Arizona Chickens

[Diannastarr]

Can chickens get Valley Fever? Up until now I've just assumed that they can, but I'm realizing that I really need to adhere to the addage that: when you assume you make an "ass" out of "u" and "me".
What brought this on is I have two hens that get congested during the hottest part of the day. A white cornish and a mottle java, both Privett birds as far as I know. No discharge, no other symptoms, just respiratory congestion (gurgly sound when they breath and a rare cough/sneeze)... and only when it's hot. They've been doing this for a good three months now, and no other birds have shown these symptoms, so I've deduced that it's not contagious. This brought me to thinking recently that maybe it could be Valley Fever, due to all the dust storms in the summer?
Does anybody else have some knowledge on this subject that I don't??

HI all im here in Bisbee AZ , i had a beautiful CW hen that made a rare cough/sneeze) like noise , but mostly she was fine no other symptoms at all, no congestion-or gurgly sound. nothing else, so i decided to nip what ever this was in the bud and took her in my home for observation & i gave her a special diet & some colloidal silver poor thing she hated every minute of it , and the rare cough/sneeze) like noise never happened again , but a few months later i found her dead, so i still dont know what was going on with her , but yeah it was summer time here in AZ when i noticed this , but until the day she passed , she never looked sick & acted fine like a lively happy hen..? so i feel its possible this was a heart problem,and the heat became to much for her ..? other wise i cant say what the heck was wrong with her , i never have see any thing like it since & all my 75 birds are all doing great all are well & happy...?so hmmmmm...????

 

[FeatherPugs]

1. Scratch is bird candy. No Calcium in the seed for the layers, but they love it. Just give it as a treat, to reward them for coming inside at night, for example. Too much will get you egg laying problems, such as an egg that will not come out causing prolapse, or cause them to be too fat. Too fat would be bad in the heat of the desert, they could over heat.

Here we call scratch - crack. Believe me when I say my girls know the order stuff is given and wait, talk, talk, scream until I give them their crack! I give very little UNLESS I know they have a cold night coming then I might be a little more generous.

 

[azurbanclucker]

My kids seem to be more interested in mealworms than scratch. if I want their attention I just have to shake a red bag (can be ANY red bag) and they are all there in seconds.

 

[FeatherPugs]

HI all im here in Bisbee AZ , i had a beautiful CW hen that made a ra

I will get cough/sneeze type noises during monsoon. I usually take notice of who owned the noise and we carry on. I give a bit of probiotic when I use colloidal silver. I doubt that had anything to do with her dying. Sometimes its the heat (I think we all work hard to keep them somewhat cool) but mostly its something inside them. In Tucson you have a diagnostic lab. I've never tried them but they might do necropsy so you know should it happen again. I'm going to call them next time I have a younger girl go sick and die unexpectedly. They might also answer the Valley Fever question! Never thought of that until just now. 75 hens a big ole bunch of girls!! Bet their gossip sessions are crazy noisy! Arizona Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory 2831 North Freeway Tucson, Arizona 85705-5021 Phone: 520-621-2356

 

[FeatherPugs]

@azurbanclucker Mine love their mealworms too........I wonder what would happen if I gave both at the same time - we call their mealworms "ice cream" since they only get them at night. AND they know too.....if I do too many clean-up chores or whatever they are right at me to get to the mealworms - they are ready!! LOL.....gotta love 'em

 

[Diannastarr]

hi there , i have Delawares and didn't socialize them one bit , they arrived with 30 other chicks and they got what the others got attention wise, but out of the pack the Delawares & also the Road island whites were the top friendliest , i have to say the RIW were the most friendly of them all and still are , so thats it for all my 75 heritage breeds of BA RIR BR SLW NHR CW RIW DEL, i chose my hens for temperament first & then eggs laying ability since i have a small egg business here in Bisbee Az. and dont need any crazy birds to deal with , but one other thing i would not get the egg machines made from any cross breeds, like the sex links & so forth they burn out early so stick with the good old heritage breeds like the BA and you wont regret ithave a great day you all

 

[Banaynaychicken]

hi again, my friend JEFF in Bisbee will take your hens & give them a good home , this is his phone number ( 520- 432-2757 ) call him asap he will meet you in Tuscon were ever you say , you can also pm me any time , so glad for you all as your hens will live happily ever after in a good forever home Bisbee..!so no worries ..!!!

omg thankyou so much for this!!!

I am so going to calll him and set that up!!!

 

[Parront]

Many years of "bird herding" here . . . They would rather die than look sick. When they look sick, they are almost dead, it is an emergency! The punishment of going in the house might make a hen hide symptoms even more, I suspect. Even a tame, talking bird such as my African Grey will not tell me she is sick! My hens, handled (but not as much as my parrots), usually ran a little before I could pick them up. If a bird is sick sometimes the first symptom you notice is that they are dead. That you notice the symptoms and that they last a while mean they are not fatal. Difficulty breathing, slow movement, sound like heart problems -- especially in a heavy breed in the heat. Think of a big bulldog in the summer in Phoenix.

 

[Parront]

Here we call scratch - crack. Believe me when I say my girls know the order stuff is given and wait, talk, talk, scream until I give them their crack! I give very little UNLESS I know they have a cold night coming then I might be a little more generous.

LOL!

 

[Diannastarr]

omg thankyou so much for this!!!

I am so going to calll him and set that up!!!

thats soooo wonderful...!! iim sooo happy for every one you and your hens i know you love them and Jeff will just love his new chicken friends ..!!!! and i will go visit them all at Jeffs place .