I Built A Bridge!

[16 paws]

Thats cute Diva, yes, I agree, maybe some wire to cover the pond would be a good idea Teila.

Tell Cilla she wins the bantam of the day award! Just goes to prove that chickens are smarter than people give them credit for. I love how they let us know when there is danger nearby.

Sorry about all the rain but it sounds like the littles had a blast in the garden.
Stay dry!

 

[tommysgirl]

Hi all I just caught up: Had a couple of weeks full of vacationing and miscellany so had got pretty far behind here

Am sending cheers for hatches and drought busting

Jeers to neighbors who are rude even if they don't poison chickens they sound like really awful people and jeers also to excessive rains. So sad about the lives lost.

Welcomes to the folks who found their way to the bridge.

and smiles for all of you who have happy things happening.


I think I have shared that on our property we have an overabundance of feral peacocks. Everyone also feeds wild birds so they are in abundance and our girls love to hang out under the bird feeders to get what the wild ones toss aside.

Well I don't know that the wild birds are the cause of things, but I have two ...Godiva and Harriet...who are showing signs of some sort of Upper Respiratory Infection.

I immediately isolated Godiva yesterday when I noticed her eyes were both swollen shut and then spent the day cleaning all three coops, waterers etc with bleach solution. The rest of my time was spent researching and none of it is good. Consensus is that while afflicted birds may recover, they will remain silent carriers of whatever virus caused it and continue to spread the illness throughout their lives. Therefore the responsible choices to make are a) destroy your entire flock and start over b) euthanize the sick bird(s) as they manifest the illness or c) treat ill birds and close your flock entirely...no birds in, no birds out EVER. For me and my flock the best of these horrid options is the second.

So that was the thought I took to bed with me last night. This morning I looked into the big coop and there was Harriet. Eyes all swollen...sigh...

I am feeling really sad about it but when I put it into perspective...People dying in Australian flooding, a local young man who took his own life last week, my husbands cousin and the mother of my daughters' friend, both of whom are in the last year of their life due to cancer, my nephew who has a rare genetic disease and a seizure disorder that just manifested itself when he was 21 and approaching college graduation; well it doesn't seem like it is in the same ballpark. Still I knew you would understand my worry and my sadness so I came around for some sympathy.

 

[drumstick diva]

So very sorry to hear that.

I am not educated well enough on this problem to comment either way.

 

[tommysgirl]

So very sorry to hear that.

I am not educated well enough on this problem to comment either way.

Thank You.

 

[16 paws]

Tommysgirl,

I am so sorry to hear about the sick chickens. Are you thinking Mereks? I will be here to support any decision you make. I know how hard it is to see them sick....you do what is best for your flock.

There isnt much I cant handle in life but for some reason when it comes to something happening to my animals I fall apart. If you are feeling this way remember we will be here to help pick up the pieces.
I wish there was something else I could do or say. My prayers are with you.

Let us know how things go.....

Hugs

Blessings
Marie

 

[drumstick diva]

I think Tommy's girl is concerned about the avian flu virus.

 

[tommysgirl]

Tommysgirl,

I am so sorry to hear about the sick chickens. Are you thinking Mereks? I will be here to support any decision you make. I know how hard it is to see them sick....you do what is best for your flock.

There isnt much I cant handle in life but for some reason when it comes to something happening to my animals I fall apart. If you are feeling this way remember we will be here to help pick up the pieces.
I wish there was something else I could do or say. My prayers are with you.

Let us know how things go.....

Hugs

Blessings
Marie

Thanks so much Marie! I do appreciate your support

I think Tommy's girl is concerned about the avian flu virus.

It is probably not either. The Bird Flu kills generally within 24 hours and the symptoms don't suggest Maraks. Instead it looks like one of the many respiratory illnesses that afflict chickens.

I do think that the Bird Flu may be what is keeping my shipment of chicks from being shipped. They are in Minnesota and it has hit them hard lately.

 

[16 paws]

If that is the case what about some sort of antibiotics?

Marie

 

[Teila]

Fret not Diva, the would-be diner on gold fish has not returned

I have tried to stay away from covering the ponds in wire etc as it detracts from the look. The vegetation around them is thickening and they are pretty well secluded now. In 5 years I have only had issues with fish eating birds twice; this recent occasion with, thanks to Cilla, no losses.

The pump draws water from the bottom pond up to the top which then waterfalls back into the bottom pond, through the middle pond.

The only other time I have had an issue with a bird was when the hose between the bottom and top pond sprung a leak and was pumping out onto the ground, draining the bottom pond down to the top of the submersed pump. Sadly, this made the gold fish in shallow water easy pickings and I lost one to a stork. However, this was also back when the vegetation was not so thick.

TG wow, for once I am struggling to find the words, I keep typing stuff like heartbreaking, devastating etc and then go back over and try again.

What I am wanting to convey is that you are so much in my thoughts right now and I cannot begin to imagine how you are feeling, decisions you think you need to make etc.

Whenever I have something ailing my gals, I hit the panic button and Joel sits me down, gets me to take a deep breath and works through it with me; while I am not saying you are hitting the panic button, can I be the unemotional one for a moment and break this down a bit?

Currently you have two birds with a possible respiratory illness which you have separated; lets think positively that you have caught it early and no-one else shows symptoms.

You do not believe it is Mareks or Avian flu .. good stuff.

I have read many threads where birds with respiratory illness have recovered with antibiotic treatment.

Granted, depending on what ails them, they may remain carriers but depending on what the actual virus is, they may not.

Again, depending on the cause, culling the entire flock and starting over may not actually be an option. With some diseases, the surrounding area is not suitable for chickens for, sometimes, years.

For this reason, if you are able to control it, I believe your worse care scenario may be a ‘closed’ flock, not complete loss of your flock.

Can I suggest a plan of action?

1. Deep breath
2. As you have, separate the girls and look at the antibiotic option.
3. See if we can find out what we are dealing with (I say “we” because we are in this with you, albeit only in support mode but still with you)
4. Do not make any decisions until we know the above.
5. Frequent visits to the Bridge Club for hugs and support
   

 

[tommysgirl]

Teila you are so sweet. Thanks so much but the writing is on the proverbial wall and It appears to be too virulent for me to take a "wait and see stance" I have had to act quickly or risk the entire flock. When I got home yesterday I had two more girls with puffy eyes and wheezes.

This morning no one was symptomatic that I could tell. One of my Dorkings looked a little odd around the eyes but I am at the point where I am looking for puffiness in the dog's eyes and having to remind myself that he is not who I am worried about so hopefully that was just a case of hysterical myopathy

I will be sending Godiva for a necropsy to UC Davis that way I will know how to treat my pens and when/if I can risk adding birds back in to them. The disease has been confined so far to my big pen so hopefully it will stay there. Everyone is on lock down until this sorts itself out so I am not popular at all.

Yesterday was hard. I am hopeful that I won't have many more days like that in my chicken keeping life...sigh