Chickens not walking, some have respiratory issues. What's going on?

[Lyris]

Can you post pictures of the comb, and of the bird with it?
A vet is never a bad idea, if you have one that see's chickens and can handle the cost.

She's been in a hospital cage all day and not free ranging with the other hens. I just had her out for a minute for the videos. Her butt is gross, but it's been that way since she was a chick. Her and a few other hens insist that the only way to sleep is on the ground. She usually pulls it off, but where she's hurt it's gotten gross. She's going into the bath tonight.

 

[Lyris]

I'm now up to a confirmed third chicken developing the limp. My rooster has been holding his leg up for two days like a flamingo. Tonight he had a noticable limp. I've been on the phone all day trying to hunt down a vet that can see them before next month. I'm not sure what's going on with them. They seem to recover okay after a few days, eye infection aside.

 

[Barnette]

I'm now up to a confirmed third chicken developing the limp. My rooster has been holding his leg up for two days like a flamingo. Tonight he had a noticable limp. I've been on the phone all day trying to hunt down a vet that can see them before next month. I'm not sure what's going on with them. They seem to recover okay after a few days, eye infection aside.

This is hard. You're doing the right things. Stay calm and think it through, don't rush and stress yourself out!!

 

[Lyris]

This is hard. You're doing the right things. Stay calm and think it through, don't rush and stress yourself out!!

Thanks, it's hard to feel like I'm doing right when they've had so many issues! I think another hen is starting to limp. A friend suggested that maybe it's a food issue. While I wait for the vet offices to open I'm going to pick up some different food for them. We also got hit by a heat wave which they're struggling to cope with. I've been trying my best to keep the shed they sleep in cool, but they still pant for a bit at night. The RIR and Brahma are the ones struggling the most with the heat, and they aren't showing signs of illness. I have a list of vet offices I can try to call today. There's ONE that confirmed they take chickens, but they're an emergency vet so it could be an all day wait, plus super expensive. It's also nearly two hours away.

I think a third hen is limping now. It's weird - it's all on their right side. Penelope is recovering, slowly. She's very thirsty all the time so I just make sure she has several dishes of water in her hospital cage.

I now have a separate issue. My rooster is feeling very Manly. His bonded hen won't come out of the coop because she doesn't want to deal with him. He's now going after my other hens which is causing fights. I have no idea why he's so cranky. He's been fine for months. He's isolated for now until I figure out what's going on. That way I can monitor his limp. He is a tiny bantam and he keeps trying to go after my brahma. Him and his bonded hen got into a literal fight over his attitude. She usually loves him.


When it rains it pours. They have all been healthy for almost a year! Between them and my cats I'm into the vet almost every day. (Cats have also been healthy. For ten years. One just needed emergency surgery to remove nine teeth despite getting dental cleanings regularly, and the other cat had an issue with her ever failing liver/kidneys and needed fluids)

 

[NaturalWitchery]

The ones I suspect developed it first are only a few months old. I'm pretty sure it started with one of the larger chicks in the brooder. They would stick their head under the heating plate so their head was on the ground. I suspect that's what caused it, and then it spread. Those chicks came from a breeder who was very concerned about an illness in case it came from their flock. I wonder if that's what caused the partial blindness sometimes. The chick is now as tall as my full grown hens (but not as thick yet) so they've had it for quite a while. The other hens are over a year old and are all laying eggs. My rooster is maybe a few months to a year? He came from a chicken show (it was more a rescue than an adoption) I isolated him and his hen from my chickens for two weeks. It was only when they were introduced that they developed symptoms. I don't know their vaccination status. The hens were a rescue from a neglectful situation, and I didn't ask the breeders about the birds. I assume my previously healthy flock came from IFA/cal ranch.





Oh dear, that sounds bad. Can their offspring carry it as well? Should I not let them hatch babies? It's just started to get really hot here - that's when the symptoms started showing up. I would have thought it would have started with the hens who slept higher up in the coop. It would be much hotter up there. Assuming my flock is infected, does that mean I should wash my hands before handling a healthy flock? I'll see if I can find someone for testing. They don't have to kill it to find out, right?

I would never breed any stock that isn't in rip rope shape. The prospect of hatching anything into an unwell environment can be a recipe for disaster as well.
I bred Orpingtons foe years and problems tgat started in the brooder tend to remain. I never bred any bird that wasn't completely well.
I hope you figure it out. Tylin works great, if you can still get it.

 

[NaturalWitchery]

I would never breed any stock that isn't in rip rope shape. The prospect of hatching anything into an unwell environment can be a recipe for disaster as well.
I bred Orpingtons foe years and problems tgat started in the brooder tend to remain. I never bred any bird that wasn't completely well.
I hope you figure it out. Tylin works great, if you can still get it.

Whoops, typo Tylosin is the antibiotic.

 

[Lyris]

I would never breed any stock that isn't in rip rope shape. The prospect of hatching anything into an unwell environment can be a recipe for disaster as well.
I bred Orpingtons foe years and problems tgat started in the brooder tend to remain. I never bred any bird that wasn't completely well.
I hope you figure it out. Tylin works great, if you can still get it.

I don't really want them to breed, but it would be less of a hassle to let them hatch eggs than try to break them. The meanest hen of the bunch decided to go broody yesterday, and I have claw marks from both her and her rooster from trying to break her. Ow.

I finally decided to make an appointment with the one vet who sees chickens that has an opening. I've never had a good experience with them, and my usual vets discourage people from going to them, but desperate times and all that. They have an opening tomorrow. Unfortunately it's during the time that my cat has an appointment to get some stitches out of his mouth. I rescheduled the cat in exchange for the chickens. Fingers crossed for answers. Penelope's comb was very blue this morning. It starts out blue, then goes back to a normal color after she moves around a bit.

 

[Lyris]

After two hours at the vet, they charged me nearly a thousand dollars for two X-rays and a blood test and then went "idk we can try antibiotics and hope it works. " So I guess I'm back to figuring it out on my own. They charged me more for the tests than my cat had for his entire dental appointment, and that included blood work, putting him to sleep, and removing nine teeth.

 

[Barnette]

After two hours at the vet, they charged me nearly a thousand dollars for two X-rays and a blood test and then went "idk we can try antibiotics and hope it works. " So I guess I'm back to figuring it out on my own. They charged me more for the tests than my cat had for his entire dental appointment, and that included blood work, putting him to sleep, and removing nine teeth.

Ugh, sucks that they charged you so much. NOT FAIR!!!

 

[Lyris]

Ugh, sucks that they charged you so much. NOT FAIR!!!

I have no idea how much it would typically cost for a chicken, but I'm not happy. I knew they overcharged, but that seems excessive. The vet barely looked at her or spoke. He felt for her being egg bound, glanced at her eye, and declared he needed all the tests without explaining what they did. I had to Google to figure out why they needed them. They're in such a hurry that they have zero bedside manner. I had a bad feeling about them from the start. I should have left when three people in the waiting room complained about the prices and attitudes. I'm legit almost crying about it. That and the whole "this might not give us all the information we need and we will have to run more tests." Supposedly they can treat my entire flock, but he only vaguely mentioned antibiotics ("we can try some antibiotics if we have to but they may not work since we don't know what we're looking for") so idk. I can't afford all these vet fees!