My chickens are sick with something I havent had before

[HarleighHesse]

Hey everyone. My name is Harleigh. I live in Canada and have been keeping chickens since 2007. I've got a small flock of 13 birds, mainly silkie. About 2 weeks ago my white rooster started getting bubbles in his eye. Then it started getting stuck shut and If have to wet it to open in. The mucus around it is now yellow and I have 4 other birds doing the same now. Some have yellow inside their eye when I open them, but it isn't solid. It has the consistancy of jello-like pudding.Their breath is getting stinky (much like the smell of a dead animal) and some have white plaque-like spots in their mouths. Some are sneezing but no nasal discharge. They are all eating, drinking, the roosters are crowing still and the hen's are still laying eggs. I have been medicating them with tetracycline 1000 and I have been adding electrolytes plus to their water to ensure they are drinking. I have been reading a bunch on the internet and I cant find anything on what they are displaying. I can post photos as well if needed. Thanks guys!

 

[Pyxis]

Stinky smell says to me it's coryza. That roadkill dead animal smell is a hallmark symptom. You can treat them with Sulmet, if you can get that in Canada.

Be aware that this is a disease that never goes away. They will carry it for the rest of their lives, having symptoms flare-ups and needing to be treated again. This also means that you should never sell or give away any of your birds, or you will be infecting other peoples' flocks. These birds will pass the disease onto any new bird they come into contact with.

Had you recently added new birds? This is a disease that usually comes into a flock when new birds, who were silent carriers not currently showing symptoms, are added.

 

[HarleighHesse]

Stinky smell says to me it's coryza. That roadkill dead animal smell is a hallmark symptom. You can treat them with Sulmet, if you can get that in Canada.

Be aware that this is a disease that never goes away. They will carry it for the rest of their lives, having symptoms flare-ups and needing to be treated again. This also means that you should never sell or give away any of your birds, or you will be infecting other peoples' flocks. These birds will pass the disease onto any new bird they come into contact with.

Had you recently added new birds? This is a disease that usually comes into a flock when new birds, who were silent carriers not currently showing symptoms, are added.

Thanks for the I sight. I havent added any birds since last March. I have pigeons but they havent been out of the coop since October.

 

[Pyxis]

Thanks for the I sight. I havent added any birds since last March. I have pigeons but they havent been out of the coop since October.

Very sorry you're dealing with this. Two years ago, I bought some birds from what I thought was a trusted source, and even quarantined them, but not well enough, because they infected the rest of my flock with coryza (confirmed with testing from a lab). They had all the same symptoms yours do. I opted to cull my whole flock and start over, which was heartbreaking, but I show and sell birds, and I could not do that if my birds were infected with this kind of disease, so that's what made sense for me.

 

[HarleighHesse]

Here are some photos of my rooster, who has facial swelling, discharge from his eyes (no nasal). Breathing is fine. Walks fine, eats good, drinking fine. Hens are still laying. Still not 100% convinced its coryza. But I have contacted my vet. Only thing making me think its coryza is the smell from their mouth. I included a photo of inside his mouth, where you can see the white plaque

 

[Pyxis]

Yep, and here's a picture of my hen with coryza. This is the one I swabbed and sent out for testing, too:

A few days after this, her face was totally swollen.

If you can get testing done, I'd recommend it. The lab I used is Zoologix. They have a respiratory panel they can run. Not sure if they would accept Canadian samples though, you'd have to ask them.

Unfortunately, coryza or not, it's definitely one of the respiratory diseases. And all of them, with the exception of one virus, are incurable and never go away. The one virus that does eventually go away, infectious bronchitis, is usually more mild, and causes reproductive tract damage, so you'd be seeing weird and misshapen eggs.

 

[HarleighHesse]

Thanks for your help guys! I'm waiting on my vet now

 

[Eggcessive]

If you have pigeons, the gunk in the beak that smells bad might also be canker. Your vet may treat that with metronidazole, also sold as FishZole. It would be good if your vet could take a culture of the secretions and send it away for testing. The bubbles in eyes is a sign of mycoplasma gallisepticum, but there are a handful of common respiratory diseases including MG, coryza, infectious bronchitis, and ILT. The yellow pus in the eyes can be MG or coryza, or other bacteria. Tetracycline can treat MG, but it would be best to get one bird tested. If you should lose a bird, you can send a body to your nearest poultry pathology lab. That is a great way to find a diagnosis. Consider all of your birds as carriers for life until the last bird is gone. Any new additions will either get the disease(s) or will be a carrier.

 

[HarleighHesse]

If you have pigeons, the gunk in the beak that smells bad might also be canker. Your vet may treat that with metronidazole, also sold as FishZole. It would be good if your vet could take a culture of the secretions and send it away for testing. The bubbles in eyes is a sign of mycoplasma gallisepticum, but there are a handful of common respiratory diseases including MG, coryza, infectious bronchitis, and ILT. The yellow pus in the eyes can be MG or coryza, or other bacteria. Tetracycline can treat MG, but it would be best to get one bird tested. If you should lose a bird, you can send a body to your nearest poultry pathology lab. That is a great way to find a diagnosis. Consider all of your birds as carriers for life until the last bird is gone. Any new additions will either get the disease(s) or will be a carrier.

I do have pigeons but none of them are showing ANY signs that the chickens are showing. I'm still trying to figure out how they got what they did. I havent introduced any birds since March 2019. None have gone to any shows. And I havent visited any ather coops in years. I have their house pretty tight as well, so no wild birds or rodents can get in.

 

[Eggcessive]

Pigeons routinely carry canker. Both canker and infectious coryza are known for having a bad odor. So the vet could be helpful in diagnosis, besides MG. Here is some reading about common diseases and another link about canker:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/canker