jcasaglov
In the Brooder
A little backstory- I purchased 27 chicks back in early March from a local feed store and all was going well. We had converted an old shed to a coop and enclosed a large chicken run from the coop. I have a large roost with Sweet PDZ to scoop the droppings and have kept the inside of the coop clean with shavings (linoleum on the floor). I also change the water daily and give probiotics in teh water and feed a high quality (from the feed store) complete feed and grit. I also fed medicated chick starter for the first 8 weeks. As a chicken newbie, I am trying to do it all and do it right! Oh, I have a mixed flock of different breeds, but made sure they were all relatively going to the same size etc.
Fast forward to now and I have lost 10 of the 27 chickens. A couple seemed to stop growing (they were Salmon Faverolles) and I just felt like they weren't going to make it anyway. Some were growing fine and acting normal....then they would get a droopy eyelid, lethargy, not walking well and then death. Some would take a day, others would take a week. I have had to cull a couple who were near death. I called the feed store and with my description of the chicks the woman felt I was describing Marek's disease. I was devastated and felt like I could loose my entire flock. So I have read read read anything and everything on the disease (Thanks to BYC for some fantastic articles and threads) and have accepted I may loose most of my flock. I decided to confirm it by sending one of the deceased chickens for a necropsy to one of the UC Davis labs (I'm in southern California). I finally got the preliminary report and it is saying the chicken didn't have Marek's but rather a large number of enteric Coccidiosis. What???? So now I am doing a lot of research on Coccidiosis and it is confusing me more. I fed the chicks medicated food for the first 8 weeks, I am giving fresh water with probiotics daily, I am cleaning out their coop every day and nothing is getting wet. I live in So California where we are in a drought so there isn't any chance of mud or wet ground. Why would this be happening? How much cleaner can I make it? I have started Corid today and plan to add it to their water for the next 5-7 days. Should I be using another Coccidiostat? What about vitamins? I have about 5 pullets that are a good size and weight but now I am noticing that some of the others aren't growing and are quite skinny. What can I do for them? They seem to be eating and drinking and have good energy. I don't want to loose anymore chickens! I have 2 kids and this entire experience has been very difficult on them and me. Since I only got the preliminary report it still be something else- even Marek's. What else can I do? I have thought about isolating, but who to isolate? They seem to show signs/symptoms adn are gone within a couple of days. I do isolate when they are at the end stage, but how do I know who is next? The tech also said stress can make it worse, but I am trying my hardest to give them a non-stressful enviroment. It's stressing me out!
Any and all advice is much appreciated,
Fast forward to now and I have lost 10 of the 27 chickens. A couple seemed to stop growing (they were Salmon Faverolles) and I just felt like they weren't going to make it anyway. Some were growing fine and acting normal....then they would get a droopy eyelid, lethargy, not walking well and then death. Some would take a day, others would take a week. I have had to cull a couple who were near death. I called the feed store and with my description of the chicks the woman felt I was describing Marek's disease. I was devastated and felt like I could loose my entire flock. So I have read read read anything and everything on the disease (Thanks to BYC for some fantastic articles and threads) and have accepted I may loose most of my flock. I decided to confirm it by sending one of the deceased chickens for a necropsy to one of the UC Davis labs (I'm in southern California). I finally got the preliminary report and it is saying the chicken didn't have Marek's but rather a large number of enteric Coccidiosis. What???? So now I am doing a lot of research on Coccidiosis and it is confusing me more. I fed the chicks medicated food for the first 8 weeks, I am giving fresh water with probiotics daily, I am cleaning out their coop every day and nothing is getting wet. I live in So California where we are in a drought so there isn't any chance of mud or wet ground. Why would this be happening? How much cleaner can I make it? I have started Corid today and plan to add it to their water for the next 5-7 days. Should I be using another Coccidiostat? What about vitamins? I have about 5 pullets that are a good size and weight but now I am noticing that some of the others aren't growing and are quite skinny. What can I do for them? They seem to be eating and drinking and have good energy. I don't want to loose anymore chickens! I have 2 kids and this entire experience has been very difficult on them and me. Since I only got the preliminary report it still be something else- even Marek's. What else can I do? I have thought about isolating, but who to isolate? They seem to show signs/symptoms adn are gone within a couple of days. I do isolate when they are at the end stage, but how do I know who is next? The tech also said stress can make it worse, but I am trying my hardest to give them a non-stressful enviroment. It's stressing me out!
Any and all advice is much appreciated,
