Entire flock Sick - I FEEL HOPELESS!!! Swollen Faces - Yellow patches - Lethargy

[NanaK]

Here is a thread from 2013 with photos and information that may be helpful.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/roosters-comb-is-sick.817109/

 

[MaggieRose2001]

No respiratory symptoms? Sneezing, coughing, drainage,trouble breathing?

No - not at all.

 

[MaggieRose2001]

I was going to suggest Avian flu with the swelling of face

I don’t like the sounds of that. doesn’t the flu come with respiratory problems?

 

[MaggieRose2001]

Can you take one of them to an avian veterinarian? Whatever the most affected chicken has, the rest probably have it.

Are you sure there are no environmental factors contributing to this? Could they have eaten something they shouldn't or been exposed to a neurotoxin? What was the chemical exposures in the barn and surrounding ground/earth prior to your occupancy? Could any of this be a result of contaminated forage, i.e. something that got into the ground and then into the plants or insects the chickens are eating? Since it was sudden onset to the whole flock a month after moving in, something in the environment should be considered, IMO.

It could totally be a disease or disease vector, parasites, etc, like other posters have suggested/asked about, but since no one has brought up environmental exposures and you don't know the history of the barn or surrounding area, I thought I'd better.

I never considered that. From what I know it was just a family living here and they had animals. But they didn’t do well and gave up and sold the farm. I don’t know about chemicals - I do know I found evidence of the previous owners burning plastic so I know they weren’t environmentally friendly.

How would check their environment?

 

[MaggieRose2001]

So sorry! That's terrible & even worse when you can't figure out a reason or cause. I'd say get to an avian vet with poultry experience, not just a parrot vet, but I know that's easier said than done. I have no vets that can help me with poultry, so I have to scour this site and the web looking for info whenever I need help.

I've had 1 Rooster with similar symptoms, swollen head, something going on with his comb, lethargic, etc. but...know that many illnesses mimic eachother & share symptoms. In my case, not one of my other chickens or roosters have had it.

I didn't know whether it was bacterial, exposure to some chemical the previous owner used or fungal. I still don't know exactly what it was!

I treated my boy for mites, bacterial & fungal, both oral meds & topical creams. I figured these remedies cant hurt him, so might as well try. I also separated him from the others, set him up in a large cage. I added vitamins to his diet, grinding up the vitamins & rolling live mealworms in it. It took 6 months of TLC but he did recover.

At one point I thought it was over for him, he lost weight & could barely stand up, & when I took him outside he walked like he was drunk. I increased his vitamin D & moved his enclosure to allow for more sunshine, as well as shade. That winter he was in a climate controlled area, no colder than 50 degrees.

Antibiotics that address bacterial may or may not help. I was limited to what I could get...penicillin, doxycycline, metronidazole or enrofloxin. So I tried each, not all at the same time. Then probiotics after each treatment.

His comb looked really bad for a few months, I tried every remedy I could find. The best seemed to be topically applied, & I rotated these, cleaning 1st, then applying.

I don't know if this will help you, but I hope you find out what is going on. If there's a place you could take stool sample or have them get a blood sample, it may give info to lead you in the right direction. Best of luck!View attachment 3224319View attachment 3224317View attachment 3224316View attachment 3224297View attachment 3224318

Thank you so much. I’ll give those a try. I live 1 1/2 hrs from the nearest town and I haven’t been able to find a vet for my goats let alone chickens. I’m afraid I’m on my own.

 

[MaggieRose2001]

You have another post mentioning a limping bird. If the one who is on death's door passes please think about refrigeratoring the body and getting it to your state lab (you can overnight the body in the mail) for a necropsy.



https://extension.umaine.edu/veterinarylab/tests-pricing/

Thank you. I’ll probably do that. I was thinking of trying to do it myself - but I don’t know how. I have been able to better look at that bird (Clementine). She has a very swollen belly. I thought maybe egg bound but I don’t think so - I treated for that and no egg also I think she would have died by now - it’s been a week. So then I thought water belly, but when I tried to drain it there was nothing but air. I also found a hard lump upon further inspection. So I think maybe a tumor? Anyway - since I can’t figure out what’s wrong and she is clearly suffering. I am going to put her down today. I will definitely look into mailing her. Thank you.

 

[Kiki]

Thank you. I’ll probably do that. I was thinking of trying to do it myself - but I don’t know how. I have been able to better look at that bird (Clementine). She has a very swollen belly. I thought maybe egg bound but I don’t think so - I treated for that and no egg also I think she would have died by now - it’s been a week. So then I thought water belly, but when I tried to drain it there was nothing but air. I also found a hard lump upon further inspection. So I think maybe a tumor? Anyway - since I can’t figure out what’s wrong and she is clearly suffering. I am going to put her down today. I will definitely look into mailing her. Thank you.

Did you ever end up changing how you feed your flock?
Sounds like a necropsy will well be worth the money spent.
This one bird is probably laying internally by the sound of her belly. That can be caused by overweightness alone. Which is caused by the way you were feeding.

Marek's disease is a possibility too.


Get a necropsy. It takes all the guessing and what ifs off the table.

 

[FunClucks]

I never considered that. From what I know it was just a family living here and they had animals. But they didn’t do well and gave up and sold the farm. I don’t know about chemicals - I do know I found evidence of the previous owners burning plastic so I know they weren’t environmentally friendly.

How would check their environment?

I don't know, I haven't had to do it myself. But some combination of soil testing and forage testing should give you clues. If you have a county extension office, or a state dept of agriculture, they may be able to point you in the right direction. You'd be looking for soil testing and foliage testing for agricultural chemical or other chemical exposure, I'd think. I know it can be done - I am regularly around an environmental cleanup site that was heavily polluted. You'd never know it to look at the vegetation and animals and soil, which look perfectly fine, but they and the groundwater are all heavily loaded up on heavy metals and toxic compounds. It's a very bad idea to eat a number of animals/shellfish/fish in this area, or to disturb the fields they are trying to test/reclaim, or to dig anywhere without permission. I don't even eat the wild berries.

Sorry your chickens are ill. Hope you figure it out!!!

 

[Sydney65]

I never considered that. From what I know it was just a family living here and they had animals. But they didn’t do well and gave up and sold the farm. I don’t know about chemicals - I do know I found evidence of the previous owners burning plastic so I know they weren’t environmentally friendly.

How would check their environment?

The guy who started this site has a book called "chicken health for dummies"
In the section Recognizing Sources of Poisonings in Your Backyard, he points out Botulism, from contaminated food/water,pointing out that chickens are most frequently poisoned by eating dead flock mates or the fly larvae that have been feasting carcasses. It's commonly found in soil, thrives in warm, wet environments w/rotting vegetation, spoiled food, or decomposing carcasses. It's the most potent toxin known; only tiny doses are needed to paralyze the nervous system and kill an affected bird. Sick chickens will usually be sitting on the ground, hunched over, unable to stand or hold their heads up. It causes floppy paralysis of the legs, wings, and neck, Chickens are often found dead, with no signs of a struggle.
I quit stocking up on bags of food after I had a bag of startena go rancid INSIDE.
Household poisons, special mention re stuff used for lice & mites, only use products labeled for use on chickens follow label directions precisely.
Insecticides, rat poison, antifreeze, fertilizer, and mothballs can poison poultry.
shotgun pellets, fishing weights, batteries, paint chips, and contaminated dirt. Lead poisoning in poultry is a human health concern, because significant amounts of lead can be found in the meat and eggs of lead-exposed chickens. Chickens suffering from lead poisoning become thin and weak and may have nervous system signs, such as lack of coordination, limping, or paralysis. A veterinarian or diagnostic laboratory can diagnose lead poisoning by taking a blood test or by measuring lead in organ tissue.remove loose metal objects and sources of peeling paint. The foundations of old buildings aren’t good foraging ground for chickens, because lead paint scrapings accumulated over the years may have contaminated the soil.
mycotoxin is a toxic substance produced naturally by a fungus (mold). Some fungi like to grow on grain and other feed ingredients but may not be visible as obvious mold growth. Scientists have discovered hundreds of mycotoxins, and many of them make chickens sick when they eat contaminated grains or processed feed. You can notice a wide range of signs in poultry poisoned by mycotoxins, including decreased appetite and egg production, poor growth and feathering, and crusty sores on the skin, beak, toes, or inside of the mouth. Mycotoxins can also cause sudden death of poultry. Diagnosing mycotoxin poisoning is a challenge because the signs mimic so many other diseases, and because only specialized laboratories perform testing for mycotoxins in feed. You may suspect mycotoxin poisoning when you notice that an onset of a problem coincides with feeding a new batch or type of feed. Store feed for no more than 2 months,avoid moldy food, periodixally scrub feeders.
Don’t use shatterproof versions of heat-lamp bulbs to keep chickens warm. PTFE coating on the bulb is what makes it shatterproof. Chicks have died from exposure to gas emitted by this bulb.

 

[MaggieRose2001]

Did you ever end up changing how you feed your flock?
Sounds like a necropsy will well be worth the money spent.
This one bird is probably laying internally by the sound of her belly. That can be caused by overweightness alone. Which is caused by the way you were feeding.

Marek's disease is a possibility too.


Get a necropsy. It takes all the guessing and what ifs off the table.

I did change how I was feeding them. I actually was only feeding store bought pellets for the past few months. I had new chicks I introduced to the flock, so I went to feeding everyone organic feed from the store in order to make sure the growing chicks were getting the right nutrition. I put calcium out as always since it was a mixed flock of some laying hens, some new chicks and some roosters. The problem is that I switched brands and didn’t know the new brand had two different starter/ grower feeds. My old brand had just one feed that you started them on and you kept them on that. This new feed ended up being 22% protein and my older hens were eating it exclusively. I think it probably did damage. My husband didn’t want to send in the chicken - so he cut her open himself. She wasn’t egg bound, nor did she have a tumor or anything. She was extremely fat - like the size of your hand fat deposits. I don’t know if that was from the high protein feed and I don’t know if that is what was causing the problem. I wish we could have mailed her in - but hubby gets to make those calls.