it is then all you're hens will need some antibiotics as it's very infectious 

[mears]

okay what will have caused that ,so i can prevent it again

[Aunt Sally]

It's just an infection they can get from wild birds or other poultry.  You will need to give their accomodation a really good clean out so they don't get reinfected from what she has shed.

How long have you had them ?

[nzdunn]

Is there an injection that they can have to prevent them from developing this.    nicky

[Aunt Sally]

The large commercial breeders inoculate chicks against it but it's not available for individual birds.

[mears]

ive had them about four weeks and the home is new too they all arrived together from the same farm ,another one has conjunctivitis in one eye i was told to clean it with cold tea bags and is showing improvements shes opening it back up today which is a good sign as she had it closed all the time for days but now this one has foam from the eye

[Hensington]

Myco is a total nightmare, it's usually not fatal but it will spread right around your flock. It's such a difficult thing to eradicate once you have it as it pops up all over the place seemingly by magic.

[Aunt Sally]

That's because once a bird has had it it is never completely cured and can reoccur at times of stress. 

[too many girls]

That's because once a bird has had it it is never completely cured and can reoccur at times of stress. 

gosh, i never knew that, when i asked Will he said to keep Pumpkin seperate from the others for the duration of his anti's, we put him back with the others after 10 days, none of them appeared to be infected and everyone is in good health now, note to self, don't let Pumpkin get stressed, maybe that veto's putting him with Cara's polands, too late.............

[Aunt Sally]

I don't think they are infectious when the symptoms are not there.  The Mycoplasma is just hiding away but will take over again if the chook gets under the weather at some time.

[Hensington]

Thats why it spreads so well between flocks, if a bird has had it then it remains a carrier for life. So even if you quarantine the bird it probably won't show any symptoms, then once it's introduced to your flock healthy birds will start to go down with it.
It's mainly spread via surfaces but can spread via dust but it's rare.

[Aunt Sally]

That's right Hensington.  It's insidious 

[Hensington]

There is an awful lot of it around at the moment, went to an auction and counted 30 pens with clear signs of myco infection.
It can also be passed down via eggs apparently, so careful whose eggs you are buying, those ebay eggs may be cheap but it could land you an awful lot of trouble.

[Foxy]

There is an awful lot of it around at the moment, went to an auction and counted 30 pens with clear signs of myco infection.
It can also be passed down via eggs apparently, so careful whose eggs you are buying, those ebay eggs may be cheap but it could land you an awful lot of trouble.

Lot of stock being moved around, I am completely paranoid about it at the mo!