Not sure if I want to mess with chickens anymore

Date sort Score sort
RogerTheChicken

RogerTheChicken

Songster
6 Years
May 17, 2014
423
26
136
700

700

700

So many things are going wrong, wet pox, dry pox, and other terrible stuff. I get very attached to chickens so easily, when one dies I get very upset, in the pics above, this is a chicken with what I think is dry pox, my favorite chicken, Roger my big buff orpington, has not eaten today and is wheezing. If something happens to him I don't know if I will want to mess with chickens anymore
 
The best I can think of,is,you should probably go to the vet.Sounds like he has a mixture of Dry pox,along with resporitory disease.

A thread was made about a disease you couldn't cure for them.This could be poor rogers problem.
If he dies,a nice necrospy could be done,just to usure it's able to fix,and isn't a spreader.
 
ThePRfan said:
The best I can think of,is,you should probably go to the vet.Sounds like he has a mixture of Dry pox,along with resporitory disease.

A thread was made about a disease you couldn't cure for them.This could be poor rogers problem.
If he dies,a nice necrospy could be done,just to usure it's able to fix,and isn't a spreader.
Click to expand...

ThePRfan said:
The best I can think of,is,you should probably go to the vet.Sounds like he has a mixture of Dry pox,along with resporitory disease.

A thread was made about a disease you couldn't cure for them.This could be poor rogers problem.
If he dies,a nice necrospy could be done,just to usure it's able to fix,and isn't a spreader.
Click to expand...
No vet in our area deals with chickens or any kind of bird:(
 
Dang!If I were you i'd go out my way to sfae the poor guy.

Ideals:
Try vet RX
Feed him Probiotics
Take very good care of him
Feed him Scrambled eggs and Chicken feed
 
Oh, I am so sorry you are going through this. Along with the absolute joys of having chickens unfortunately sometimes come the lows.

I don't know Roger's fate - he may well recover - but either way, things will get better for you in time.

I remember when I first got my chickens - lice, as far as the eye can see. Then one hatched chicks, got a swollen crop, and died when the sole surviving chick was only 3 weeks old. Then the chick got eaten by a dog. I cried a river, let me tell you.

Now we have a mouse plague. Which is probably what brought the highly venomous brown snake into the coop (since 'evicted.') Sometimes it IS one thing after another.

They say that life only gives you what you can handle. You can handle this. Part of owning chickens is, unfortunately, losing some. If the worst should happen, you can go on. There are so many other chickens who are kept in terrible conditions - they need someone like YOU, who cares about their welfare, to help them and give them the life they truly deserve. Please, do not give up.

In the mean time.....dear Roger. I have checked my poultry keeping guides and for wet and dry pox the general advice appears to be:

* That fowl pox is an infectious disease caused by a virus, the worst of which peaks at 2 weeks after symptoms appear.

* 50% + of wet pox infected birds SURVIVE, and those that pass do so due predominantly to their inability to eat or drink. The dry form is much less severe.

* Fowl Pox is helped by good nursing of the birds: Antibiotics in the drinking water to control secondary infections (I'm sure someone on these boards can advise which antibiotic is more suitable), swabbing sores with diluted iodine, and applying fly repellent ointment to scabs to discourage further disease-spreading mosquitos. A little TLC goes a long way too, I'm sure.

You may also need to syringe fluids to them, and make up food to a wet consistency for those who have the sores in their mouths to help assist with eating.

I have all my fingers crossed for you @RogerTheChicken. My very best to you and Roger and the rest of your flock.

- Krista
 
Last edited:
krista74 said:
Oh, I am so sorry you are going through this. Along with the absolute joys of having chickens unfortunately sometimes come the lows.

I don't know Roger's fate - he may well recover - but either way, things will get better for you in time.

I remember when I first got my chickens - lice, as far as the eye can see. Then one hatched chicks, got a swollen crop, and died when the sole surviving chick was only 3 weeks old. Then the chick got eaten by a dog. I cried a river, let me tell you.

Now we have a mouse plague. Which is probably what brought the highly venomous brown snake into the coop (since 'evicted.') Sometimes it IS one thing after another.

They say that life only gives you what you can handle. You can handle this. Part of owning chickens is, unfortunately, losing some. If the worst should happen, you can go on. There are so many other chickens who are kept in terrible conditions - they need someone like YOU, who cares about their welfare, to help them and give them the life they truly deserve. Please, do not give up.

In the mean time.....dear Roger. I have checked my poultry keeping guides and for wet and dry pox the general advice appears to be:

* That fowl pox is an infectious disease caused by a virus, the worst of which peaks at 2 weeks after symptoms appear.

* 50% + of wet pox infected birds SURVIVE, and those that pass do so due predominantly to their inability to eat or drink. The dry form is much less severe.

* Fowl Pox is helped by good nursing of the birds: Antibiotics in the drinking water to control secondary infections (I'm sure someone on these boards can advise which antibiotic is more suitable), swabbing sores with diluted iodine, and applying fly repellent ointment to scabs to discourage further disease-spreading mosquitos. A little TLC goes a long way too, I'm sure.

You may also need to syringe fluids to them, and make up food to a wet consistency for those who have the sores in their mouths to help assist with eating.

I have all my fingers crossed for you @RogerTheChicken. My very best to you and Roger and the rest of your flock.

- Krista
Click to expand...

Well said Krista - when things are going badly in our flocks it is so easy to become disheartened, but the support of other BYC members is always there for us, to help us out and give us some encouragement.

I hope that if you follow Krista's advice you will be able to help Roger get through this - his face does look bad, but if the disease is peaking then hopefully you will soon see some improvement. If he was in reasonable shape before this then he will be able to survive a few days without food, but not without water. Using a syringe (no needle) to drip water onto his beak for him to swallow will help. If that doesn't work, or if you need to get food into him then you may have to consider tube feeding. The resident expert on this is Kathy - Casportpony - she is a mine of information.

Her thread about tube feeding is here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/805728/go-team-tube-feeding

and if you need extra help or advice you could always send her a private message - she is excellent at helping people out.

My fingers (and everything else) are crossed for you both. Please let us know how Roger gets on.
 
KayTee said:
Well said Krista - when things are going badly in our flocks it is so easy to become disheartened, but the support of other BYC members is always there for us, to help us out and give us some encouragement.

I hope that if you follow Krista's advice you will be able to help Roger get through this - his face does look bad, but if the disease is peaking then hopefully you will soon see some improvement. If he was in reasonable shape before this then he will be able to survive a few days without food, but not without water. Using a syringe (no needle) to drip water onto his beak for him to swallow will help. If that doesn't work, or if you need to get food into him then you may have to consider tube feeding. The resident expert on this is Kathy - Casportpony - she is a mine of information.

Her thread about tube feeding is here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/805728/go-team-tube-feeding

and if you need extra help or advice you could always send her a private message - she is excellent at helping people out.

My fingers (and everything else) are crossed for you both. Please let us know how Roger gets on.
Click to expand...
I agree.CasportPony is a chicken biologist and I mean she knows a whole mind full.
Michael Oshay as well has just as much info and has helped me out BUNCHES!
 
I am pretty sure he is At his peak with the dry pox, they are starting to turn yellow today, thanks you all for helping me so much:):):)
 
I saw your post about your chickens. I am so sorry you are going through all of this. Like many animals it can be hard to care for them. When resources in areas are low (like no vet to care for chickens) it can be traumatic. I would do as much research as possible on the internet and here in the forums to see if he can be saved. Definitely segregate him so the rest of the flock does not get infected. I would recommend cleaning out the entire coop with a disinfectant and the run as well. Your setup is adorable by the way! If all of your chickens do pass then wait awhile and repopulate. My laying hens did great with no problems whatsoever. They are all 7 months old now. One got a respiratory infection and we isolated right away and treated the whole flock. We are just able to start using the eggs again. Wasting them all while the antibiotics wore off was horrible to me. At least I got to save the shells to grind and use for calcium. Our meat birds have given us so much trouble. They were big peckers. Because the cornish lose feathers the pink skin is exposed. Being that you have to ration feed and sorta guess when they need more to keep up with growth, we have had a few severe pecking issues. I will almost be glad when processing day comes next week. It was a huge task that we took on so I look forward to not having to pay for feed and making dinner. Not looking forward to making that happen though. Best of luck in your future endeavors
 

Similar threads

B
Lethargic Chick
Replies
6
Views
313
KCGirl
KCGirl
SarahDier
    • Sad
Chickens dying almost monthly
Replies
3
Views
619
Eggcessive
Eggcessive
TxChris
Help, new chickens were sick
Replies
1
Views
552
nuthatched
nuthatched
P
Treating for possible gapeworm, while chickens have possible fowl pox?
Replies
3
Views
733
Wyorp Rock
Wyorp Rock
A
    • Sad
Hen died suddenly for no obvious reason
Replies
4
Views
652
WoDia
WoDia

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom