Brand New Pullet NQR

[Closing Time]

We picked up 3 new blue australorp pullets this afternoon. I noticed one of them was a little squinty when they placed her in our crate. It was a 40 minute drive home and once I got them set up in our quarantine space, I observed she was off. Little wobbly but not 100%, was eating but almost seemed like she was having trouble finding the pellets. Laid down with her toes curled under her and her respiration just seemed harder than it should, unless she was just beyond stressed. The other two girls settled pretty quickly.

I have a call in to the farm because I’ll take her back at this point if she’s not healthy. I already am dealing with my older BA who experienced a brain trauma or vestibular event (she is still eating like a horse and is stable in her current condition, not walking on her own but hasn’t decompensated).

I was just hoping for some opinions on what others are seeing with this girl. Maybe I am overreacting because I’ve already had 2 medical issues with 4 chickens during our very brief period of ownership. I paid for 3 healthy pullets, and if this one isn’t, I don’t want to add a known problem to the island of misfit toys over here.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/albums/new-pullets.7430510/

ETA: her poop is mostly normal, one of her cecal poops was a bit mucousy. But she also gets down flat on her hocks to poop and looks uncomfortable when she does. I tried syringing some nutridrench directly and she got maybe a few drops.

 

[Eggcessive]

How old is she? You might try some human vitamin B complex tablets and give her 1/4 -1/2 tablet daily into her beak or crushed in a little egg or mushy wet feed. What type of feed is she on? Curled under toes or sitting/walking on hocks can be a sign of riboflavin (B2) deficiency. If she is still squinty, you could rinse her eyes with saline or an eye wash.

 

[Closing Time]

How old is she? You might try some human vitamin B complex tablets and give her 1/4 -1/2 tablet daily into her beak or crushed in a little egg or mushy wet feed. What type of feed is she on? Curled under toes or sitting/walking on hocks can be a sign of riboflavin (B2) deficiency. If she is still squinty, you could rinse her eyes with saline or an eye wash.

When I purchased them 2 weeks ago, she was supposed to be 12-16 weeks. We picked them up today (earliest we could drive out there), so technically she should be at least 14 weeks. I asked for her hatch date and am still waiting for that. The worker who brought her out to me did not know and I can’t find this breed on their online chick calendar that would allow me to exact age them myself. One of the three is much older than the two smaller girls.

She was on grower at the farm. I am feeding Nutrena All Flock 20% protein since that’s what I feed everyone else.

I was suspect of a vitamin deficiency, but the squinty eyes and the loafy stance was throwing me off. I have plenty of vitamin B (since I’ve been dosing my other girl just as a Hail Mary). I can give her some tomorrow too. I have zero problem treating her, animals get sick. It’s part of the deal. But at $60 each, I was hoping for healthy girls. At least the first day…

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Looking at your photos and video, she's not well.

I'd suspect she may have respiratory illness, but hard to know.

If you are going to keep her, I'd flush the sunken and squinty eyes with saline, then put some Terramycin eye ointment in the eyes.
You can try an antibiotic like Tylosin to see if that helps improve the symptoms as well. If she does have respiratory illness, the others have already been exposed.

It's a shame that you are having so many problems.

 

[Closing Time]

Looking at your photos and video, she's not well.

I'd suspect she may have respiratory illness, but hard to know.

If you are going to keep her, I'd flush the sunken and squinty eyes with saline, then put some Terramycin eye ointment in the eyes.
You can try an antibiotic like Tylosin to see if that helps improve the symptoms as well. If she does have respiratory illness, the others have already been exposed.

It's a shame that you are having so many problems.

Thank you. I’m feeling pretty down about all of this right now. We are accidental chicken owners due to a stray that first showed up at our house in September. I’ve come to really enjoy them and this all has been pretty disheartening.

I have a bottle of Tiagard I can treat the group with. I won’t be able to return her until Monday anyway, so will have to start treating tomorrow. I’ll do that and B vitamins for all since the extra won’t hurt the others.

I’ve got their quarantine pen set up inside my horse trailer, and that’s about 150 feet away from my chicken coop with the horse barn in between. I’ve been changing clothes and shoes and washing up in between both, so hopefully this won’t spill over to my existing flock.

Appreciate everyone’s help

 

[Eggcessive]

If you should lose a chicken, or decide to cull and test one, your state vet lab is one of the best values to give you a diagnosis. There are a number of respiratory diseases, and most make carriers of the whole flock for life or at least for months to a year (IB virus.) It is always good to know what might be in your flock, and that way you would know if it was MG, IB, or one of the others. Closing the flock is the best way to deal with a disease, and not to add birds until the last one is gone. I don’t buy chickens from anyone else because of that. Here is a good link for the different labs in CA:
https://cahfs.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/si...media/documents/CAHFS_BYF_Submission_Form.pdf

 

[Closing Time]

If you should lose a chicken, or decide to cull and test one, your state vet lab is one of the best values to give you a diagnosis. There are a number of respiratory diseases, and most make carriers of the whole flock for life or at least for months to a year (IB virus.) It is always good to know what might be in your flock, and that way you would know if it was MG, IB, or one of the others. Closing the flock is the best way to deal with a disease, and not to add birds until the last one is gone. I don’t buy chickens from anyone else because of that. Here is a good link for the different labs in CA:
https://cahfs.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/si...media/documents/CAHFS_BYF_Submission_Form.pdf

Thank you for the information. Now I’m thinking all three should probably just go back and I won’t add new hens this year. I was hoping to get some more girls to increase my rooster to hen ratio but I am feeling like that’s just not going to happen this year. Right now only 2 of my original girls are with him and only one is laying. She’s getting his undivided attention though he is only doing the deed when she invites him.

I got these pullets from the same place I got my other three in October. They raise chicks from NPIP hatcheries and one can typically purchase various age ranges, depending on availability. They do have health guarantees so returning won’t be a problem. Clearly right now, inventory everywhere is challenging. Ordering chicks direct wasn’t feasible since I only wanted 3 and the local farm supply stores do not carry vaccinated chicks. Group ordering isn’t possible as no one I know needs chicks this year. But I also don’t want to introduce something permanent to my flock. That’s what this whole quarantine process is for. Ugh, this sucks.

I’m getting ready to go out and feed everyone and move horses. I’ll do the new girls last so will see how they are within the hour. I’m remembering one of the other pullets did gape her mouth once yesterday, which I took in the moment for a really mild crop adjustment but maybe it was just symptomatic of a URI.

Thanks again.

 

[Closing Time]

Just for educational purposes, sharing health status of the three new pullets today. The one that presented first still has swollen sunken eyes, is sneezing occasionally, but has an appetite. The second smallest is sneezing too but doesn’t appear as ill as the smallest. The larger pullet is not sneezing yet. Everyone has loose stool, but we also did an abrupt feed change.

They got some pellet mash with Duravet Vitamin B complex and they devoured that. Added Tiagard plus apple juice to cut the taste to their water and removed other water sources this morning (I had plain, plus electrolyte/probiotic water to choose from). I don’t have Tylan on hand but am ordering just to add to my medicine cabinet for the future.

The plan is still to return them once I hear back from the farm. Just sharing since the youngest at least is more active today. Hopefully she will be ok and they’ll just add her to their free range stock, separate from their sale stock.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/img_1525-mov.7968119/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/img_1526-mov.7968120/

 

[Closing Time]

@Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive I returned all three pullets earlier today. Absolutely zero issues with the return and they were going to be going through their barns and evaluate existing stock to ensure there wasn't something brewing throughout.

Just wanted to thank you both for your help.

 

[Eggcessive]

I have decided to only buy new chicks from a hatchery or a feed store when they first come in. It can be risky buying chickens from other people. There are just too many diseases, and many remain in the flock for the lives of the flock. Good luck with your chickens.