Just as Rusty is on the mend from the prolapse we run into the next problem. She is showing early symptoms of mycoplasma. Once mycoplasma has been in the flock it will reoccur at times of stress and I think the stress that Rusty has been under has probably caused this to come out again.
For the last couple of days, while bathing her, I had noticed the same sweet smell from her that I recognise from Caramel. I mentioned it to my husband and we decided that perhaps a wet chicken smell is recognisable in the same way that a wet dog smell is.
Before bed time, yesterday, Rusty had settled in the nest box again. Several times I lifted the lid to check on her and the same smell wafted out. She was now dry and I felt the niggle of anxiety at recognising the smell again. I felt unsure that I could diagnose mycoplasma by just a smell and no other symptoms.
A little later I checked on Rusty again and she had a drink of water and then was standing with her beak open while breathing.
Rusty is breathing with her beak slightly open
She then moved to stand on the grit container and continued breathing with her beak open and her eyes closed and her head nodding up and down as she was breathing.
Rusty has her eyes shut and her beak open as she breaths
Her head bobs as she breaths – up
And – down
I now had alarm bells ringing.
Half an hour later she is still here but facing the other way
Soon after this she put herself to bed in the nest box. By this time I felt certain this was mycoplasma, probably brought on by her being stressed. I had no more tylan and the vet was now closed.
I decided to call as soon as they opened in the morning.
I called the vet and got put through to the sister practice that I had taken Rusty to a few days ago. I explained what was happening and the receptionist checked if either they, or my local vet, had tylan in stock. My local vet had no stock but they did. She said the earliest appointment for me to take Rusty was at eleven forty.
At ten o’clock I had a phone call from them. It was the lady vet that had treated Caramel and Pebbles last year. She said that as she knew my history and she knew that I was able to recognise the early symptoms, she was happy to leave me some tylan to pick up straight away without taking Rusty in. She had recognised my name and Rusty’s in the appointment book.
I was so pleased I could have hugged her. I went off to collect it straight away. Luckily once more I didn’t have lunch deliveries, as August is our quiet time, at least something is going my way. I got back by eleven o’clock and put it in the water immediately.
As luck would have it Rusty was out of the nest box and came straight to the water and had a good drink, hurrah! I went to get my camera but when I got back Rusty and Apricot were having a dust bath. I feel so relieved and hopeful again. Catching it quickly is key and I now have enough tylan to keep some in stock.
Rusty and Apricot having a dust bath
Rusty is flinging up a cloud of dust
After just having had another sleepless night I am now feeling much more positive again. It’s a rollercoaster at the moment with Rusty bouncing me up and down but I just hope things will settle down now.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
Simply unbelievable – but, as with everything else, your prompt action gives the best chance of a successful outcome. You must be emotionally exhausted.
I am emotionally exhausted. I feel totally rung out. It feels like just one thing after the other but hopefully once again speedy treatment is key. I also feel better now that I know I can ask for the vet who treated it last year to give me a repeat prescription. It was £38 pounds on Monday but today for the tylan, without consultation, it was just under £10. I was well pleased with that. Rusty looks fine at the moment but she is still giving off a bit of a whiff. I will keep updating her progress.
So good that you can now recognise it straight away, hope she keeps getting better.
I do now have the advantage of recognising it and treating it quickly which is so important. She had another dust bath and another drink of the medicated water this evening so I am feeling much better about her than last night.
Oh goodness Carol – you are on a roller-coaster!! We seem to both have this in our flocks now and know to treat straightaway – hopefully this will be transitory as it was with Freckles and my Jasmine a few weeks ago. xx
I totally agree that we both have this in our flocks now and have to be forever vigilant but also have the experience to act quickly and as you say hopefully that means we are able to deal with it. We have so much in common, apart from seramas, we seem to have gone through such similar experiences. It helps me to know that I am not alone. xx
I am glad you caught this quickly.
Me too. What worried me most was having no tylan left but I was lucky to be able to get some quickly. Again I am fortunate that my vet has two branches which makes it more likely that one of them has stock.
Gosh, you poor thing. It’s just not fair all the stuff you have to deal with. I’m glad you got on it early. Saying a prayer for sweet Rusty.
It does feel like everything is being thrown at us at once. It seems that things were going along smoothly for a while then suddenly it’s one thing after the other. The important thing is to treat early and I am hoping that there is a good chance of recovery. I know that we are not out of the woods yet, Rusty has a very mucky bottom which I am going to try to clean up today. I also worry about how she will cope when she starts laying again but I am keeping everything crossed and taking it one step at a time. In herself she looks back to normal so that’s a good sign.