- Aug 24, 2012
- 2
- 0
- 7
I have a small backyard flock of 8 chickens (1 rooster, 7 hens) and one of my hens has started wheezing and gasping for air. She also sneezes occasionally. I am very concerned for her and my other chickens.
I have been reading about Chronic Respiratory Disease and other sicknesses that can affect chickens and I am upset that she may have one.
It is kind of a long story about how I acquired my chickens but long story short, the rooster and one hen are like pets to my family as we have been raising them since they were a few days old. they are about 6 months old now. The other 6 hens are more just egg-layers for us. They are about 1 year old and we got them about 2 months ago. They all free-range together during the day but the hen and the rooster have a separate coop from the hens.
I have a couple of questions about this situation.
- The vet gave me tetracycline to treat the infection and recommended that i give it to the entire flock. This makes me very uneasy because I am concerned that this antibiotic is not supposed to be given to laying hens. I feed my 2 year old eggs from the hens daily and I would hate for there to be any form of residue or anything, even after the withdrawal period. I would be too paranoid to feed her the eggs after that form of treatment. What would the best treatment be for the chickens? Are there any natural remedies I could try?
- Do you think that the rooster and hen have been infected even though they are not in the coop with the other hens? How could i find out?
- This has all come on so suddenly, although I have heard a sneeze or two when we first brought the hens home. I recently started adding diatomaceous earth in their food and around where they hangout because of flies. Could that be irritating the hen's respiratory system?
Thanks for any help or advice you can give!
I have been reading about Chronic Respiratory Disease and other sicknesses that can affect chickens and I am upset that she may have one.
It is kind of a long story about how I acquired my chickens but long story short, the rooster and one hen are like pets to my family as we have been raising them since they were a few days old. they are about 6 months old now. The other 6 hens are more just egg-layers for us. They are about 1 year old and we got them about 2 months ago. They all free-range together during the day but the hen and the rooster have a separate coop from the hens.
I have a couple of questions about this situation.
- The vet gave me tetracycline to treat the infection and recommended that i give it to the entire flock. This makes me very uneasy because I am concerned that this antibiotic is not supposed to be given to laying hens. I feed my 2 year old eggs from the hens daily and I would hate for there to be any form of residue or anything, even after the withdrawal period. I would be too paranoid to feed her the eggs after that form of treatment. What would the best treatment be for the chickens? Are there any natural remedies I could try?
- Do you think that the rooster and hen have been infected even though they are not in the coop with the other hens? How could i find out?
- This has all come on so suddenly, although I have heard a sneeze or two when we first brought the hens home. I recently started adding diatomaceous earth in their food and around where they hangout because of flies. Could that be irritating the hen's respiratory system?
Thanks for any help or advice you can give!
