When it rains, it pours. Sorry I am seemingly incapable of a short post. Thanks for reading.
As I have mentioned before, we lost 8 girls a few weeks ago and we were looking to replace them. We bought six 1 year old hens and when we got them home, I noticed one hen was making a growling/gurgling sound that at first just reminded me of the noises they make when they are broody. I put them in the "quarantine" coop, which isn't great and not as quarantined as I would like but they are separated from our remaining four as best they can be on our property. Throughout the day I realized it was much more pronounced and I started to worry. I took a video and contacted the seller and he said basically I'm sure she's fine, give it a few days.
We got them last Sunday, so today is day six. It seemed like the gurgling sound had reduced over the week, she seems fine and eats well and is active, but it is still definitely there. This AM while in the coop, I realized now two of them are making the sound. Now I am starting to really worry.
What should I do? I do NOT want to lose my four girls because I bought six sick hens. Do I wait longer and see? Do I take them all back to the seller? Vet is not an option, nor is medicated feeds and feed-store antibiotics. That sort of thing just isn't available in Sweden (as far as I have checked).
I should add, when I got there, I realized the pictures were definitely a bit misleading. We drove an hour to get there. They had hundreds of chickens (the picture made it seem like a small backyard flock), in a very large area but separated and each group were muddy and stinky. Also, when he got the chicken out for us to put in our crate, I realized that most of them were very plucked from being bullied by other hens. The lost feathers, muddy and stinky really turned me off but the only thing I could bring myself to say (too shy/too cowardly) was to ask why they had so many feathers missing. He said basically oh, they do that to each other. I did check their legs and look for lice and mites and they looked clean in that regard. Driving away I felt like I was taking them to a better place where they could live in a peaceful green place rather than the muddy place filled with bully chickens. I sort of wish I had just said no thanks and gone back empty-handed because I am really worrying I did a really dumb thing bringing them home.
Thanks in advance.
As I have mentioned before, we lost 8 girls a few weeks ago and we were looking to replace them. We bought six 1 year old hens and when we got them home, I noticed one hen was making a growling/gurgling sound that at first just reminded me of the noises they make when they are broody. I put them in the "quarantine" coop, which isn't great and not as quarantined as I would like but they are separated from our remaining four as best they can be on our property. Throughout the day I realized it was much more pronounced and I started to worry. I took a video and contacted the seller and he said basically I'm sure she's fine, give it a few days.
We got them last Sunday, so today is day six. It seemed like the gurgling sound had reduced over the week, she seems fine and eats well and is active, but it is still definitely there. This AM while in the coop, I realized now two of them are making the sound. Now I am starting to really worry.
What should I do? I do NOT want to lose my four girls because I bought six sick hens. Do I wait longer and see? Do I take them all back to the seller? Vet is not an option, nor is medicated feeds and feed-store antibiotics. That sort of thing just isn't available in Sweden (as far as I have checked).
I should add, when I got there, I realized the pictures were definitely a bit misleading. We drove an hour to get there. They had hundreds of chickens (the picture made it seem like a small backyard flock), in a very large area but separated and each group were muddy and stinky. Also, when he got the chicken out for us to put in our crate, I realized that most of them were very plucked from being bullied by other hens. The lost feathers, muddy and stinky really turned me off but the only thing I could bring myself to say (too shy/too cowardly) was to ask why they had so many feathers missing. He said basically oh, they do that to each other. I did check their legs and look for lice and mites and they looked clean in that regard. Driving away I felt like I was taking them to a better place where they could live in a peaceful green place rather than the muddy place filled with bully chickens. I sort of wish I had just said no thanks and gone back empty-handed because I am really worrying I did a really dumb thing bringing them home.
Thanks in advance.
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Otherwise I'd give them radish with some onions and lots of garlic and oregano, that's good for their throat and immune system. You could also put them in a room and get an air diffuser with eykalyptus oil, let them drink herbal tea and give them hard boiled eggs to strengthen them... Seems like the breeder u got them from didn't take good care... Have they been treated for worms and parasites?
). I am looking into deworming but it is only commercially available here. I purchased a few things like Stalosan F and a food-grade DE (never used either before) but am unsure how much they will help.
