The Grove - Small Town Chicken Life.

[HargroveOutdoors]

Pictures of the Sicilian Buttercup x Barred Rock crosses. I was hoping that buttercup comb would come through, but it’s not looking like it will.
Cockerel

Pullett

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[HargroveOutdoors]

In keeping with the trend of disaster with the new chicks I picked up from the hobby farm, my chicks in the brooder have begun to gasp for air, sneeze, have watery eyes, elongated area around the eye, nasal discharge, generally looking untidy and ruffled, and possibly stunted growth. They just look a little small. One, the surviving marans, is showing the most signs. All of the others except the two Sicilian buttercup x barred rock crosses are showing varying levels of infection some simply have watery eyes, to mild sneezing, but the marans is exhibiting all of the symptoms. If you are keeping up that is one chick lost to coccidiosis and one unknown death within the first week of picking them up, and now dealing with a respiratory disease of some sort. I suspect either infectious bronchitis or mycoplasma. I'm really hoping for brooder Pneumonia. I will have had them three weeks on Tuesday.
The brooder was cleaned and sanitized again, added vitamins to the water. Chicks are no worse and no better today. We will see how it goes from here.
We have the three healthy Easter Eggers outside who haven't had contact with the chicks and aren't exhibiting symptoms. We want to protect them as best we can and are trying to determine an appropriate course of action. The husband and I are now discussing what to do with the in the brooder. We can cull and eventually get more (I think after all these issues I'm done adding new chicks this year), but fear that our older birds have likely been exposed via myself and my clothing as I fed and watered both sets of birds in the same clothing/shoes. We would have to cull them as well to be completely safe. Godfrey is 100% a pet, and we don't wish to do this for her at least. Or we can maintain them through this illness and keep a closed flock until these birds pass on. I'm looking at sending off for testing on Monday which should at least give me a clearer idea of what we are dealing with. Hopefully we can come up with an appropriate plan.

 

[HargroveOutdoors]

The Marans chick passed over the weekend. I got in contact with my state veterinary lab and will be taking a chick in for testing in the morning. Crossing all fingers and toes that this isn’t mycoplasma.

 

[HargroveOutdoors]

We took a bird in for necropsy at the state lab this morning. The vet says the most likely explanation is mycoplasma. Results will take 3 to five days. We hiked a few trails while we were up that way.

Then came home to these sweet chickens who are wondering why I haven’t cleaned their coop yet. *sigh* So I suppose I’m going to do that now.

 

[HargroveOutdoors]

Preliminary results are in for the necropsy on the chick. Organs were "unremarkable" but the kidneys did contain two smooth gray nodules.

 

[HargroveOutdoors]

A bit of rain this evening kicked the heat, but sure stirred up the mosquitoes! Godfrey was really disappointed that I cut cuddles short over the blood suckers. Hoping to have lab test results back tomorrow so I know what’s going on with the chicks in the brooder.

 

[HargroveOutdoors]

No results from the state lab so far today. It’s a little frustrating waiting and not knowing. It’s sort of stymied progress. There’s no need to work more on the coop if we’ll end up having to cull all the birds.
For the original coop we converted a child’s playhouse and added a run. It is sized for a mixed bantam and standard flock. We expanded the run and made it safer by adding fencing around it. The large birds have been in it for a couple weeks now and are enjoying it. We will need to add room in the coop itself. I’d like to paint it and add a covering to the expanded run.

If they get to stay, we’ve tentatively named the rooster Mr. E. His manners have improved and he’s so far, a respectful of people.

He’s nicer to Godfrey, which was where things were about to go wrong for him.

So, hoping for tomorrow for results.

 

[HargroveOutdoors]

Positive results on the brooder chicks for mycoplasma synoviae. I’m hoping my biosecurity has been good enough that my 3 Easter Eggers haven’t been infected. The state vet will be contacting me for further discussion. I plan to cull the chicks, but don’t want to do so until I’ve spoken with my state veterinarian.

 

[HargroveOutdoors]

Spoke with my state veterinarian Today. Culled the infected chicks and followed recommendations for disposal. Hours worth of cleaning and sanitizing followed. The local livestock inspector should be contacting me soon. We will test the outside birds to determine if they are mycoplasma free. If so they will lift quarantine and I’m free to go on with my little chicken life. If they are infected we have to make the hard decision to maintain a quarantined flock of 3, or cull. I’m of the opinion Godfrey is too good a little lady to let me down now by being infected. She deserves a long and healthy life. So, if anybody has been reading our little saga, please toss up a few good thoughts to the chicken gods for us.

 

[HargroveOutdoors]

Found pictures on the hobby farms website where I got the chicks from of chicks exhibiting the same symptoms as my chicks (the nasal swelling which causes the area around the eye to elongate). Importantly these pictures are a mixed batch of marans chicks, which some of the same age that mine came from and is dated June 11. This is roughly the same day in which my marans chick first started exhibiting symptoms. Said hobby farm is flatly denying any possibility that her birds are sick. For a detailed description of dates, symptoms, and the breeders reaction, check this link. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/respiratory-problems-help.1386607/