Is Respiratory infection life long?

[JuliaSunshine]

Someone said respiratory infection for birds is lifelong and that they shed virus even after they get better. Is this true?

 

[WingItRanch]

Not all respiratory illnesses are lifelong. There are some strains like MG that are lifelong and symptoms can come out during times of stress.

I was freaking out about this recently but the nice folks on BYC made me feel better. It's not necessarily a death sentence but if you do believe your chickens have a more serious respiratory illness like MG, the recommendation is to keep a closed flock. No new birds in and don't give any away because it could spread.

 

[Eggcessive]

There are a number of different respiratory diseases, viruses, bacterial ones, and fungal. Many make them carriers for life, and affect the whole flock. A virus such as infectious bronchitis can make them carriers for 5 months to a year. MG, coryza, ILT can make them carriers for life. There are more serious ones, mostly viruses, such as avian influenza, Exotic Newcastles and others. It is always a good idea to get some testing done on sick birds, or send one or two in for a necropsy through your state vet. There are some labs nationally including Zoologix, who will help you collect swabs to test.

 

[JuliaSunshine]

There are a number of different respiratory diseases, viruses, bacterial ones, and fungal. Many make them carriers for life, and affect the whole flock. A virus such as infectious bronchitis can make them carriers for 5 months to a year. MG, coryza, ILT can make them carriers for life. There are more serious ones, mostly viruses, such as avian influenza, Exotic Newcastles and others. It is always a good idea to get some testing done on sick birds, or send one or two in for a necropsy through your state vet. There are some labs nationally including Zoologix, who will help you collect swabs to test

What do you do once one of your chickens died possibly from respiratory infection?

One hen got started breathing heavily a couple of month ago with crackling sounds but she got better after I gave her ivermectin as a former technician at a vet office suggested.
Then she started to breathe a bit heavily again but not as bad as the first time. I separated her again for a few days and she died suddenly within 30 minutes since she started to have a problem breathing.
She was fine eating fruits and such just an hour before that even though she didn't have much appetite for a few days. Her appetite was slowly improving again so we were hopeful.

I feel so bad for not treating her for respiratory infection but I think I didn't want to believe she had it because I didn't want to cull her or seperate her from her flock for life as another neighbor suggested in case of respiratory infection.

I bought VetRx from Amazon to give it to the rest of the flock which is 8 now as prevention.
Will that be helpful?

 

[Eggcessive]

Ivermectin is not a treatment for a respiratory infection. It has been used as a wormer and for mites in the past. It is not the best treatment for mites or worms at this time. Vet Rx is a mixture of oils from oregano, rosemary, along with camphor, the scent of moth balls. It doesn’t have any antibiotics in it, but may be similar to Vicks. It is just always a good thing to get testing or a necropsy if you lose one. Here is a good article about MG, one of the common diseases:
https://extension.umd.edu/sites/ext... Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) Infecti....pdf

 

[JuliaSunshine]

Thank you for the link.
The former technician thought it was most likely gape worm hence the ivermectin.
She didn't have any discharge so I didn't think it was respiratory infection.
If one of my chickens gets sick again I'll just bring her to a vet next time. Too much guess work.
It really hurt us losing them as we keep them as pets now.
The one who died was my husband's absolute favorite even though I'm the one who keeps crying.
I'll look into testing in Canada, too.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. Gapeworm is one of the more rare worms. Apparently, chickens cannot eat or drink with gapeworms and gape and gasp for air continuously. A fecal float done by a vet can confirm the presence of gapeworm eggs. Fenbendazole 10% (SafeGuard or Panacur liquid goat wormer or horse paste) 1.25 ml given orally for 5 days can treat it. Ivermectin probably has lost effectiveness. If you lose a bird with suspected gapeworm, if you do a necropsy or dissect the trachea, you can see the clumps of red Y-shaped gapeworms. I know the University of Guelph does necropsies in Ontario, but not sure where you can get one in western Canada.

 

[JuliaSunshine]

Sorry for your loss. Gapeworm is one of the more rare worms. Apparently, chickens cannot eat or drink with gapeworms and gape and gasp for air continuously. A fecal float done by a vet can confirm the presence of gapeworm eggs. Fenbendazole 10% (SafeGuard or Panacur liquid goat wormer or horse paste) 1.25 ml given orally for 5 days can treat it. Ivermectin probably has lost effectiveness. If you lose a bird with suspected gapeworm, if you do a necropsy or dissect the trachea, you can see the clumps of red Y-shaped gapeworms. I know the University of Guelph does necropsies in Ontario, but not sure where you can get one in western Canada.

Thank you. I just don't know what got her but she had bad rales a few times and just before she died. It made me suspect respiratory infection more than gape worms.
Especially she didn't show much sign of gape worms as in "gaping" before she died. She was happily eating treats like fruits and scratch. Also after she died, a lot of water came out of her beak. Could that be from her lung?
Anyways, I treated the rest of the flock with Ivermectin and I'm going to give them VetRx just in case.
One more question. I'm not so sure why it's so important to know the cause of the death other than the sake of knowing.
Is it because you want to decide what to do about the rest of the flock?
What if she died of MZ, per say? In that case, is there something I should do for the flock?
And if it was Avian flu, do you need to cull the entire flock?

 

[JuliaSunshine]

Not all respiratory illnesses are lifelong. There are some strains like MG that are lifelong and symptoms can come out during times of stress.

I was freaking out about this recently but the nice folks on BYC made me feel better. It's not necessarily a death sentence but if you do believe your chickens have a more serious respiratory illness like MG, the recommendation is to keep a closed flock. No new birds in and don't give any away because it could spread.

Thank you. So if one of your chickens died of respiratory illness, does that mean other chickens could have the virus or bacteria but they're healthy enough to not show the symptoms just for the moment?
I feel like I now have a flock that's infected with something bad. I keep looking at them with suspect whenever I hear a quick sneeze or I see someone breathing with a open beak.

 

[WingItRanch]

Thank you. So if one of your chickens died of respiratory illness, does that mean other chickens could have the virus or bacteria but they're healthy enough to not show the symptoms just for the moment?
I feel like I now have a flock that's infected with something bad. I keep looking at them with suspect whenever I hear a quick sneeze or I see someone breathing with a open beak.

Eggcessive is way more experienced than I am but I get why you're worried. I posted basically the same worries- thinking there was no hope. My chickens were sneezing and coughing and one had bubbly eyes. All symptoms of respiratory illness. I had some die unexpectedly when they were younger but they were acting normal right before.

After calming down, taking to smart folks like Eggcessive, and doing research... it didn't seem so scary. I got the right medicine and treated their symptoms and they're all happy and healthy now. MG is not necessarily a death sentence. The symptoms will come out in times of stress but they'll still be good chickens.

If you can get an illness confirmed by a lab, then you have a better idea of what to deal with.