Why is my new hen showing symptoms of URI

[svillasenor08]

Hey all,

So real quick, I had a tough battle with my new flock of hens, I lost 3 of them (URI) and had 4 of them survive and look to be doing very well. I've had them for about 2 months now.

This past weekend I decided on whim to purchase 2 hens to add to my flock. I built a pretty good size coop so I want to take advantage of that. Knowing what I learned about my current flock, I was careful to inspect the 2 new hens and make sure at least they didn't have the bubbly eyes. They looked to be in great shape, nice puffy feathers, red crest, clean eyes and beaks. So I bought them, placed them in a crate and made sure that they were inside my truck to their new destination, just for extra comfort. I get home, and I see that one of the hens has bubbles in her eye! I try not to panic, I know it isn't wise to add to the flock without a quarantine period but this is a hobby not production. The new hens go in the coop and I hope for the best. It has now been a few days and that one hen is showing signs of illness, shaking her head often and a wet nasal cavity. She's still eating good and being active.

Did I do something wrong here, I could of sworn she looked good and healthy before I bought her. She had the bubbly eyes BEFORE I even introduced her to the coop. Is it possible she just had the infection but didn't show the bubbles at the time of purchase?

Is this common due to the stress of a move? I'm a little bummed, really don't want to lose any more girls.

 

[Smileybans]

How has it worked out? Chickens are a carrier of CRD, chronic respiratory disease, for the rest of their lives. So even though they can get over the initial illness they will carry it and pass it on. Stress can bring out signs of sickness. That’s why, as you stated, it’s recommended to do a quarantine period. I don’t keep chickens for production either but still did the quarantine before introducing new girls. I’m glad I did because the previous owner had had so many birds she only fed these ones corn. They were sick and it took so long to get them healthy.