Hi all, first of all if you're a bit queezy with death and killing of sick ones don't read between the *************'s
Anyway, in the last 2 weeks I've had 3 chickens become quite ill.
As normal I give them time to see if they'll recover, or pass away which is mainly because 1, I don't know their ages, and 2, I'm not too sure what I should be doing, however what has spurred me to make this post is what happened to chicken 2 today.
Story is, about 2 weeks ago, chicken 1 showed signs she wasn't being herself, ie sleeping on the floor rather than the roost or perches. However she seems to have recovered now, but closing them in this evening, she is still opting for the floor.
Chicken 2 a few days after became ill. Sunday night upon locking in for the night, I found she was missing and where I found her, it looked as though she had tried to make it in, but didn't have the energy to make it any further so I picked her up and brought her in for the night.
Chicken 3 I found Saturday night to be opting for the floor, and by Sunday evening she had passed away, so placed her in the chimnea to be incinerated Monday. Upon incineration, I did not observe any maggots exiting her body (which I saw with a previous chicken incineration)
So with chicken 1 recovering and 3 dead. Chicken 2 remained uncertain, so Monday afternoon I brought her into the garage, I had noted she seemed wet underneath but I passed that off as being, well, just poop from where she's not moving around much, but I hadn't investigated further, left her with some scrambled egg and normal feed, which she ate some of so hoped for the best today (Tuesday) this afternoon around 4pm, mum called me down as she noticed something odd,
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and upon checking her rear end, she was infested with small maggots and their eggs, they were about an inch in so safe to say they were eating her alive. As neither of us could kill something, I went off to see if there was a neighbour around and thankfully found an excellent English speaking chap (I live in France) who knew what to do, and well he came over immediately, hung her from a hook and slit her throat (I don't believe in that method as it basically meant she bled out) but on the other hand it was quicker and probably less painful than being eaten alive. He commented on the lack of blood - which he said was a sign she was very sick. And once that was over I proceeded to incinerate, and observed the small maggots exiting with the heat.
***************** end.
Our chicken house also has small parasites which constantly find their way onto my arms or legs. I've fumigated it, and as much as that may have killed them, there will still have been some on the birds which they'll have brought back in.
When I fumigated, I did 1 smoke bomb in the morning, afternoon I power washed everything, walls, doors, windows, ceilings etc, mopped it dry and put in new bedding. A week later I followed up with another smoke bomb which seemingly did the trick, but alas they're back now so need to fumigate again.
Can someone please give me answers to the following please:
1. Just where the hell do these parasites come from even though I thoroughly clean out the chicken house.
2. How on earth did chicken 2 get maggots that were eating her alive? We're in the middle of the country surrounded by vineyards with the odd Forrest. Our neighbour has 2 horses who's barn is adjacent to our 2 adjoined chicken runs. I can't understand how they contract these diseases when there's nothing obviously the cause.
3. What can I do to improve the wellbeing and health of my chickens? I know there's a powder or something you sprinkle on them, what is this for? Can they be sprayed with anything? I read somewhere a sandpit helps, how effective is this?
4. When I'm cleaning my chicken (and duck house to be safe) is there an incectiside or something I can spray all over the buildings to kill these parasites, are these things safe to spray between clean outs? I don't give a frap about environmental issues, I'm sure if any made its way into our stream it'll be weak enough to be harmless. I don't want any more of our birds to suffer in the same way chicken 2 did. All I want is happy healthy birds!
Any and all advice would be greatly received.
Dave
Anyway, in the last 2 weeks I've had 3 chickens become quite ill.
As normal I give them time to see if they'll recover, or pass away which is mainly because 1, I don't know their ages, and 2, I'm not too sure what I should be doing, however what has spurred me to make this post is what happened to chicken 2 today.
Story is, about 2 weeks ago, chicken 1 showed signs she wasn't being herself, ie sleeping on the floor rather than the roost or perches. However she seems to have recovered now, but closing them in this evening, she is still opting for the floor.
Chicken 2 a few days after became ill. Sunday night upon locking in for the night, I found she was missing and where I found her, it looked as though she had tried to make it in, but didn't have the energy to make it any further so I picked her up and brought her in for the night.
Chicken 3 I found Saturday night to be opting for the floor, and by Sunday evening she had passed away, so placed her in the chimnea to be incinerated Monday. Upon incineration, I did not observe any maggots exiting her body (which I saw with a previous chicken incineration)
So with chicken 1 recovering and 3 dead. Chicken 2 remained uncertain, so Monday afternoon I brought her into the garage, I had noted she seemed wet underneath but I passed that off as being, well, just poop from where she's not moving around much, but I hadn't investigated further, left her with some scrambled egg and normal feed, which she ate some of so hoped for the best today (Tuesday) this afternoon around 4pm, mum called me down as she noticed something odd,
************************* Start
and upon checking her rear end, she was infested with small maggots and their eggs, they were about an inch in so safe to say they were eating her alive. As neither of us could kill something, I went off to see if there was a neighbour around and thankfully found an excellent English speaking chap (I live in France) who knew what to do, and well he came over immediately, hung her from a hook and slit her throat (I don't believe in that method as it basically meant she bled out) but on the other hand it was quicker and probably less painful than being eaten alive. He commented on the lack of blood - which he said was a sign she was very sick. And once that was over I proceeded to incinerate, and observed the small maggots exiting with the heat.
***************** end.
Our chicken house also has small parasites which constantly find their way onto my arms or legs. I've fumigated it, and as much as that may have killed them, there will still have been some on the birds which they'll have brought back in.
When I fumigated, I did 1 smoke bomb in the morning, afternoon I power washed everything, walls, doors, windows, ceilings etc, mopped it dry and put in new bedding. A week later I followed up with another smoke bomb which seemingly did the trick, but alas they're back now so need to fumigate again.
Can someone please give me answers to the following please:
1. Just where the hell do these parasites come from even though I thoroughly clean out the chicken house.
2. How on earth did chicken 2 get maggots that were eating her alive? We're in the middle of the country surrounded by vineyards with the odd Forrest. Our neighbour has 2 horses who's barn is adjacent to our 2 adjoined chicken runs. I can't understand how they contract these diseases when there's nothing obviously the cause.
3. What can I do to improve the wellbeing and health of my chickens? I know there's a powder or something you sprinkle on them, what is this for? Can they be sprayed with anything? I read somewhere a sandpit helps, how effective is this?
4. When I'm cleaning my chicken (and duck house to be safe) is there an incectiside or something I can spray all over the buildings to kill these parasites, are these things safe to spray between clean outs? I don't give a frap about environmental issues, I'm sure if any made its way into our stream it'll be weak enough to be harmless. I don't want any more of our birds to suffer in the same way chicken 2 did. All I want is happy healthy birds!
Any and all advice would be greatly received.
Dave
