Coryza? Mycoplasma? Or just an infection?

[CraziChknLady]

Had a hen a month ago showing signs of swollen eye as well as watery eye ( has bubbles in corner) which I also attributed to possible sinus infection. She was quarantined . I tried a previous antibiotic that I had gotten for another hen ( whom just had respiratory breathing problems a few months earlier.) It worked for about a day, then the next the swelling was even worse. I tried VetRX as well as herbs in food, vitamins and electrolytes. Using the VetRX seemed to help for a few days to a week but then swelling changed from below her eye to just above her eye ( just her upper eyelid). I gave her an extra week as the swelling went down but still has watery eye. Just took her to the vet last week and she was given amoxicillin. This flared up due to one of the hurricanes a month ago, which just caused severe thunderstorms and rained for 4 days straight in our area. She seems better but not 100%. Vet said it's possible that going forward, any similar weather will cause more flare-ups. Is it possible she has Mycoplasma? Coryza? They seem so similar, how do I tell a difference ? Other hen with her just had breathing issues, same as the other hen few months ago. She's got different antibiotics. The one with the eye is the only one who has shown these symptoms. These 2 are part of the original flock of 8 I bought in May. Everyone else has normal appetite , drinking and acting fine. I'm beginning to think this flock was sick when I got them. Have gone through everything from mites, respiratory issues and now this. I clean weekly and it just seems like everytime I take a step forward, it's 10 steps back. This is my 4-5 flock and I've never had this many health issues. I'm very discouraged. Any help or advice is appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Debbie292d]

So sorry you're having these troubles.

Coryza usually produces a horrible smell coming from their face.

I've not heard before that thunderstorms can prompt a disease or illness in a chicken to reoccur, but perhaps there is something to do with that. I just can't imagine it as we've got thunderstorms here, some pretty nasty ones too, weekly during the summer months and nobody gets sick.

Beyond a general respiratory infection, there are other things it could be, but did your vet test for what this is? That would help to know what, if anything, you're dealing with.

How many more days are they on their antibiotics and what kind was prescribed? Hopefully, this does it though!

After finishing the antibiotics, be sure to give them probiotics for a couple of weeks. Otherwise, you could have new issues creeping up, like vent gleet, digestive issues, diarrhea, etc. Also, I'd give them vitamin water every couple of days to help boost their immune systems.

We feed ours Kalmbach's Flockmaker (20%) with oyster shell in a separate dish. Although probiotics and vitamins are in their feed, they also get both once or twice a week. This is all to bolster them up and keep them from getting sick. These are silkies, so I'm a little more worried about them staying healthy, and they do.

Hopefully, yours heal up after the antibiotics are done, and then they stay that way!

 

[Eggcessive]

The symptoms sound like mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG,) a chronic respiratory disease. Coryza may have worse, but similar symptoms, and has a bad odor with pus filled eyes, thick nasal drainage, and is more severe. What antibiotic did you use? Tylosin or Denagard are ones commonly used to treat MG, as well as oxytetracycline. Here is some reading about MG:
https://extension.umd.edu/sites/ext... Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) Infecti....pdf

 

[CraziChknLady]

After much researching, I don't think its Coryza. Its not Coccidiosys or Maerk's. I have older hens that it seems to go to first. Lately this week I noticed 2 of my younger ones. A month ago when this really started, I have only had 2 hens that had swelling around the eye. That hen has gotten better. Eye swelling had disappeared but I noticed she had bubbles in corner of eye. The other hen did have a swollen eye. I put her in my med coop, but sadly something broke into it and took that hen. She had only been there for about 2 days. The original hen, while her eye is better still seems to have a bit of a cough. Even though I have kept the first hen, and another quarantined for over a month and a half now (in a different med coop), within this last week or 2, I now have several more showing symptoms. I really think its Infectious Laryngotracheitis. Its either that or a combination of Bronchitis and CRD/Mycoplasma. Its possible it could be 3 different things. Either way, it has really discouraged me. Sadly from what I could count its about 6-8 now showing symptoms.

 

[Eggcessive]

Did you try to get some Tylosin powder online to start treatment? You can get it from Jedds.com in a few days. It sounds more like mycoplasma with the eyelid swelling and bubbles. LGT usually causes severe gaping and bloody mucus from the beak that gets slung around the coop. Testing could help you narrow it down, but MG is pretty common.

 

[CraziChknLady]

Yes. The original hen many months ago is what I was given for her. This second hen, I did try that for a few days. It seemed to work for a day or two, which swelling did go down. But then it ballooned up above and below her eye and looked pretty bad, crusty, dry, and bubbles in corner, with nasal discharge, cough, and sneezing. No yellow discharge or mucous. So I switched to Vet RX thinking maybe I was using the wrong antibiotic, and I didn't want to keep giving it to her if it was wrong. I did VetRX in the water along with rubbing some on her beak, wattles and comb. That seemed to work for a few days, then again, swelling was down, then later on in the week it was worse. Wattles didn't swell but her comb and eye did really bad, again. She has a very large comb for a hen. So I backed off with putting it on her, but continued in the water along with a lot of oregano. After a week or so, all swelling went down as well as nasal discharge, but she still had the cough, sneeze thing. I had another hen cough and sneeze about a week or so after this one. So these two have been quarantined for a while. Its been a month and a half now. Still have the cough/ sneeze. Now I have had another hen or 2 start the cough/sneeze as well as being able to hear it when she breathes, along with 2 growers. I also have a banty roo, while no coughing or sneezing has started to...for lack of a better word not be able to crow? He gets halfway then its like he's got a frog in his throat. I had one other hen early on start to have her eyelids swell, she was only in the med coop for a couple of days and the VetRX in water along w/ oregano seemed to help, but something broke into the original med coop and she was taken.

 

[CraziChknLady]

I finally took the eye swollen hen, to the vet as she couldn't shake the cough and sneezing. I was given Amoxicillin tablets as well as Aquasol for her. The other hen with her was given Amoxicillin liquid.

 

[Eggcessive]

Mycoplasma is not treated with amoxicillin, since it does not have a cell wall. Your vet should know that. Drugs that can treat symptoms are Tylosin, Denagard or TiaGard, tetracyclines, and others. There are a number of common respiratory diseases in chickens. Also sometimes there may be more than one disease at the same time. When a chicken’s body is sent in to the state vet for a necropsy, they test for multiple things. It can be common to have both infectious bronchitis and mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) at the same time. IB causes mostly sneezing and some congestion. MG can cause the bubbles and foam, swollen eyes or face, and other symptoms.

 

[CraziChknLady]

Mycoplasma is not treated with amoxicillin, since it does not have a cell wall. Your vet should know that. Drugs that can treat symptoms are Tylosin, Denagard or TiaGard, tetracyclines, and others. There are a number of common respiratory diseases in chickens. Also sometimes there may be more than one disease at the same time. When a chicken’s body is sent in to the state vet for a necropsy, they test for multiple things. It can be common to have both infectious bronchitis and mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) at the same time. IB causes mostly sneezing and some congestion. MG can cause the bubbles and foam, swollen eyes or face, and other symptoms.

Yes, my first two hens, especially the one who had a swollen face. I did use Tylosin and that didnt work for her. It semed to for a day then her one side swelled up even worse! So that is when I switched. Oddly though it did seem to work for everyone else. I think that is why when I brought her in the vet did the Amoxicillian and Aqualsol. I really think she possibly had 2 respiratory things plus was molting at the same time.

 

[Eggcessive]

Aquasol could treat roundworms. It is not an antibiotic that would treat MG. It is hard to know what you are dealing with unless they do a culture or testing. PCR testing is the best. Your vet or state vet could possibly test, and there are some national labs such as Zoologix, who can send you materials to collect a testing specimen at home. Hard to know if testing would be accurate after treating with multiple antibiotics. Sometimes there can be more than one respiratory disease at once. Infectious bronchitis, mycoplasma gallisepticum, coryza, ILT, ORT, and other viruses cause respiratory disease symptoms.