Mark_Khrushchev
Songster
Hello, I haven't been on the forum for a while but I have returned for an unfortunate reason. I have a ~5 year old White Leghorn who has been acting a little sick the past week or so. She started acting ill a few days ago with usual symptoms often seen with many diseases (Hunched over, Inactive, Hiding, etc). I quickly separated her to a cage with plenty of food and water (with Nutridrench). After about 2 days, she started looking better so I returned her to the coop with the others. Although she seemingly recovered, I did notice she was lighter than the other Leghorns in the flock. But it wasn't until today in the morning where I noticed that she was acting up again, this time however, she seemed to have developed a lump on her upper neck. I separated her in a cage with food and water. After about an hour, I started giving her water manually with a syringe since I didn't see her drink. I force fed her electrolytes and Nutridrench to keep her going while I researched about it. I don't have many chicken "first-aid" suppliments here. So as a last, desperate resort, I gave her some SafeGuard dewormer since I was getting very worried that if something had even a small chance to work, it was wise to do it. I kept force feeding her water and she seemed to have gotten a little more stable. Something I noticed is that there was alot of mucus and foam in her mouth and an unpleasant smell radiating from her beak. But she seemed to have been consuming what was force fed to her. I also weighed her and noticed she was only 1075 grams (2.4 Pounds), which very light, but this was on an empty crop so I have no reference to compare to. Below are some images of her in different postures and a picture of her stool. (She looks normal with her neck retracted, but it's visible with her neck stretched out. It just looks like puffed feathers but it's an actual lump protruding from her neck.)
Something that worries me is that I had a Buff Orpington die recently (A few weeks ago). She also had alot of foam and mucus coming from her beak but I didn't (And don't) know what it was, however she did not have the same neck inflammation. That Orpington and this this Leghorn were bought from TSC about 5 years ago, it was 2 Orpingtons and 4 Leghorn pullets. My 2 big concerns for possible causes are either wild pigeons/finches transmitting diseases to the flock, or the fact that there being 6 Muscovy ducks in the same coop could contaminate the drinking water. Our setup involves 3 large bowls of water which serve as both drinking water and bathe water for the ducks and the chickens that share the same coop. Even though I replace the water everyday, it always gets muddy and dirty less than an hour of replacing it. This is due to the ducks getting in the water and dirtying it up, possibly spreading diseases? I don't have final say with what goes on with the animals in the yard, but if it were up to me we wouldn't any ducks with the chickens (6 Muscovy ducks and 6 chickens in the same coop seems bad). Diet could also be a concern here? We feed them kitchen scraps and expired food, along with cracked corn almost all year long. We sometimes give them layer pellets but usually it's just cracked corn and scraps. But in my opinion, this diet isn't providing enough nutrients to the birds, and they underperform their laying rate... Alas, I don't have much hopes in this chicken surviving tonight. But if this thread can help someone else, that would be very appreciated. Thanks for your time.
Something that worries me is that I had a Buff Orpington die recently (A few weeks ago). She also had alot of foam and mucus coming from her beak but I didn't (And don't) know what it was, however she did not have the same neck inflammation. That Orpington and this this Leghorn were bought from TSC about 5 years ago, it was 2 Orpingtons and 4 Leghorn pullets. My 2 big concerns for possible causes are either wild pigeons/finches transmitting diseases to the flock, or the fact that there being 6 Muscovy ducks in the same coop could contaminate the drinking water. Our setup involves 3 large bowls of water which serve as both drinking water and bathe water for the ducks and the chickens that share the same coop. Even though I replace the water everyday, it always gets muddy and dirty less than an hour of replacing it. This is due to the ducks getting in the water and dirtying it up, possibly spreading diseases? I don't have final say with what goes on with the animals in the yard, but if it were up to me we wouldn't any ducks with the chickens (6 Muscovy ducks and 6 chickens in the same coop seems bad). Diet could also be a concern here? We feed them kitchen scraps and expired food, along with cracked corn almost all year long. We sometimes give them layer pellets but usually it's just cracked corn and scraps. But in my opinion, this diet isn't providing enough nutrients to the birds, and they underperform their laying rate... Alas, I don't have much hopes in this chicken surviving tonight. But if this thread can help someone else, that would be very appreciated. Thanks for your time.
