California - Northern

[HighNDryFarm]

Congrats on all the happy hatches! For those of you who have had eggs hatched by hens, can you give me some advice? I started a thread here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ice-on-how-to-have-successfull-broody-hatches

I'm having an awful year with broodies.

I'll post on it in the morning. I've got lots of experience with broodies but too tired and on my iPhone tonight.

 

[PetRock]

Have any of you tried using Oxine for mold problems? A few months ago I thought that I might have a chick with a mold/fungus problem and read several threads that talked about fogging with oxine to treat mold in the coop and also inside the bird. I purchased a mist humidifier to treat the chick but it ended up being something other than mold/fungus. I'm wondering if Oxine would work for you, Amy.
http://www.shagbarkbantams.com/oxine.htm
https://www.backyardchickens.com/search.php?search=oxine+humidifier
https://www.backyardchickens.com/search.php?search=oxine+fungus

 

[ronott1]

Hey guys - I know a lot of you on this thread are frequently looking to rehome birds for free. A new section for this in in the BST area. See here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...t-area-animals-in-need-of-free-re-homing/0_50

Great idea!

Ron

 

[ronott1]

Have any of you tried using Oxine for mold problems? A few months ago I thought that I might have a chick with a mold/fungus problem and read several threads that talked about fogging with oxine to treat mold in the coop and also inside the bird. I purchased a mist humidifier to treat the chick but it ended up being something other than mold/fungus. I'm wondering if Oxine would work for you, Amy.
http://www.shagbarkbantams.com/oxine.htm
https://www.backyardchickens.com/search.php?search=oxine+humidifier
https://www.backyardchickens.com/search.php?search=oxine+fungus

I have read posts about oxine too. It might be a good idea to use it to clean runs and coops regularly with it.

Just to add to how common this mold is, Linda Hamid, Megan and now Amy have had problems with it just this year. It is probably more common than we know since many do not send their chickens off for Necropsy. Along with the wet wood or chips in the run, it can get into straw and bad feed.

ron

 

[ronott1]

HI Chiqita,

I see you viewing the thread

How is the sick Silkie today?

Ron

 

[capayvalleychick]

Just to add to how common this mold is, Linda Hamid, Megan and now Amy have had problems with it just this year. It is probably more common than we know since many do not send their chickens off for Necropsy. Along with the wet wood or chips in the run, it can get into straw and bad feed.

Is there something that these three have in common, with their management system? Do they all use misters or the same type of bedding or feed?
I'm not trying to place blame, I'm wondering if we might learn something from this.

 

[zooweemama]

I have read posts about oxine too. It might be a good idea to use it to clean runs and coops regularly with it.

Just to add to how common this mold is, Linda Hamid, Megan and now Amy have had problems with it just this year. It is probably more common than we know since many do not send their chickens off for Necropsy. Along with the wet wood or chips in the run, it can get into straw and bad feed.

ron

That is something I read- that it is extremely common. One of the things I read is that cigarette smoke can damage the airways making that chicken more susceptible to this fungal infection. We had that horrible horrible smoke for weeks that my poor chickens were breathing in. It was so bad I stayed inside as much as I could, my mil didn't even leave her house (other mil lol)...I wonder if the fungus was already present and the little ones that got hit with cocci and recently recovered were already immuno suppressed and then comes the smoke...because now that I think back on it- the other chickens that were ruffled from the cocci back then was a black pullet and black cockerel (both the smaller of the flock at the time) AND Hope who had had cocci SUPER bad (she died a few days ago from this fungal thing making them immuno compromised...then enter in the stupid smoke they were all stuck breathing likely further worsening their immune systems. Smoke clears and I begin to see something wrong with some of my flock and seems to have affected the small ones and Hope that had all had issues with cocci.

All guessing...but it just makes sense. I still need to treat the coop, for sure. But that seems like an order that makes perfect sense. Copper has a slight sneeze. So rooster booster in the water coming up! We want to bring sand into the run. When the rains come part of the run is lower then the outside ground which means water can come in. We need to make the run higher to help keep it dry. I am glad we found this all while it is still hot and dry- not cold and wet! Might have had even more sick ones!

 

[zooweemama]

Is there something that these three have in common, with their management system? Do they all use misters or the same type of bedding or feed?
I'm not trying to place blame, I'm wondering if we might learn something from this.

Pine bedding for me- in the coop it's dry as a bone. The shavings are thin- not a deep litter method yet. Misters are in the run where they spend very little time- they spend 90% of their day outside running around. Flockraiser is fresh, smells fresh. It's replaced every 2 weeks. Ducks have eaten it too and they are MORE sensitive to this mold than even chickens are and my ducks are dandy. So rule out food- especially considering in my necropsy it was all in the lungs and airways and had towards the end made its way to the liver. Meaning it was breathing it in not eating it. So...logically speaking- they spend several hours each night in the coop where the waterers are. It is unlikely it happened outside free ranging and more likely it was in the coop since that is where they sleep.

I am going to treat the coop, lay down PDZ (that stuff is awesome), possibly add some sand, then PDZ again and then fresh pine chips. Bear in mind that I first saw symptoms weeks ago. This was NOT sudden and only a very small portion of my flock was affected. According to allll the sites I read - chickens breathe this stuff in all the time. Only if they are immuno suppressed (breathing in smoke (yes for us), other illness (no), cocci infection (yes) etc, overuse of antibiotics (no), or a sudden overload to inhale/eat- do they generally have an issue. There are 2 kinds- one is sudden and 1 is slower moving...mine was not sudden. So generally speaking your chickens are already breathing this stuff. Manageable levels for a healthy chicken is no issue- all bets are off if your chicken becomes ill/immuno suppressed or there is a sudden overload of the stuff.

I spent almost my whole day yesterday reading site after site after site. I know I went to over a dozen sites, plus articles elsewhere, plus my chicken handbook...I read canada sites, uk sites...LOL.

 

[ronott1]

Quote: Thank you so much for sharing all of this with us!

The smoke was terrible up there this year. Hopefully the fire season will run down now without any more bad fires.

Ron

 

[zooweemama]

Thank you so much for sharing all of this with us!

The smoke was terrible up there this year. Hopefully the fire season will run down now without any more bad fires.

Ron

I could be wrong on some of it- but it honestly makes sense. I know what to look out for in the coop/run now. I know what symptoms look like now. I think I just have to choose to look at this as a chicken lesson. I am not sure that I could have prevented it because- the chickens have a normal coop, normal food, fresh water daily...and the fact that honestly fungal pneumonia was not even ON my radar...like...EVER. I did read that it is especially prevalent for farmers who use hay/straw bedding and DLM. Which makes me extra extra glad that I yanked the hay from the ducks coop weeks ago and moved to pellets. I am considering pellets in the coop itself too. It's working well in the duck coop. It's easier to 'sift' than pine shavings and it absorbs and dries better than the shavings. I don't know. I am just really so glad that it is not a virus and my chickens that are unaffected are truly healthy!

side note: the reason why i say I am not sure i could have prevented it...who is to know that if they had never had cocci and we had never had those horrible fires resulting in massive amounts of daily smoke...that they would have even gotten sick. there just is no way to know for sure. :| so treat and be extra vigilant is what i will do!