Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[speckledhen]

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If I can determine that one individual bird has something like pneumonia or a fungal infection, then that is a different situation. As long as it is not something contagious, I have no problem with treating. If contagious, culling, to me, is the only option.

About a week post-fungal infection in one five year old hen that we cured by Oxine misting, she developed a secondary bacterial sinusitis infection--we didn't know what it was, had never seen foam in eyes before here in any of the flocks, were set to cull her, but decided to speak to the state vet first to be sure; he told us that she was not contagious, that she had developed a secondary infection, to treat with Tylan for a couple of days. He was 100% correct and that was the end of it. No one else ever had that issue, just her. He also told us that for her to be that old and healthy, never to have had any respiratory issues by then, that her immune system was excellent and she was resistant to those type bugs, which was something I had never heard before, but quite comforting since most of my flock is up in age now and except for those fungal issues and a couple of cases of situational pneumonia, none have ever had respiratory gunk.

This year has taught us that there are some non-contagious respiratory issues that are 100% treatable in individual birds, however, you must, must, must be able to determine from symptoms along with the surrounding circumstances, that it is something along the lines of pneumonia, etc., and not MG/MS/CRD.

This thread below may be helpful in that determination. It chronicles part of what happened here last summer with the older hens and Isaac.
Fungal Infections Often Mistaken for CRD/MG

 

[fowlman01]

I haven't medicated a bird here for over 30 years. If they appear off in some way they are going to be planted in the garden. Per Fred Jefferies advice I only keep an axe in the medicine cabinet. I have too many birds to deal with sick birds. Unless my birds are over ten years old or get hit by a car they very rarely die or get sick.
Now I understand that there will be disagreements with this policy, but this is what I do.

My expertize is breeding and showing poultry, so my birds have to endure quite a bit more stress along with possible challenges from birds at shows. I can't afford to have wimpy birds. All the wimpy birds died many years ago...most from cocci or mareks. I don't vaccinate either. If I had a different type of poultry operation I might not do it the way I do now, but I'm lazy and this works for me here in Northern CA.

Walt

 

[centrarchid]

Fred's Hens :

Quote:
99% of the time, our hens lay in complete silence. It's just business-like. I think new chicken keepers are rather predisposed to think that hens make the call when they lay with regularity, when actually, a settled, secure flock of hens really don't.

My birds in free-range setting consistently go through sequence of sound production associated with production of each egg. "Egg song" proceedes as hen approaches site and "squawk" is produced either as hen leaves nest or some distance away from nest. Hens silent while on nest. Hens confined to breeding pens are less consistent and are not settled.​

 

[speckledhen]

Quote:
I sure agree with you, Walt. If I was a breeder with hundreds of birds, you bet that's the way it would be. I still won't treat respiratory contagions. That's completely bad husbandry. No one has died from cocci, never had Mareks here, don't vaccinate for anything and don't plan to do so. Never had MG/MS/CRD, at least so far, and try to keep it from happening as best we can.

 

[Gerry2011]

In the 70s I had a mixed flock of chickens...RIR, BO, BR, EEs, games, etc. and I always knew when an egg had been laid. Some of the hens would carry for about 15 minutes afterwards. Now I have rsl, bsl, Indian Rivers (Delaware x NH) and a lav and a blk. am hens. One of the bsl starts carrying on about 30 minutes BEFORE

she lays and then about the same length of time afterwards.......she even leaves the coop and carries on out in the pasture

The blk. am does a raspy awrk, arwk sound briefly. Some others "sing" and others just do it and go on about their business.

I meant to say I have just read this entire thread.....don't know which hurts worse...my backside or my poor strained eyes, but it has been worth it. Love hearing what others have to say. Thanks so much Bee for starting this.

 

[MedChicken]

Thanks so much for the advice on the sneezing bird. No one is showing any other signs of being unwell, including my mystery sneezer - I still can't even figure out which one of the six it is! Everyone is flitting around the chick coop, eating, drinking, etc. All are alert and have clear eyes with no nasal or ocular discharge, inflammation, deformity or signs of discomfort. For now I figure that, with no other signs of illness, I will continue watching and wait to introduce the chicks to the main flock until I have a better idea of what is going on.

Naturally I will not breed a bird with a chronic sneeze but if, in a few more weeks, there are still no other sings of illness, I will probably chalk it up to malformed nasal passages and leave it be. If any further signs of infection appear, the chick will probably be destined for the compost heap. I'm worried that, once I start the cycle of treating an infected bird, it is likely to turn into a big mess.

I'm glad to hear that others have seen birds with a chronic sneeze - I was really confused by the lack of other symptoms with the sneezing!

 

[Ridgerunner]

On the egg song, some of mine sing it and some don't. I tend to think it is a way for a hen to find the rest of the flock if they are not around when she gets off the nest. What usually happens with mine is the hen comes off the nest and she sings. Ther rooster comes running, mates with her, and they then join the flock. If the flock is handy, she probably does not sing at all.

I'm not saying it is always this way each and every time, but it is reasonably consistent.

 

[CheekyMare]

So glad this thread is still going.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Quote:
Yup. That is the way I view it as well. Some do, some don't. If the entire flock is still in the "room" with the laying hen, it's all pretty much matter-of-fact around here. The "Hey, where is everybody?" call is much more common.

Some hens, it seems, are confident to go looking for their flock mates, while others seem absolutely stunned to find themselves alone. I don't know.

 

[Daisy8s]

I'm a newbie to chicken ownership so here is a thought regarding culling for any other newbies who cannot face this job.

We happen to know a number of Malaysian refugees through our church. When it was time for me to cull three non-layers I simply gifted the hens to a family with a lot of kids. I knew the hens would be dispatched expertly and quickly by people who did this as a way of life to eat; and, I felt good that the chickens were put to use even when they were no longer useful to me as layers.

Of course I should be able to kill my own chickens but...I wimped out. And, if any others are wimpy like me perhaps this idea of gifting your hens to someone who will appreciate the free dinner works for you.