Is it mycroplasma?

[its hilly]

If mycroplasma is the correct name that is.
Over the last week or two some of my big chooks have had sneezes and the odd cough and one or two have been quite under the weather. Thought it was a nasty cold. But suddenly I lost two, one was an oldie rescue (not ex-bat, could have been 5 or 6 years old) and one was bouncing on Friday night and dead on Saturday morning. They've been getting tlc, the usual pick-me-ups of extra corn, garlic porridge, and acv twice weekly instead of once.
However on Saturday some of my youngest started sneezing too, yesterday one had a swollen face with clear fluid leaky eyes and today one eye is full of yellow gunge. And one of my bigs and another youngun have swollen faces tonight, one with clear fluid again.
Vet trip tomorrow I think but as the chicken lady is not there on Tuesdays if I go in with a fair idea they will give me some antibiotics straight away. Otherwise they will just look blankly at my poorly bird, and ask me to bring it back the next day. As its a 50 odd mile round trip I'd rather not..if possible.
What anti would normally be used if it is Mycro thingy, and what is the most commonly prescribed anti for other things. Just so they can look them up.

[jessmorris]

IH - I've looked this up and found 'mycoplasmosis'. Also called sinusitis, coryza, synovitis. My book says treat with Terramycin, Tylan soluble or Aureomycin which only suppress it and it sometimes recurs.
Mortality is usally low.
Hope this helps.
JM

[RichmondHens]

Sounds like it Hilly. Unfortunately once it's in your flocks there is not a lot you can do. Get some Tylan soluble from the vet and dose all the birds - it is quite magic stuff if you catch the infection early. My vet told me there was an egg withdrawal period - for a week after treatment - but I think others on here have been told different things by their vets so check with yours. It is very prevalent in backyard flocks as a) a lot of people don't recognise it and b) people breed from affected birds (it is transmissable via the egg). However, it can be kept under control by Tylan and as soon as you recognise a bird has symptoms if you treat straightaway it clears up with a day or so. A tub of Tylan will last you for ages by the way, even it seems expensive to start with. We had a small outbreak here in the winter (I'm 99% certain it came in with some bought in birds - we had never had it before and I was furious) but these birds were kept separate, treated, and we do not intend to breed from them so hopefully I have contained it. Wild birds will spread it too so unfortunately it is v hard to avoid.

[Suechooks]

Tylan soluble is the favoured antibiotic for Mycoplasma and most respiratory conditions. Its given in the water for 3 days and egg withdrawal is 7 days after treatment. The other antibiotic is Baytril which is a more broad spectrum. Tylan can also be given by injection - the course is 2 injections 48 hours apart.
Hope that helps and your girls get better soon.
BTW Mycoplasma sometimes manifests with bubbly eyes and also I seem to remember there is a smell from the mucous which you don't get with other respiratory conditions.

[Suechooks]

RH types quicker than me!

[RichmondHens]

The other thing is that mycoplasmosis is easily brought on by stress - so if you move a bird, introduce new birds or there are adverse weather conditions etc then it will possibly appear again.

[its hilly]

Thanks folks.
Been to see vet, (in between other things) and it seems likely it is mycro, going back again tomorrow with a couple of chooks at various stages to confirm and she will order the Tylan for me. Couldn't take chooks today as was very tied up with some serious unavoidable stuff..would have had to leave poorly birds locked in car all day, not an option.
Does anyone have a dose rate? There is one in the vet book, but when she asked where my info came from and I said 'a forum with some experienced keepers' she laughed. But also said that I should ask if anyone had a dose rate as things don't always work best by her book, and she cheerfully acknowledged that many vets dont come across chickens much, and experience is worth a lot in these cases. She at least does know the more common illnesses, and as she and others at the practice have chooks she recognises a lot of health issues and basic problems.

[RichmondHens]

0.5 g per litre of water. It's a tiny amount and you just dissolve it in the water. Need to do it fresh each day though, so only do as much as your birds drink in one day otherwise it will be wasted. Dose for three consecutive days.

[Suechooks]

0.5 g per litre of water. It's a tiny amount and you just dissolve it in the water. Need to do it fresh each day though, so only do as much as your birds drink in one day otherwise it will be wasted. Dose for three consecutive days.

Ditto what RH has said. I got the info from a downloaded document from the manufacturers.

[kirsty b]

I had mycoplasma in a bird a couple of years back - lost her overnight. She was fine the previous evening, but died the next morning.

I was advised a week's withdrawal with Tylan too. Treated whole flock.

[its hilly]

Well took a couple of growers (10wks ish) and an older bird who is really poorly. The young ones she said seemed pretty sure they had it, (they had saggy lower eyelids but no bubbles at the time, slight swelling near the ear on one of them) However what she did pick up on was that their breath was pretty smelly, which jogged my memory to say that their coop is really smelly at the mo too, despite more frequent than usual cleaning. Apparently that is also a symptom.
However the older one she was doubtful of, it may be that there is something else lurking, damn. Still we will treat the mycro (whole flock) with Tylan, and then see if anything else is still showing up. As several more are looking poorly today I'm glad I got it sorted.
Thanks RH..that is the same rate as her book..so fingers crossed. Think it's the weather (which has been foul) combined with my integrating the youngsters and the breeders pens back into the main flock so they can all free-range together 'till spring. There haven't been any fights, amazingly, just an odd 'bossy cow' moment. But it must still be stressful for them all.

[its hilly]

Update
3 days of tylan later, all seem much brighter, even my really bad girl. Still have three who are wheezy and a bit runny though so will check to see if more treatment is needed. And one boy who I had been keeping my eye on as he had become weak despite eating well, but had no other symptoms, is now hurtling round like a nutter. Guess he had it too?
I will also add that my youngest bunch, whose coop was smellyx2, have not got a stinky coop this morning whoopee.

[Suechooks]

You could try using Respite for a few days if you don't want to give them more Tylan. It seems to work well. I use it on new intake birds and have used on winter cough/colds etc.

[SuzyB]

Hi Its Hilly, just wondered how things were now with your lot? Im looking for some good news and a happy ending getting over myco.

Ive been back to the vets today with Lily and one of the new girls (one of the two I bought 2 weeks ago that brought the damn illlness in with her) Both had to have antibiotic injections and anti inflams and the new girl had to have eye drops as she just doesnt open her eyes and she smells extremely bad.

It doesnt look good for Lily, even though my old girls all looked as if they were back to normal. She was fine until yesterday afternoon then she started to look a bit miserable and started standing still with her eyes closed, eating and drinking, but only little bits.

I advised the breeder last Sunday when they were diagnosed to check her stock. She said her remaining stock were fine. I know this isnt the case as when I returned the welsummer to her on the saturday (albeit it died on the way) she showed me the others and there were a couple there with sticky, closed eyes. I didnt realise what that meant at that point. Grrrrr.

Im grateful my vet is so thorough, he's even given me a handwash scrub to use after Ive handled them and gave me the rest of the eye gel without charge. He did say though that if it doesnt clear in these two, it might mean culling all my girls - will it really come to that???

[petal]

this mycoplasma thing has worried me! i have just noticed some of my birds sneezing with clear runny noses - the hens are off lay and we had another infestation of redmite today - vet trip?