5th chick dying in my hands right now - help!

[familypendragon]

Hugs! Many many hugs and prayers!

How are YOU holding up? Taking time for yourself? Finding local support of wives who have been though what you're going through?
I'll keep you and your family in my prayers.

Thank you for asking, and for your prayers. Overall I am probably blessed not to have time to worry about me :/ Today threw me for a loop with another cancer set back... and one of my crested cream legbar hens named Marshmallow died after the last storm. I had to put down a sweet hen named Cinnamon. She'd finally recovered from a broken leg, and then got the severe respiratory thing and was turning purple struggling to breathe. Now I fear Chatty Cathy, an SBEL I hatched last year is probably going to die soon. I see her eating if I take her to the food, but her crop is never full and she only drinks if I take her to the water. Her sinus infection is making one eye leak and her breathing sounds terrible. She has never gotten very big and took a severe turn for the worse at the same time as Marshmallow. I debate if I should just put her down. Meanwhile the chicks look well with their mommas although I know that can change any time. I am constantly trying to think of improvements I can make to the coops and trying to do anything I can to increase the chances the new babies won't suffer and die. I have a salmon faverolle that insists on going broody now too. So I guess this is happening. I left messages for my A & M contact again but haven't heard back yet - and I have been too busy to follow up again. I could sure use a miracle or two.

 

[GaChick34]

What an emotional roller coaster to read. I hope things have improved for you. You are one strong lady. I'd be in a loony bin. Many prayers for your husband and flock.
There are many places you can have your soil tested and it's usually free. I would highly recommend this. The fact that this happens after rain, definitely makes it sound like a fungus of sorts.
Hope to read some good news from you. Hang in there. I think your doing pretty darn awesome with everything.

 

[AshleyBelle]

I just sat for the last couple of hours and read all this from the beginning. I definitely had some tears for you. I can't imagine going through all this chicken death, inconclusive results, husband's cancer...I am so very sorry for everything you've had to endure! I hope your struggles are few and far in between and that everything is going ok! I will definitely keep you in my thoughts and hope for the best! You have so many awesome supporters and for me being new to this site, it's nice to see so much support, help and goodness in everyone!

 

[familypendragon]

Hello everyone, thanks so much for the support. I finally have some good news, though not about the chickens. Hubby was able to get a procedure called TORS from a very talented surgeon Dr Baran Sumer here in Dallas. We'd even gone to Johns Hopkins in Maryland and been turned down. But Dr Sumer said he is one of maybe 5 or 6 in the world that could pull it off - and he did! He has a good bit of recovery to do, but as of now he is technically cancer free. He will have to have low dose chemo and radiation in about a month to kill any stray cells that may have escaped during surgery. But he has gone from having a median life expectancy of 10 painful and very sick months to being virtually guaranteed 5+ years of good health. We'll take it and hope for much more! Meanwhile we've found that I also have a lump in my neck. I got a CT scan yesterday, and we are hoping it will show something called thyroglossal cyst which is usually benign.

The chicken saga continues.... no new deaths though. Meanwhile I have hens hatching chicks all over the place and I just watch and hope. I found a list of avian vets and plan to see about finding one I can take a chicken to and see if they can help me. If I find one in driving distance that will see chickens and I can afford it then I will bring in my sweet Wheaten Ameraucana roo named Heathcliff. Here he is His feathering is interesting - he is blond where he should be reddish orange. I am wondering if it is some kind of buff mutation or something??? No idea. He is the only one that looks that way, and he is very special to me <3

[VIDEO]

 

[GaChick34]

Great news about your hubby and prayers for the lump in your neck. Maybe it's your bodies way of dealing with stress?
Sorry you still have some sickies. Thankful for no deaths, though. Sounds like are strong and fighting it.

 

[familypendragon]

My beloved Heathcliff died and I had to put down 2 others who got the huge swollen eye and quit eating :'( Now the oldest chicks seem to be sneezing. I found a chicken vet tonight though, so I will be making an appointment asap for the chicks. We are scheduled to have rain alllll weeeekk loooooooooooooong - I have never hated rain so much in my life.

 

[Kelsie2290]

So sorry for you and your families ongoing problems. Glad to hear your husband at least has had some good news, hope his recovery is uneventful. Good luck with your appointment, hope it is just a false alarm. You just can't seem to catch a break.
Sorry you lost Heathcliff also, hope the new vet you found will at least be able to give you some answers as to what the heck has been going on with your birds.
We will definitely keep you in our thoughts and prayers and hope for some good news!

 

[MrsBachbach]

Oh I am so glad you have received good news on your husband.

Here's hoping the vet has some workable answers for your chickens.

Please let us know.

 

[seminolewind]

If this possibly affects chickens, you could have one tested. Call your state vet and see what there thoughts are.

I guess I'm just not understanding something. This thread seems to be 8 months old and even has chicks sent for necropsies and Texas A&M couldn't give you a straight answer on what they are growing in those little petrie dishes that you paid for?

I just don't understand how deaths go on for 8 months and no one knows why really. My best guess would be that your flock has Marek's and that is wiping out everyone's immune system and your chickens are dying from every opportunistic bacteria you have there, cocci, pox, aspergillus, respiratory bugs, etc. No one pill is going to wipe it all out. I remember having 7 pullets that had been 2x vaccinated for Marek's wiped out from entiritis and then a one-eye infection. They had a poor immune system and we had lots of rain.

I would not be hatching any eggs at this time. It will never end if you do.

Hope Hubby is on the mend

 

[villenchick]

That is heart wrenching, I am so sorry you have to deal with that.