Hi all,
So, I've posted a lot in the emergencies and diseases section, but thought I'd post a general "what am I doing wrong" quesiton here. We got our chickens as juveniles last July, and things were fine and dandy even through the harsh winter we had. Then, in May, I discovered lice on a few of our 10 hens. We took care of that with pyrmethrin, and I spent a lot of time spraying the coop, and changing bedding twice a week for about a month, just in case we had mites too. Then, in June, my husband made a daycare tractor for the chickens to have some grass time while we were home (we have very aggressive hawks here that dive bomb our backyard. Shortly before that though, I noticed that some of the hens had what I considered distended belly areas. We started putting them on our grass, and shortly after, our Phoenix got sick. She was fine in the morning, but by the afternoon she was unable to stand. I brought her inside, and on the way in, she leaked warm, clear fluid all down my shirt. We fed her watered down gatorade (I have now read not to do that, but I didnt know what to do at the time), and she died at midnight. A week later our Golden Comet was not acting herself. I then noticed she'd laid a shelless egg, and some of the shell was hanging out of her, but there was more that had not come out yet. I brought her in, and, having a little more info under my belt, decided to give her a warm bath. I also gave her molasses water, acv water, probiotics in water, pedialyte. She made it through the night, and the next morning I gave her a warm soapy bath. She expelled the egg shell, a rubber egg, and a load of about 3 inch roundworms. I wormed them all with wazine, but didnt follow up with a broad spectrum. I followed up with verm-x instead. Then was giving them all shredded carrots with garlic, garlic and acv in their water, and then last week the Golden Comet didnt look well again. Sure enough, I saw some small worms moving in poop in their run. I panicked and gave them the only wormer I had...wazine, and have valbazen on the way to give them on the 10th day. This morning, I opened the coop and only 8 of the 9 girls came out. I opened the people door to find our cochin sprawled out on the floor of the coop. I scooped her up and brought her in. On my way in she leaked really smelly clear liquid down my shirt. I gave her a warm soapy bath, and shortly after she expelled a normal egg. Her belly looks like a red rash, and it was warm (maybe from the bath, not sure). She has been drinking vitamin/electrolyte/probios water like a fish...I would estimate about 1 1/2 to 2 cups today so far, and is now finally eating some oats with honey and water in it. Now, to get to my question...I feel like I'm trying so hard, and doing what I"m suppose to be doing, but it seems like I'm losing the battle. Everytime I think I've got them healthy I get a surprise like this. I still have a few with what I consider distended bellies. Is it something I'm doing wrong? Is it possible that out of the few hens I have, I drew the short stick and got internal layers? I'm just beside myself. I've started putting DE in their run. They get Poulin egg production plus. Fresh Kale from my garden, or other good treats...never crud. I've stopped giving them treats until they're well. I read all about people giving treats and they have no problem, but am I having trouble because of treats? I'm completely stressed and afraid every time I go out to the coop that I"m going to find a chicken either dead or sick! What am I doing wrong???
So, I've posted a lot in the emergencies and diseases section, but thought I'd post a general "what am I doing wrong" quesiton here. We got our chickens as juveniles last July, and things were fine and dandy even through the harsh winter we had. Then, in May, I discovered lice on a few of our 10 hens. We took care of that with pyrmethrin, and I spent a lot of time spraying the coop, and changing bedding twice a week for about a month, just in case we had mites too. Then, in June, my husband made a daycare tractor for the chickens to have some grass time while we were home (we have very aggressive hawks here that dive bomb our backyard. Shortly before that though, I noticed that some of the hens had what I considered distended belly areas. We started putting them on our grass, and shortly after, our Phoenix got sick. She was fine in the morning, but by the afternoon she was unable to stand. I brought her inside, and on the way in, she leaked warm, clear fluid all down my shirt. We fed her watered down gatorade (I have now read not to do that, but I didnt know what to do at the time), and she died at midnight. A week later our Golden Comet was not acting herself. I then noticed she'd laid a shelless egg, and some of the shell was hanging out of her, but there was more that had not come out yet. I brought her in, and, having a little more info under my belt, decided to give her a warm bath. I also gave her molasses water, acv water, probiotics in water, pedialyte. She made it through the night, and the next morning I gave her a warm soapy bath. She expelled the egg shell, a rubber egg, and a load of about 3 inch roundworms. I wormed them all with wazine, but didnt follow up with a broad spectrum. I followed up with verm-x instead. Then was giving them all shredded carrots with garlic, garlic and acv in their water, and then last week the Golden Comet didnt look well again. Sure enough, I saw some small worms moving in poop in their run. I panicked and gave them the only wormer I had...wazine, and have valbazen on the way to give them on the 10th day. This morning, I opened the coop and only 8 of the 9 girls came out. I opened the people door to find our cochin sprawled out on the floor of the coop. I scooped her up and brought her in. On my way in she leaked really smelly clear liquid down my shirt. I gave her a warm soapy bath, and shortly after she expelled a normal egg. Her belly looks like a red rash, and it was warm (maybe from the bath, not sure). She has been drinking vitamin/electrolyte/probios water like a fish...I would estimate about 1 1/2 to 2 cups today so far, and is now finally eating some oats with honey and water in it. Now, to get to my question...I feel like I'm trying so hard, and doing what I"m suppose to be doing, but it seems like I'm losing the battle. Everytime I think I've got them healthy I get a surprise like this. I still have a few with what I consider distended bellies. Is it something I'm doing wrong? Is it possible that out of the few hens I have, I drew the short stick and got internal layers? I'm just beside myself. I've started putting DE in their run. They get Poulin egg production plus. Fresh Kale from my garden, or other good treats...never crud. I've stopped giving them treats until they're well. I read all about people giving treats and they have no problem, but am I having trouble because of treats? I'm completely stressed and afraid every time I go out to the coop that I"m going to find a chicken either dead or sick! What am I doing wrong???
