Brahma Chick Wheezing/Gurgeling, eye swollen, lethargic

[MollyDora]

unfortunately all the chicks are now in the brooder in the sky...

we burned the brooder we built out of plywood to be on the safe side. Then we will clean/sanitize/bleach all the feeders, drinkers and wipe down the entire garage and everything they came in contact with, built a new brooder and start over in a few weeks.

This was a very very sad experience, but we learned a valuable lesson.

 

[mg15]

unfortunately all the chicks are now in the brooder in the sky...

we burned the brooder we built out of plywood to be on the safe side. Then we will clean/sanitize/bleach all the feeders, drinkers and wipe down the entire garage and everything they came in contact with, built a new brooder and start over in a few weeks.

This was a very very sad experience, but we learned a valuable lesson.

HI,
So very sorry this all happened to you, sounds just awful.
Can you tell me what lesson you have learned about this?
What would you do different ?
Again so sorry.
Thank you
mg

 

[MollyDora]

the lesson I have learned is that I will never again add "new" chicks to an existing flock without being quarantined!

From now on if we add anything to our flock it's going to be quarantined for at least 2 months if not longer.

If we would have quarantined the chicks we got from the swap meet, our 23 chicks would still be alive and healthy.

 

[mg15]

the lesson I have learned is that I will never again add "new" chicks to an existing flock without being quarantined!

From now on if we add anything to our flock it's going to be quarantined for at least 2 months if not longer.

If we would have quarantined the chicks we got from the swap meet, our 23 chicks would still be alive and healthy.

Thank you for your reply.
I was reading this post to my husband, and it was darn scary.
We got 3 chicks from a lady in Gretna and then 2 from Tractor Supply. I don't think either were vaccinated for Mareks. But not sure.

They are in the garage, have been since late March. I will not rush to put them out with the girls.

mg

 

[MollyDora]

if they have been together for that long and nothing happened yet, you should be fine, but yes, I would not rush it.

The incubation time for most of these diseases is 1-2 weeks and that's exactly how long it took for ours to show symptoms.

Our biggest mistake was that one of the pullets we bought at the swap was much bigger then the others.
And so far I read at a lot of different posts and pages that you should not mix different ages like that. I can't tell you why, but I think it has to do with how bigger birds can deal with bacteria and such better then the small ones? not sure. But I will be more careful.

If our experience was good for anything, then maybe for others to read my post and learn from our mistake. This has been devastating and as much as I hated having the little birds in the garage, it's kind of sad right now to not hear them when I go in there....
we ordered new chicks for the 2ind week of May from Cackle Hatchery (we live about 40 min. from there and pick them up) we decided to similar bird breeds, I just changed it up a little bit.

This time we're getting:
10 light brahmas
4 Black Australorp
1 Barred Rock Rooster
2 Welsummer
2 white leghorn
2 Buff Orpingtons

the 2-2-2 are all breeds I've been wanting for a while but I'm not sure if I want a ton of them , so we get 2 each to "try" them out.

Cheers

 

[mg15]

if they have been together for that long and nothing happened yet, you should be fine, but yes, I would not rush it.

The incubation time for most of these diseases is 1-2 weeks and that's exactly how long it took for ours to show symptoms.

Our biggest mistake was that one of the pullets we bought at the swap was much bigger then the others.
And so far I read at a lot of different posts and pages that you should not mix different ages like that. I can't tell you why, but I think it has to do with how bigger birds can deal with bacteria and such better then the small ones? not sure. But I will be more careful.

If our experience was good for anything, then maybe for others to read my post and learn from our mistake. This has been devastating and as much as I hated having the little birds in the garage, it's kind of sad right now to not hear them when I go in there....
we ordered new chicks for the 2ind week of May from Cackle Hatchery (we live about 40 min. from there and pick them up) we decided to similar bird breeds, I just changed it up a little bit.

This time we're getting:
10 light brahmas
4 Black Australorp
1 Barred Rock Rooster
2 Welsummer
2 white leghorn
2 Buff Orpingtons

the 2-2-2 are all breeds I've been wanting for a while but I'm not sure if I want a ton of them , so we get 2 each to "try" them out.

Cheers

Our dog got 9 at once, and I swore I would not get anymore. But.....I also missed the little chirps of the babies. I ordered 3 Australorps from Cackle hatchery and got them on March 26, to replace the 3 dead ones which were 15 weeks old.
Also, had a Welsummer.
We still have 4 White Leghorns left from the originals. Those Leghorns are so smart. And the eggs are huge.

You will be happy now.....to pick up your babies.

 

[MollyDora]

that's funny that we keep similar breeds.

Gosh I bet that was terrible with your dog - we got lucky on that end, our dogs are great with the chickens ducks and geese.
We do have 11 big hens up at the barn, 3 of them are 1-2 years and the other 8 are right around 17 weeks (they are 2 Salmon Faverolles, 1 Black Australorp, 3 Barred rock and the rest are easter eggers). Today I found an egg next to the goose enclosure, so I'm sure this was my first egg from either the Australorp or the Barred Rocks since I know that they Faverolles lay in the nestbox and they egg was light brown. YAY!

Since all of our chickens free range during the day I now get to roam the pasture looking for eggs. kind of egg-citing

 

[mg15]

that's funny that we keep similar breeds.

Gosh I bet that was terrible with your dog - we got lucky on that end, our dogs are great with the chickens ducks and geese.
We do have 11 big hens up at the barn, 3 of them are 1-2 years and the other 8 are right around 17 weeks (they are 2 Salmon Faverolles, 1 Black Australorp, 3 Barred rock and the rest are easter eggers). Today I found an egg next to the goose enclosure, so I'm sure this was my first egg from either the Australorp or the Barred Rocks since I know that they Faverolles lay in the nestbox and they egg was light brown. YAY!

Since all of our chickens free range during the day I now get to roam the pasture looking for eggs. kind of egg-citing

I have not had a Brahma.
I do have a Frizzle, Seabright and a Silkie. What is the difference ? Size ?
I would like to have more Easter Eggers. I have 1 EE and she lays light olive green eggs. Maybe 2 or 3 a week. She is a survivor of the mayhem.

I would love to let the girls free range. We do have a Swainsons hawk come by tho now and again.
How do you not fear about the hawks ?
Do your girls come in from free range at nite. ?

Right now the setup here looks like lock up raw.

The 1 left Australorpe has not layed yet, she is 21 weeks old. That sounds so nice, you get to roam the pasture looking for eggs.
We live in the city, sometimes I feel so layed down with the possible neighbor calls, possible poultry police, possible humane society, ugghhhhhhhh.
Wished I lived somewhere it was free to be.

 

[MollyDora]

Brahma's are awesome, they are VERY big! about 9.5lbs for the hens when adult and they have fuzzy feet. We chose those because of their size they are supposed to be good brooders, so maybe they can hatch us some eggs.

I would love to have a Frizzle, they are so cute!
The easter eggers are awesome, our Hawkeye lays us about 4 eggs a week and they are pretty blue, the other EE have not yet started laying.

We see a hawk at times, so far we have no losses. We also have a pair of Pilgrim Geese and they make such a ruckus when the hawk comes close that so far it has changed it's mind everytime about swooping down.

Yes, as soon as it get's dark all the chickens come in on their own and then when we go up to feed the goats, we do a headcount on the chickens and if they are all there we lock them up for the night. We did predator proof our coop so in there they are safe for the night. So far we've only had problems with one hen that wants to roost in the rafters of the barn... it's always a bit difficult to get her out.

we had one hen that is now 2.5 years old, and she just started laying this year spring....maybe she overheard us saying: if she won't start laying, we might just have to butcher her.

I think city and country both have their positives, in the city you don't have to deal with foxes, racoons, skunks, stray dogs.... and such.
I would never move back to the city, we sit on 40 acres and it's so peaceful out here... lots of work, but worth it.