When is a vet not a vet? When it ain’t a cat or a dog you want help with!
Our first year as poultry keepers, and the evil weather has led to a major illness incursion into our flock. Some—not all, or even a majority—of our hens are suffering from an outbreak of something called mycoplasma. It’s an organism present all the time in most flocks, like candida (thrush) in humans, but with the right environmental conditions, it flourishes. And yep, you’ve guessed it: torrential rain nearly non-stop for over three months is just loved by mycoplasma. Wild birds from sparrows to seagulls all carry the organism all the time, and they spread it around as well. The symptoms are a bad cold that won’t go away—sneezing, runny nostrils, and a sound when they go to sleep like they’re gargling.
tags: animals, birds, chickens, poultry, veterinary
