- Mar 22, 2013
- 55
- 3
- 33
Hello all,
First let me apologize for such a long post. I just wanted to explain everything in as much detail as possible.
We have been seeing our flock die off over the past year from some mysterious disease which seems to result in what appears to be acities as the chickens final undoing.
The entire flock was purchased at the same time, from a feed store, which doesn't offer vaccinated chicks and they refuse to say where they come from, which leads me to believe it's a shady source.
The two that are left are 4.5 years old.
The flock was made up mostly of Rhode Island Reds although we have suspicions that they aren't true reds and are instead some production red mix because their size is not right, they are much tinier then other reds we have seen.
The symptoms usually start with messy backsides.
Then the chicken typically cranes their necks like they are gasping for air. I have listened for gurgling and so far on all effected chickens there is no gurgling, but there sometimes is a pop sound as the change in the direction of the breath happens.
This progresses to listlessness and loss of balance.
At some point the chicken stops eating and drinking.
The right wing drops noticeably, like there is loss of muscle control.
The listlessness and loss of balance results in the chicken finally sitting down and not wanting to get back up, which means she definitely stops eating and drinking at this point.
If food and water are offered the chicken refuses.
The right wing continues to droop even more.
The chickens sides then become inflated, like they are being pumped full of air.
Then from this point it's a waiting game, either we dispatch the chicken or allow it to starve to death.
Whatever this is, it is selective. It only effects one or two birds at a time and the entire process takes about a month.
We have tried medicating their water, but this doesn't work when the sick chicken refuses water.
Last year it happened just after a cold snap to a few birds left out in the cold so we chocked it up to acities, then it happened to more, again one or two at a time...
But now it is happening to our last two, in various stages and we haven't had cold enough weather for at least a month, so the timing is off.
Their coop is clean, the weather is here is really dry (15% humidity average) so there aren't any pools of water laying about spreading disease.
The chickens use a nipple watterer to keep the chances of disease low.
The chickens are fed well.
The last two have stopped laying altogether, again they are both 4.5 years old.
One variable I have noticed is that the last time the chickens were sick there were a lot of small wild birds who would come into our yard and steal their food. This is again happening, even though we have taken steps to try and deter the small birds.
I am not sure what to do.
We would like to know what is going wrong, what we are doing wrong and how we can fix it, because we would like to have more chickens and we don't want them to suffer the same fate.
If we choose to get any more birds, the next flock is going to come from a breeder and they will be vaccinated, even though I know it doesn't mean they will be treated for everything.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
We are lost...Help?
Thanks, Mary
First let me apologize for such a long post. I just wanted to explain everything in as much detail as possible.
We have been seeing our flock die off over the past year from some mysterious disease which seems to result in what appears to be acities as the chickens final undoing.
The entire flock was purchased at the same time, from a feed store, which doesn't offer vaccinated chicks and they refuse to say where they come from, which leads me to believe it's a shady source.
The two that are left are 4.5 years old.
The flock was made up mostly of Rhode Island Reds although we have suspicions that they aren't true reds and are instead some production red mix because their size is not right, they are much tinier then other reds we have seen.
The symptoms usually start with messy backsides.
Then the chicken typically cranes their necks like they are gasping for air. I have listened for gurgling and so far on all effected chickens there is no gurgling, but there sometimes is a pop sound as the change in the direction of the breath happens.
This progresses to listlessness and loss of balance.
At some point the chicken stops eating and drinking.
The right wing drops noticeably, like there is loss of muscle control.
The listlessness and loss of balance results in the chicken finally sitting down and not wanting to get back up, which means she definitely stops eating and drinking at this point.
If food and water are offered the chicken refuses.
The right wing continues to droop even more.
The chickens sides then become inflated, like they are being pumped full of air.
Then from this point it's a waiting game, either we dispatch the chicken or allow it to starve to death.
Whatever this is, it is selective. It only effects one or two birds at a time and the entire process takes about a month.
We have tried medicating their water, but this doesn't work when the sick chicken refuses water.
Last year it happened just after a cold snap to a few birds left out in the cold so we chocked it up to acities, then it happened to more, again one or two at a time...
But now it is happening to our last two, in various stages and we haven't had cold enough weather for at least a month, so the timing is off.
Their coop is clean, the weather is here is really dry (15% humidity average) so there aren't any pools of water laying about spreading disease.
The chickens use a nipple watterer to keep the chances of disease low.
The chickens are fed well.
The last two have stopped laying altogether, again they are both 4.5 years old.
One variable I have noticed is that the last time the chickens were sick there were a lot of small wild birds who would come into our yard and steal their food. This is again happening, even though we have taken steps to try and deter the small birds.
I am not sure what to do.
We would like to know what is going wrong, what we are doing wrong and how we can fix it, because we would like to have more chickens and we don't want them to suffer the same fate.
If we choose to get any more birds, the next flock is going to come from a breeder and they will be vaccinated, even though I know it doesn't mean they will be treated for everything.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
We are lost...Help?
Thanks, Mary
