This morning I did the same as yesterday and used a bigger dose of tylan. One heaped teaspoon in a litre of water and then used some to make a big dish of mash once more.
It was very frosty this morning and for the first time this year the metal drinker was frozen. I had to bring it in under the hot tap to be able to untwist it apart. I returned it with the tylan water and tylan mash.
The girls were all perched on the ladder and the branch perch above the ladder while the morning sun was on it. Freckles gave an enormous sneeze and in the sunlight I could see the droplets fly from her. I winced as these droplets are contagious.
Once the sun had left the ladder the little girls went to the small shelter.
The little girls spend time in the small shelter
Freckles still doesn’t look good.
Freckles and Dandelion stayed in there when the other girls had left
I can’t hear their breathing so I have to hope that there is improvement but Freckles is still sneezing the most and looking the most poorly.
I checked on them a bit later and was horrified to see that both Dandelion and Freckles had bubbles in their eyes. Foamy eyes is one of the symptoms of mycoplasma.
Oh no, this is not good
Dandelion and Freckles have bubbles in their eyes
I felt quite panicked. My first instinct was to separate Freckles and Dandelion from the flock by bringing them indoors in the cat box.
I came indoors and told my husband and we both went back to check on them. Their eyes were now clear and they were pecking about in the run. My husband said that had I not gone out when I did I would never have known.
I decided to ring the vet for advice. My local vet was closed but I was put through to the sister vet. The receptionist wrote down everything I told her and said that she would get the vet to call me back.
The vet called me back and we went through everything. She said that I was doing all the right things and that I should carry on with the tylan which is the medication that every article recommends. She said that it was a good sign that they could clear their eyes. She agreed putting the tylan in the water and the mash was a good idea and that one teaspoon of powder to one litre of water was the correct dose.
She suggested that I disinfect the chicken shed. I told her about the droplets from Freckles sneeze in the run and said that the run is not possible to disinfect but she said that it was still worth disinfecting the chicken shed to keep the microbes as low as possible.
I had planned to clean out the chicken shed tomorrow so will disinfect at the same time. She said that I am doing all the right things and that I need to keep on going with it. She said she will talk to the other vets and if they can think of anything else I could do she will call me.
She said to continue the tylan for twelve days and see how they go and to call again early next week and give her a progress report.
I keep getting a bit of hope then losing it again. At the moment there is nothing more I can do but continue as I am doing. It is so worrying.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
Such a worry Carol!! Just to say that you can get powder disinfectant called Stalosan or Net-tex ground sanitising powder (which I use) which you can sprinkle on the ground and in their shavings and is completely non-harmful to them.
I have everything crossed still
xx
Oh thanks for that, I shall look for some. I bought a spray disinfectant tonight for the shed. It is such a worry and I too am keeping everything crossed. xx
Have emailed you direct Carol
xx
Thank you Sophie. I have replied now. xx
http://www.carolschickens.com/blog
So sorry to hear this.
I know. It’s horrible but I have to just keep going.
I’m thinking of you and praying for the best.
Thank you. I am willing it to get better all the time.
I’m reading all the posts to catch up again. It’s such a worrying time and I hope they get better.
I recently bought some Virkon S tablets to disinfect everything as a precautionary measure but haven’t used them yet. They seem to be the go-to disinfectant.
A quick Google found this site that lists the virus, bacteria and fungi that they are effective against, it looks like a few types of Mycoplasma are covered:
https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_library_info.html?product=063c7eba-a7ff-4ceb-bf52-7463c15bf346&showText=1
Forgot to add, these are the ones I got:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Virkon-S-Tablets-50-x-5gms-surface-equipment-skin-aerial-disinfectant/322597530671?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649
Thank you for the information. I shall get some ordered. I didn’t use the spray in the shed as I didn’t want to add any moisture, especially while it is so cold. They are sneezing over each other every day anyway so I weighed it up and felt keeping the shed dry was more important right now.
I agree about keeping it moisture free, I ordered them a while back with the intention of a pre-winter clean but didn’t get round to it. I’m not sure how I’d tackle it now, maybe see if there is a dry sunny day and do it early so it has the day to dry off?
There were lots of other options but Virkon just stood out to me as “the one” if you know what I mean. And that list of stuff it is effective against is good piece of mind.