[PaulineM]

Hi
Sorry for the long post 
I posted on Friday that one of my hens had rattling breathing. I got Erythrocin from a vet and all my girls have been receiving this from friday afternoon (@36 hours).
The original patient's breathing is still the same, but she is eating a drinking a bit. I had her in a dog crate in the conservatory. However when I went to let my hens out this morning another hen is rattling    I had no more crates to isolate her in, so in the end I have put both sick hens in a spare stable with food and their medicated water, although I'm not sure if they have even touched their water this morning.
I did get 3 new young hens 8 days ago and although they are in a spare house and run they have now been free- ranging together (although technically the new 3 stay together). They appear very well, I don't think they brought this infection into the flock as now that I realise there is an infection I would say the original patient was probably showing signs of the illness for a while now.
So my questions are
1 Am I right to isolate the 2 patients in an stable?
2 Is it inevitable that this will spread more?
3 How many mls of medicated water should my sick girls be getting?
4 Might we need to cull?
5 What other actions do I need to take?

 

[joyfull]

you need to treat all of your birds and not just those showing signs of the infection. Make sure none of them have access to any other water - they will then have no chance of avoiding the medicated water.
Never breed from these girls - if it is myco then it can be passed down to the chick.
You can never cure them from myco - at times of stress they can have it flare up again - this can be even something as simple as going into a moult.
If you was a breeder then I would say yes do cull but if they are pets and you don't intend to breed from them then so long as you are prepared to treat them all and throw away the eggs whilst they are being treated (and for any withdrawal period afterwards) then keep them 

[PaulineM]

Thanks for the reply Joyful,
They are all getting the medicated water. I have no intentions of breeding from them either. Do you think it will spread more and what do you think their chances of survival are?  
The first one with the infection is going through a moult too.

[joyfull]

most do survive if treated, and as the one going through a moult is the first one chances are she could have had it a while - even from hatching without you knowing. Adding new birds is also stressful. It is contagious so any new birds can run the risk of getting it - but for some reason not all birds do catch it. I had one bird with it but none of the others ever showed any signs of it and I never separated my one - as my vet said by the time you see the symptoms the others have run the risk of catching it anyway. 

[Casey76]

If your girls have never had any respiratory problems before, then it is highly likely that your new girls brought it in, even if they are not showing any external signs.  

I would also recommend that you now keep a "closed" flock, and not bring any new hens in until (unfortunately) the others have dies - hopefully of old age.

[PaulineM]

Hi
I have just been googling mycoplasma, do they always get the bubbling, sticky eyes with myco as my girls eyes are fine. Their only symptons is the rattling. I know I'm probably only clutching at straws 

[joyfull]

that is one of the signs but only a blood test will confirm this. If you really want to be sure then you will need to get your vet to do this. I will say though that when the one I had with myco was confirmed she was culled (although not for this but because she was an aggressive little madam who started to viciously attack some other birds) and since then I have never had another bird show any signs.

[PaulineM]

UPDATE:

I really expected my original patient to be dead this morning as she had very laboured breathing last night  However this morning I think the rattling has gone and she appears much brighter (hope I don't go out and check and its back). The second patient is still rattling.
In the stable were they usually all live there appears to be another victim    One of my old Isa's was rattling this morning but when she jumped off the roost bar the breathing went quiet again and she ran off with the other girls.
So is it worth isolating her now? I'm not sure what to do as far as my sick bay is concerned (only other stable) is it ok to put newly sick girls in with ones that seem to be recovering? Also how long do I give them the anti-biotic for? It says on the container between 1-5 days depending on symptons, should I give it for 5 days after the last affected bird showed symptons   

[joyfull]

personally I wouldn't bother to isolate her - they have the illness before they show the symptoms so it will have been passed on before now to any that are going to get it. Just treat all of them for 5 days - then if they are still rattling ring your vet to see if you can continue with the antibiotics.

[ANHBUC]

I am wondering if it could be a respiratory infection from mould spores off hay or straw with you saying they have access to a stable.  Just a thought incase it is not myco.  Hope they all improve soon. 

[PaulineM]

Thanks Joyful, I will ring the vets on Wednesday.

ANHBUC unfortunately its def not spores off anything as although they sleep in a stable it has no bedding in it at the moment. I had a couple of problems with fleas in the bedding so I cleared the stable in June and sprayed it, no more fleas, Under the roost bar is lino which I sweep everyday and then mop with Jeyes fluid  It makes for a lovely clean environment. I might put some more bedding down in the winter 

[PaulineM]

Hi
I'm still fighting this awful infection 
One hen seems almost back to herself 
The first one to get sick has been back in the house as she went downhill and I think I almost lost her  but she seems a lot better and is eating much better but still rattling at night.
One other hen is still fighting it and I think she will be OK.
This morning I had another one come down with it, so I have brought her into the house as well, hoping that if she gets lots of TLC from the onset it mightn't get a hold on her 
They have been on the anti-biotic for 8 days now but the vet said today that 7-10 days is the treatment time 
I really hope this will clear up soon, I'm emotionally exhausted 

[jhub]

Hello Pauline and sorry you're having a tough time.
One of my hens had myco when she arrived and the first course of antibiotics was not effective and she needed a different antibiotic. I would have thought you'd see an improvement eight days into treatment.

[PaulineM]

Thanks jhub, I really thought after a couple of days there would have been an improvement but I spoke to the vets today and they assured me that Erythrocin was "the drug of choice"  I'll let it go until Monday and then ring them again.