Looking for advice,
We had 8 laying hens but over the course of the winter have lost 3 and I fear another one soon. These are 3.5 old birds. Egg production has decreased but we assumed due to it being winter and they are indoors more.
The first bird seemed rather sudden, one morning we went in as normal and she was lame. We separated her from the rest but she couldn’t even stand and was humanely put down.
2 months later we notice another bird seeming ill, this time, her comb was bent over and she seemed a bit swollen. She also walked with her tail down and looked like a penguin. We thought she must be egg bound and treated her with a warm bath every 2 hours and Epsom salts, gave her calcium and had her warm in a kennel in our basement. Still we were unsuccessful in keeping her alive and within a few days she passed.
2 months of so later again same symptoms as the second bird but we thought they mustn’t all be egg bound? We again tried but no luck.
We have sanitized the coop and run but we are at a loss. We have new chicks that have arrived and I have not put them out in fear this is a disease and I don’t want to expose them. Is there anything I can do? We’ve been told to euthanize the rest of our older birds in case it’s a disease and deep clean the coop before the new birds go out. Any advice would be so so appreciated thanks
We had 8 laying hens but over the course of the winter have lost 3 and I fear another one soon. These are 3.5 old birds. Egg production has decreased but we assumed due to it being winter and they are indoors more.
The first bird seemed rather sudden, one morning we went in as normal and she was lame. We separated her from the rest but she couldn’t even stand and was humanely put down.
2 months later we notice another bird seeming ill, this time, her comb was bent over and she seemed a bit swollen. She also walked with her tail down and looked like a penguin. We thought she must be egg bound and treated her with a warm bath every 2 hours and Epsom salts, gave her calcium and had her warm in a kennel in our basement. Still we were unsuccessful in keeping her alive and within a few days she passed.
2 months of so later again same symptoms as the second bird but we thought they mustn’t all be egg bound? We again tried but no luck.
We have sanitized the coop and run but we are at a loss. We have new chicks that have arrived and I have not put them out in fear this is a disease and I don’t want to expose them. Is there anything I can do? We’ve been told to euthanize the rest of our older birds in case it’s a disease and deep clean the coop before the new birds go out. Any advice would be so so appreciated thanks
