Hens show some improvement on antibiotics
The hens show some slight improvement, 24 hours into their 3-day course of antibiotics. The fact that they all survived the first day of treatment means there’s every chance they’ll all make it, and that there are no weak hearts among them. This morning the appetite of those worst affected by the illness has obviously improved, and they seem considerably more alert to whatever’s going on around them. It’s just so great to see them looking and acting a little better after a number of weeks in decline. I’m quite clucky about their well-being, and have been stressed all summer by the awful weather and what it might do to them.
tags: animals, antibiotics, hens, livestock, mycoplasma, pets, poultry, veterinaryWhen 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
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