Battery hens are still sick, new questions about coryza..

[weesy68]

I have been reading extensively and believe the battery hens that I rescued from a live poultry market have coryza. I have been adding Sulmet and vitamins to their water, and feeding them yoghurt. They are still lethargic, with runny discharge, swollen skin around their eyes, and droopy sleepy heads. They do seem slightly better than yesterday, but they are still not well.

Once/if they recover will they start to lay eggs? They are around five months old and are Australorps. Will this sickness affect their long term laying? Can we ever eat their eggs? Will they infect other birds/animals?

I gave them a heat lamp in their run as it has been raining almost constantly since we brought them home, and they were previously indoors. I thought I had set it high enough off the floor that they wouldn't hurt themselves. This morning I discovered they had taken turns cuddling as close to it as possible, and had totally singed their wing feathers on one side, it smelt like burnt hair. Couple of pea brains! I was also a little stupid setting it so low they could manage to burn themselves, I'll live and learn.

 

[cassie]

It took me many years to figure this out. DO NOT BRING HOME PROBLEMS. While you feel sorry for the battery hens, chances are high they will be infected with something or other and because of that will contaminate your premises to the extent that when you bring clean stock home it will get infected. Plus, you will spend time and money on these animals and you may or may not get anything for your efforts. Sometimes the meat market is simply the best solution for all concerned.

 

[Omran]

Quote:
I Agree 120000000000% I learned my lesson the hard way too and west enough $$$ and what bad is that the pullets I got they were not sick, but they were carrier.
I cleaned all my old flock out and started all over again.
But now things going much better thanks God.

 

[weesy68]

These are my first and only chickens, if they die I will have to sanitize and wait before I consider getting chicks from a good supplier. Do you know if I can eat the eggs if these girls recover?

 

[Andora]

If they recover you can eat the eggs! But they will remain contagious for life, even when they are no longer showing any symptoms themselves.

Are they drinking enough of the Sulmet water? Sometimes when they don't feel well, they don't drink enough so they won't be getting enough antibiotic. When I have a sick bird (usually just cocci...) I take a small syringe of medicated water and feed it to them every few hours for a day, or until they perk up and I see them actively eating and drinking on their own. (Check and see if their crops are full at night when they to go sleep--they always should be!)

Be very careful, because you can spread the illness to other chickens via your shoes or clothing, onto other farms, or just to other people at the feed store...I ended up getting rid of my entire flock after we had Coryza go through.

 

[MandyH]

Coryza is HORRIBLE. They never really recover enough to be dependable layers. Even when asymptomatic they are still contagious, so any chickens that comes anywhere near them or anywhere they have been will get infected. It spreads like wildfire and there is no cure. The best route will be to cull them and disinfect ANYTHING that may have been in contact with them. Wait a few weeks before bringing anything else in. Do they have a putrid smell around their heads?
msucares.com/poultry/diseases

 

[Dazlin]

I have to agree with the others. I just went through a sad experience with my rooster. He was sick for 3 weeks straight, despite daily care, meds, wiping his eyes, nose, taking his temp, ugh! After all that he never got better. A good friend warned me of the contagiousness, and the possibility of breeding weak genes.
The clean-up when he got sick, disinfecting the entire coop, and shoveling fresh dirt in and out, was NOTHING compared to the sanitizing I did after he was gone. I did keep him isolated, but all the cages he used and waterers, bowls, syringes, etc. took hours of work. I always HATE to put them down, and usually cry about, but, we really have to be very careful about raising them.
I hope the very best in your decision.