I'm About To Give Up My Flock!

[schellie69]

I clean my coop once a week. I do have a new coop built and I am in the process of building a new run that will be sand. Where there pen is now is a mud whole doesn't dry out well ect. I have only had one sick bird we thought it was bumble foot but I am not sure it spread up her leg we culled because she was in pain and it was staph but that was our choice. The other birds I lost were to my son''s puppy. I do worm my chickens once a year but that it. I give mine a game bird feed 22% protein because they do free range and get grass clippings veggie scrapes, Boss, scratch I also crush up egg shells and throw those in their pen once a week or so I have really strong egg shells. If I was the OP I would cull and start over it just sounds like there might be some unknown illness I would also look at where the run is if there is a problem with mud and mold You might have to move the run or put down sand. When I clean my coop I put down straw and some DE the chickens usually stir it up for me. Good luck and I hope the OP can figure out what is wrong, Chickens should be a fun hobby not this much pain.

 

[ralleia]

I am very sorry to hear of your frustration. Chicken ownership should be fun, not toil.

I would tend to agree with the posters that say to cull, sanitize, and start over with chickens from a reputable source. If you do though, you must staunchly REFUSE to do daily cleanings, daily analysis of their health, and daily "tweaking" of their meds, vitamins, and feed.

If you don't cull, you should stop all the daily cleanings and all the meds/vitamins and see what happens. Chickens need quality food, water, space, adequate ventilation, and protection from excess winds. I also give mine free access to grit and oyster shells.

For our part, we clean out the coop a MAXIMUM of four times a year. We have never administered any medication (apart from getting vaccinated chicks) and a dab of anti-pecking stuff if someone gets a "boo-boo." No vitamins, no meds, no daily cleaning. All I do is go out there three times a day--once to open up the door and check food and water, once to collect eggs and check food and water, and once to shut up the door and check food and water.

We usually feed the chickens gamebird feed year-round, since we feed 'em weeds out of the garden and table scraps daily.

The ONLY time I do more (and when we sometimes have chicken fatalities) is when we get a heat wave. Then I'm out there trying to rig up shade for the chicken coop, rigging up a powerful fan in the coop, and have even dragged out a bucket of ice. This year I'm planning to grow them some organic shade (bitter melons) to grow on a support over the chicken run and up west walls of the coop.

 

[chickbliss7]

Wow, I'm so thankful for your support, everyone! It's hard to figure out why (half of the girls) are having so much trouble. And it's with different things. The one thing they have in common is they don't lay eggs, even through the summer, and they're only 1 1/2 years old! My healthiest girl looks so good she could be a poster chicken (Barred Rock). She and my Ameracauna lay eggs appropriately. My Australorp is also a beauty, but hasn't laid an egg in about 9 months. When she did lay, there was always some gritty-looking specks inside with the egg. Kind of off-putting to eat.

I have given meds only to the ones that have been so sick that I had nothing to lose. They're still alive, but far from robust. When my New Hampshire Red came down with something a few days ago, it was really the last straw (no pun intended)! I decided that all I can do is give them the best I can, and not drive myself crazy running to the vet, giving them healthy supplements, antibiotics.

I know I sound a bit looney on the cleanliness issue, and I should admit I do it for me as well as for the girls. They jump in my lap and I pet them, and of course I'm in and out of the coop and runs. I still get some poop on the bottom of my shoes, but at least I'm not covered with it. If I decide to keep them, or half of them, I'll go through a local breeder with a good reputation to get any new ones. I have to research really hardy chickens next time! Thanks all!!

 

[rancher hicks]

Quote:
This line right here gives me a clue. They ARE chickens. If everyone here has chickens and your the only one with this many problems it's a good bet it's your management system. It seems to me that folks who treat their chickens like pets are more likely to over do the treats and give all the wrong things. A basic chicken feed is sufficient. This is exactly what the "experts" who write for Practical Poultry magazine say.


Sure it could be your chickens but we don't know where you got them and what breed. If they are production birds then sure your more likely to have problems. While Hybrids lay lots of eggs over a shorter period of time, purebreds lay the same amount over a longer period of time. If you watch "Food Inc." you will see the poultry farmer walking among her flock picking up dead birds as though it's no big deal. An occasional sick bird is not a sign of an epidemic. Lord knows chickens are fragile and can drop over at the sight of my mother in law. Seriously "Stress" is not good for chickens and can weaken them making them susceptible to disease. (Practical Poultry).

While oyster shell grit is good. It shouldn't be the only grit you feed your birds. There are two types, soluble (oyster shell) and insoluble (granite bits) Some folks think they can skimp on the insoluble because their birds are outside but in the winter where are they going to get it? No matter what anyone says, sand is not sufficient enough.

Hybrids are more likely to have problems due to genetic weakness. Do you know another name for hybrids is "terminal breeds". They aren't meant to last nor lay eggs forever.

Give it some thought. The whole reason many of us get into chickens is because we don't like all the additives some commercial farmers give to there birds. Chickens don't need "special vitamins". The basic commercial feed should be sufficient. An occasional boost is ok but occasional means irregularity or infrequently. Not every week. Do you know over doing the vitamins can cause kidney failure? Clean water is just fine. Even the ACV can be over done, it should NOT be added every day. Like I once thought. (practical poultry)

What's the humidity in your coop. Chickens exhale a great deal of moisture and I suspect a good deal of respiratory problems can be traced back to poor ventilation. Folks afraid their birds will freeze insulate and close things up to tight. Put a hygrometer in your coop see what the humidity is like.

Now I can't address all the things that can cause problems and I understand that many here want chickens as pets, but they are still chickens just the same.

I hope you'll see that I'm not your enemy and would like to see you keep up with chickens. I suggest you find a nice sturdy "heritage breed" if that's not what you have now. If it is then rethink your management system and check it against sound advice in the books of experts.

As always I recommend Back yard poultry magazine and Practical Poultry.

Please reconsider

Rancher

 

[ralleia]

If you are going to insist on a level of "cleanliness" that demands you clean out the entire coop daily, then that is fine.

Just don't do it with the illusion that you are doing anything positive for health or happiness of your chickens in doing so--it is for YOUR BENEFIT only.

Our hens are always extremely annoyed and disrupted when we clean out their coop. And by clean out the coop, I only mean shoveling out the litter and poop and replacing it with new wood shavings without actually CLEANING anything. Soaps and disinfectants can cause problems as well, in addition to the water to rinse everything off.

We only subject our birds to the shoveling out about 3-4 times a year--and that's with 30 to 40 chickens at any time. The chickens under your care are getting this 100x as often, plus, the "sick" ones are being manhandled on a daily basis for forcing antibiotics (which indiscriminately kill the good bacteria in the chicken as well bad bacteria) and unnecessary vitamins. Medications have to be cleansed from the blood by the liver or kidneys as well--if the "sick" birds have been medicated frequently, then there's really no telling what may be wrong with them any more.

Many animals and plants thrive best on a policy of "benign neglect." Excessive interventions do more harm than good.

 

[onafixedincome]

I'm going to interject a little difference of opinion here--although I do agree with much that has been posted.

I am still a newbie with chickens, and they get 'benign neglect' as management--they do what they're going to do, I hose out the 'coop' (a four-pallet enclosure with plywood over the top and plastic on two sides) about three times a year and hunt them down at night to dose with Ivermectin when my favorite hen shows up with mites. (So that's about 2-4 times a year.)

They're completely free range within my chain link fence; one wing is clipped about once a year or if anyone shows signs of taking actual flight.

I toss oyster shell on my wormbeds and they pick what they want. Eggs have only been thinshelled once, before I started giving the oyster shell as an option.

I feed a dove & quail seed mix rather than the crumbles or pellets--they simply will not eat the standard chicken feeds and waste it.

They eat a lot of the redworms in the manure under my rabbit cages; they do their official job of eating earwigs and other bugs (but won't touch a slug or snail, the chickens! Funny to watch, though...Eww, get it OFF, it's GROSS, EWWW!!!)

All in all they do pretty darn well. I let them have the occasional snack of dog food (Kirkland), which they will drive the dogs away from to get; they get occasional food scraps and when the mulberry tree fruits, they are in pure purple heaven.

So what does this have to do with you and yours? Not much.

But the best-looking and healthiest chickens and turkeys I have ever seen lived in a scrupulously-clean coop, with the translucent poly panels as the roof. It was cleaned daily per the owner, but not scrubbed. The yard was muddy but not mucky.

Some dust is normal and expectable; that's why masks were invented. Expecting chickens to live in laboratory conditions isn't practical and is rarely doable outside of a lab. I'd skip the scrubbing and organic disinfectants--let them be sometimes. Scrape/brush the perches as needed--but only as needed. Save the dusting and scrubbing for once or twice a year.

I would also recommend that you grit your teeth and euthanize your sick chooks.

It's really hard, I know--I'm rather attached to mine, too--but sometimes it is necessary to prevent their suffering and to protect the rest of the flock.

Hang in there--I'd euthanize the ones that need it, then give the coop one final scrub and disinfection with BLEACH, air it out well until it's good and dry. Then rebed and let the remaining chickens back in after treatment with Ivermectin to make sure they aren't bringing mites or worms in, and let 'em rip.

Where are you located? I'd bet we have any number of folks around here that would be happy to sell you a few extremely healthy, hardy hens.

 

[rancher hicks]

Quote:
Ivemectin requires and egg withdrawl does it not? I prefer exprinex which does not. If it requires a withdrawl I don't consider it safe to use.

 

[jaimslee4u]

I don't think it is always like that, however I know how you feel! I started the winter with 7 chickens and now I have 4. One got sick and I tried everything, A hawk came down and got the other one, and another one got sick. The third one I actually took to the vet & after treatment, meds, etc... I ended up having to put her down anyways which cost more money. I seriously told my husband NO MORE! But somehow I on a whim ended up with three Americauna chicks.

 

[Cass]

OP,

If you decide to cull the sick birds and start over I suggest that you don't start with chicks....spend the extra and start with larger birds, so you know they are healthy. Around here there is always someone downsizing their flock or selling off birds they don't want to make room for a breed they do want. (Virtually no one has unlimited space, so they have to get rid of something to bring in something else.)

If you insist on chicks DO NOT get them from TSC or hatchery, find someone in your area and buy them someplace you can see the parents birds.