Freckles is still not at all right

I know my girls so well that I know that Freckles isn’t right. Despite having brighter moments she doesn’t seem to be able to shake of this bought of mycoplasma.

Dandelion and Freckles in the small shelter

Freckles eyes keep closing. Freckles and Dandelion seem to have paired up and I wonder if they sense that they are both under the weather together.

Her eyes open

Then close again

I have read every bit of information about mycoplasma and about tylan that I can find on the internet, many times over. I can’t find anything that says how soon tylan can be repeated. I remember a year ago reading that it could be repeated three weeks later as a precaution. I can’t find this information again now.

I am going to have to follow my instincts. I am going to repeat it from tomorrow when they will have had a full seven days clear in between.

I put into the search engine the question “can chickens get colds?” and the answer is that chickens don’t get common colds like we do, they get respiratory infections such as mycoplasma.

There are seventeen types of mycoplasma and four are pathogens in chickens. Mycoplasma effects wild birds, chickens, turkeys, pigs, calves and even people. We can’t catch a chicken’s cold and they can’t catch our colds.

Occasional sneezing in chickens can be due to dust irritating the birds sinuses. Continued sneezing and especially in more than one bird means you need to take action.

Mycoplasma will not get better on it’s own and the recommended treatment is tylan. It has to be caught early to get better and by the time a chicken has a rattle in their breathing it is most likely too late.

When I got Caramel and Pebbles from my first serama breeder I rang her when I was concerned about Caramel. She told me that they are prone to getting colds and there was no point in taking her to the vet as they would only give antibiotics. Now that I know there is no such thing as a chicken cold, but that it is a respiratory disease that must be treated, I feel very let down at her lack of knowledge as a breeder. I was unable to contact her after this and she had told me she was giving up breeding so I let it go. Caramel and Pebbles were her last two birds.

I know so much more about this now and would never make that mistake again. I was too late to save Caramel and Pebbles.

Both Freckles and Dandelion are still sneezing and Freckles is dozing from time to time and just doesn’t look right to me.

The information says that when mycoplasma returns to the same bird it is usually not so bad as the first time. Freckles didn’t have sneezing the first time though and I think sneezing, moulting and cold weather are not helping her. I think that I must take action before it becomes too late. I will repeat five days of tylan from tomorrow onward and keep everything crossed.