Joev1973
Songster
Ok having to make a post I hoped to never make in this dreaded health forum. Im a 2nd year chicken owner.
2 years ago I bought 30 chickens from murry mcmurry & paid for every available vaccination for the peeps.
Over the last 2 years I have incubated & hatched a couple dozen chicks all healthy. Never lost a single bird never found a dead chick or adult.
I keep my coops clean & change bedding regularly.
I began selling eggs at work to help pay for feed (not to get rich lol)
The orders quickly overwhelmed my egg capacity & I decided to buy some new hens. Being winter the hatcheries wont ship & figured if I incubated ot would be a half a year until I saw the eggs I need ASAP.
I put an ad in a local poultry group for pullets around 5 months old figuring in a month or two they would start to lay eggs.
I got several replies with reasonable offers for young pullets. 3 weeks ago I drove an hour away & picked up 5 black australorp hens, from a very clean farm with healthy birds & clean coops.
Added them to my flock no problems.
The same day I visited another farm to see some more pullets & was appalled at the conditions of both the property & condition of the birds. I also saw dead birds scattered about. I left & didnt buy any birds. The following day I visited a 3rd farm & again was appalled at poor conditions & left without buying any pullets.
Then 2 weeks ago I got a call from another fellow who had 10 rhode island red pullets & 5 silver laced Wyandotte pullets also 4 or 5 months old. I drove down & again the birds appeared healthy & they were in mobile chicken pens with clean earth underneath. I bought all 15 & brought them home added them to my flock with no problems. Thats 20 new birds introduced with no problems.
Then last week the same fellow called me with 5 golden comet pullets & 5 americauna pullets, I told him ok I will take them & drove down the following Saturday. The birds were in cages in the driveway as if maybe they just arrived.
The man who I cant say I Dont like explained he has "a buddy" who raises chicks & sells them as pullets to make a buck. Fair enough. I now doubt this story.
3 days after introducing the last batch of birds to my flock I went into the coop to fill the feeder & noticed a bird all alone up on the roost in the middle of the afternoon. I reached up & brought her up to the house. It was a rhode island red that was healthy for weeks. One eye was puffy & swelled shut & the other eye was full of fluid.
I isolated her & treated her with vetrx by putting it on her beak & near her eyes as well as giving her a squirt down the throat. I did this for 3 days & she was fine. Both eyes clear & open, no longer puffy.
A few days later I noticed another bird same symptoms. I treated her the same way & she recovered.
Monday after work I found a dead bird. On the floor of the coop. It was a black australorp that was healthy as ever days before.
The next day I noticed a black polish laying in the lawn sick. I treated him the same but the next morning he was gone. Over the next 4 days I have lost 5 birds total. I went to TSC & explained my problem to my friend who suggested I added some sort of vitamin supplement to their water which I did per directions 1/3 tsp per gallon then I bought a bag of medicated feed with higher protein & filled the feeders with that. For 2 or 3 days they have been eating the medicated feed & I have not found any more dead chickens but I am worried this problem will persist. I should also mention the little black polish who died was from another coop meaning the illness now went to both coops.
I should also mention that all my birds from murry mcmurry hatchery who had vaccines are unaffected by this illness. So far only the young birds are affected including some that I hatched.
Despite my caution & passing on birds from unclean places, despite my keeping clean coops with fresh bedding & regular cleanings I am afraid I made a terrible mistake & introduced some sort of bug that I wont be able to get rid of.
Lastly...without sounding like a bigot... I now know what happened. The town where I picked up the birds has a high Amish population who holds regular "barn sales" of poultry. I was warned 100 times by every farmer in my county to stay away from these sales as a lot of sick birds get auctioned off as healthy birds.
What I believed happened is when I first met the fellow to pick up the first batch of pullets I mentioned how I needed maybe 10 or 15 more. I now believe he went to one of these sales to buy the hens knowing I would pay him double what he would get them for at the Amish auction. He wanted to make a buck, I get it Thats how the world works.
I know this was a long post. I thank anyone who takes the time to explain what I may be dealing with & explains my options & helps me find a solution.
As of now I cant identify any more sick birds & they have been on medicated feed for 3 or 4 days for what its worth. Also the coop is air tight with heat
What do you think?
Merry Christmas to all & God Bless
2 years ago I bought 30 chickens from murry mcmurry & paid for every available vaccination for the peeps.
Over the last 2 years I have incubated & hatched a couple dozen chicks all healthy. Never lost a single bird never found a dead chick or adult.
I keep my coops clean & change bedding regularly.
I began selling eggs at work to help pay for feed (not to get rich lol)
The orders quickly overwhelmed my egg capacity & I decided to buy some new hens. Being winter the hatcheries wont ship & figured if I incubated ot would be a half a year until I saw the eggs I need ASAP.
I put an ad in a local poultry group for pullets around 5 months old figuring in a month or two they would start to lay eggs.
I got several replies with reasonable offers for young pullets. 3 weeks ago I drove an hour away & picked up 5 black australorp hens, from a very clean farm with healthy birds & clean coops.
Added them to my flock no problems.
The same day I visited another farm to see some more pullets & was appalled at the conditions of both the property & condition of the birds. I also saw dead birds scattered about. I left & didnt buy any birds. The following day I visited a 3rd farm & again was appalled at poor conditions & left without buying any pullets.
Then 2 weeks ago I got a call from another fellow who had 10 rhode island red pullets & 5 silver laced Wyandotte pullets also 4 or 5 months old. I drove down & again the birds appeared healthy & they were in mobile chicken pens with clean earth underneath. I bought all 15 & brought them home added them to my flock with no problems. Thats 20 new birds introduced with no problems.
Then last week the same fellow called me with 5 golden comet pullets & 5 americauna pullets, I told him ok I will take them & drove down the following Saturday. The birds were in cages in the driveway as if maybe they just arrived.
The man who I cant say I Dont like explained he has "a buddy" who raises chicks & sells them as pullets to make a buck. Fair enough. I now doubt this story.
3 days after introducing the last batch of birds to my flock I went into the coop to fill the feeder & noticed a bird all alone up on the roost in the middle of the afternoon. I reached up & brought her up to the house. It was a rhode island red that was healthy for weeks. One eye was puffy & swelled shut & the other eye was full of fluid.
I isolated her & treated her with vetrx by putting it on her beak & near her eyes as well as giving her a squirt down the throat. I did this for 3 days & she was fine. Both eyes clear & open, no longer puffy.
A few days later I noticed another bird same symptoms. I treated her the same way & she recovered.
Monday after work I found a dead bird. On the floor of the coop. It was a black australorp that was healthy as ever days before.
The next day I noticed a black polish laying in the lawn sick. I treated him the same but the next morning he was gone. Over the next 4 days I have lost 5 birds total. I went to TSC & explained my problem to my friend who suggested I added some sort of vitamin supplement to their water which I did per directions 1/3 tsp per gallon then I bought a bag of medicated feed with higher protein & filled the feeders with that. For 2 or 3 days they have been eating the medicated feed & I have not found any more dead chickens but I am worried this problem will persist. I should also mention the little black polish who died was from another coop meaning the illness now went to both coops.
I should also mention that all my birds from murry mcmurry hatchery who had vaccines are unaffected by this illness. So far only the young birds are affected including some that I hatched.
Despite my caution & passing on birds from unclean places, despite my keeping clean coops with fresh bedding & regular cleanings I am afraid I made a terrible mistake & introduced some sort of bug that I wont be able to get rid of.
Lastly...without sounding like a bigot... I now know what happened. The town where I picked up the birds has a high Amish population who holds regular "barn sales" of poultry. I was warned 100 times by every farmer in my county to stay away from these sales as a lot of sick birds get auctioned off as healthy birds.
What I believed happened is when I first met the fellow to pick up the first batch of pullets I mentioned how I needed maybe 10 or 15 more. I now believe he went to one of these sales to buy the hens knowing I would pay him double what he would get them for at the Amish auction. He wanted to make a buck, I get it Thats how the world works.
I know this was a long post. I thank anyone who takes the time to explain what I may be dealing with & explains my options & helps me find a solution.
As of now I cant identify any more sick birds & they have been on medicated feed for 3 or 4 days for what its worth. Also the coop is air tight with heat
What do you think?
Merry Christmas to all & God Bless
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