Mycoplasma what to do

[Belovedturkey]

I have a chicken with mycoplasma. What is the quickest way to treat it, what can I give the rest of my birds so they don’t get it, and how often should I do saline washes and how should it be done. Her eyes are bubbly she has the slurpy breathing and her eyes get stuck closed a lot

 

[bhawk-23]

Has mycoplasma been confirmed by a test?

Tylosin in the water 5-7 days has worked well for us. I treat the whole flock at once because if one has it then they all have it. Adding in some molasses, juice, or the like to help cover the smell is suggested. I also use it to make mash because they are not always keen on drinking the water.

I’ve not had to use saline washes so someone else with more knowledge will help with that.

 

[Belovedturkey]

Has mycoplasma been confirmed by a test?

Tylosin in the water 5-7 days has worked well for us. I treat the whole flock at once because if one has it then they all have it. Adding in some molasses, juice, or the like to help cover the smell is suggested. I also use it to make mash because they are not always keen on drinking the water.

I’ve not had to use saline washes so someone else with more knowledge will help with that.

If the whole flock has it should I put this chicken back in or should I keep her separate because she is showing the symptoms and I have doxycycline which is supposed to help so will that work or should I get something better. And no I don’t have a test but she has all the symptoms

 

[Belovedturkey]

Could it be something else that’s not mycoplasma and does this mean that any future birds will also get the desease? And how does it effect the birds eggs because i sell the eggs that the chickens lay, and no other chickens have symptoms

 

[bhawk-23]

If you would like to treat her with doxycycline separately and then the flock with Tylosin I don’t see harm in this. I would not treat her with both meds though.
For us the eggs were a bit odd shaped during the infection and now randomly a couple will show up.
I treat the whole flock every 8ish weeks unless I see one not doing well. You can treat monthly and a lot of people suggest to.
I believe it can be passed through the egg and chicks are born with it but I don’t hatch because of MG and MD so I could very well be wrong in that.

And yes, there are other respiratory infections that can present with similar symptoms. There are good articles on BYC and lots of threads on them if you do a search on the website.
You can swab their nose and send it off for testing, some vets will do that test or you can treat based on symptoms.

I do hope someone more experienced will jump on here and correct me if I am wrong on any info I’ve provided!

 

[Belovedturkey]

If you would like to treat her with doxycycline separately and then the flock with Tylosin I don’t see harm in this. I would not treat her with both meds though.
For us the eggs were a bit odd shaped during the infection and now randomly a couple will show up.
I treat the whole flock every 8ish weeks unless I see one not doing well. You can treat monthly and a lot of people suggest to.
I believe it can be passed through the egg and chicks are born with it but I don’t hatch because of MG and MD so I could very well be wrong in that.

And yes, there are other respiratory infections that can present with similar symptoms. There are good articles on BYC and lots of threads on them if you do a search on the website.
You can swab their nose and send it off for testing, some vets will do that test or you can treat based on symptoms.

I do hope someone more experienced will jump on here and correct me if I am wrong on any info I’ve provided!

Your very helpful thank you so much I really appreciate your help

 

[bhawk-23]

@Wyorp Rock
@aart
@azygous

Please correct me if I’ve gotten any of my information wrong!

 

[Shadrach]

Poor hen. She looks miserable.
First it would be helpfull have have a proper diagnosis. Other diseases such as Newcastles disease can give similar symptoms.

Most medical texts will advise seperating the patient from the rest of the group. But, by the time most keepers have even identified a problem the infection will have already passed to the rest of the group. Add to this that stress exacerbates the symptoms making it harder for the bird to recover and in most cases being seperated from the group causes high levels of stress in chickens.

You may already know, there is no cure. You may also know that many chickens survive the diseases albeit with episodes throughout their life.
Some people report alleviation of symptoms with antibiotics but antibiotics have a major downside and that is they will kill all bacteria, good and bad and this can make recovery more difficult for the bird.

Rather than washing her eyes with saline I would try thyme in warm previously boiled water. You make a thyme tea basically and strain it through very fine cloth or similar.

Unfortunately there isn't anything you can do to make sure any bird doesn't catch Mycoplasma. Once in a group of chickens it's there to stay. It transmits through the egg and through the air. Vaccination as chicks doesn't prevent a chicken from getting the disease, nor does it stop the chicken being a carrier and spreading the disease. What it can do is reduce the severity of the symptoms.

 

[Belovedturkey]

Poor hen. She looks miserable.
First it would be helpfull have have a proper diagnosis. Other diseases such as Newcastles disease can give similar symptoms.

Most medical texts will advise seperating the patient from the rest of the group. But, by the time most keepers have even identified a problem the infection will have already passed to the rest of the group. Add to this that stress exacerbates the symptoms making it harder for the bird to recover and in most cases being seperated from the group causes high levels of stress in chickens.

You may already know, there is no cure. You may also know that many chickens survive the diseases albeit with episodes throughout their life.
Some people report alleviation of symptoms with antibiotics but antibiotics have a major downside and that is they will kill all bacteria, good and bad and this can make recovery more difficult for the bird.

Rather than washing her eyes with saline I would try thyme in warm previously boiled water. You make a thyme tea basically and strain it through very fine cloth or similar.

Unfortunately there isn't anything you can do to make sure any bird doesn't catch Mycoplasma. Once in a group of chickens it's there to stay. It transmits through the egg and through the air. Vaccination as chicks doesn't prevent a chicken from getting the disease, nor does it stop the chicken being a carrier and spreading the disease. What it can do is reduce the severity of the symptoms.

For now I’ll keep her separated until I can get a more sturdy diagnosis and do more research about antibiotics

 

[Belovedturkey]

I just had a hen who had to be culled, she was still except for convulsions could that have been new castles she didn’t have any of the other symptoms so could the convulsions have been something else or do all my birds have Newcastle’s and just haven’t shown it yet except for this one