This post is going to be a little bit of everything that was going on today. I have finished the five days of tylan in the water (yesterday) and am disappointed that Freckles and Dandelion are still sneezing.
Dandelion still has a sound to her breathing but is has changed from the darth vader sound to the sound we would make blowing out a breath and tonight to more of a whistle.
The alarming thing was that this morning when the girls were perched on the ladder in the sun I inspected Dandelion and saw bubbles in her eye. This is a sign of mycoplasma so I know I am correctly identifying this. She blinked and the bubbles disappeared and I have inspected her periodically today but not seen bubbles again.
I have picked up both Freckles and Dandelion and done the sniff test and they don’t have the sweet, sickly, smell so that is a good sign.
When I first used tylan I read that you can dose again three weeks later and researching again now I can’t find this information. I thought of talking to the vet but to be honest I am not sure that they know any more about it than I do and they probably do the same research as I am doing.
So I think that I will follow my instinct and treat the flock again in three weeks time if they are still sneezing and especially if Dandelion is still wheezing. I shall be inspecting her eyes at all times too.
Sorry if this a repeat of my comments but I had a brain wave. I have been using one teaspoon of tylan powder in one litre of water and putting it in the two water dishes. I thought I could halve it to half a teaspoon of tylan powder in half a litre of water and put it in just one water container. The metal water container is the most popular and the water in the china dish is being thrown away and wasted. This would spin out my remaining tylan powder into two more treatments instead of one.
When I treated the flock before it was summer and treating them at this time of year means they drink a lot less. I wonder if that means they are not getting as much of a dose which is maybe why it hasn’t been so effective. I would estimate that they are probably only drinking about a teaspoon or two of water a day each.
It was frosty again this morning but it was a clear day and as usual the sun was on the ladder. Emerald was perched there waiting for the sun to hit this spot. She obviously knows that this is where the sun will be.
The bigger girls are sitting in the sun
I was checking Dandelion’s eye
This was just after I saw the bubbles in Dandelion’s eye and I kept checking her eyes but didn’t see them again. I hope that is a good sign.
Freckles joins Dandelion
These two seem to be sticking together at the moment. I wonder if they sense that they are both going through the same thing.
Once the sun had gone from the ladder Freckles and Dandelion were in the shelter together. The wind was cold today so maybe these girls do know what they need.
Dandelion and Freckles in the small shelter
I wonder if they sense that they need to a bit of protection at the moment
Late afternoon Speckles was having a dust bath
And so was Dandelion
This is also a good sign that she feels happy enough to have a dust bath.
The most surprising thing of all today and again I am echoing the title of this post, that maybe they do know what they need, came when I checked in on them at bedtime.
The bedtime line up tonight
Freckles has the centre spot
I was so surprised to see Freckles here for the very first time!
Has Freckles finally realised that as it’s so cold she would be better off joining the flock instead of sitting on her own or is it her attachment to Dandelion at the moment causing her to want to sit next to her at bedtime?
Whatever the reason I actually felt elated to see her in the middle of the line up. Now that she has done it once I hope she will naturally do it again. It will be interesting to see if she does. If she doesn’t I think that I will now move her to the back perch and see if we can make this a habit.
I feel sure that it will be better for the whole flock to snuggle up together during the winter months.
I just wish we didn’t have mycoplasma hanging over us which is such a worry. I will keep a very close eye on the girls and re treat them in three weeks if there are still any symptoms showing. If symptoms worsen I will consider treating them again sooner. It’s a case of keeping everything crossed and hoping for the best.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
I think you’re right about being really competent to handle the situation – as you say, most vets are not poultry specialists and will only do the same research as you. I do hope that everything works out well.
How lovely to see Freckles not on her own when settled for the night – a lovely line-up.
I do think that I probably know more about chickens than most of the vets do.
I was so thrilled to see Freckles with the rest of the flock at bedtime. Hurrah!
Could you mix the Tylan into the mash that you make? Presuming that they eat all the mash, they’d get the intended dose.
I can appreciate the feeling you would have had finding Freckles with the others, it’s brilliant!
Funny that you say that because on their last day of the tylan I did actually make them mash using the tylan water just to make sure they had a bit extra of it.
I am amazed how elated I felt when I saw Freckles with the flock at bedtime.
How nice to see them all together like that, you must be worried about them all,
I do hope they soon get better, You do know a lot about them, Like you said the vet is reading the same information that you are reading, any way.
It was lovely to see them all together. I will worry about them until they are completely back to normal, I can’t help it. I will give them a break and then another treatment and I hope that will sort them out. When I treated them before they weren’t sneezing so maybe that takes longer to stop. It’s Dandelion that is worrying me the most at the moment.