First Flock; First Sick Birds

[linuxusr]

Hello,

Here in the Dominican Republic, when you search for pullets, you take what you can get. I started with 10 pullets, about a month old. Spending a lot of time watching my birds, I could begin to distinguish normal from abnormal behaviour. There were a few who were listless, staying in the same position, eyes half-closed or closed, during the day. I pulled these (5) and quarantined them. They have been in quarantine for about two weeks. Two have died. The remaining three now have normal behavior, excitement around food and generally animated. But they emit a foul odor and have a yellow-brown liquid draining from their eyes. I feed a high protein diet, lots of leafy vegetables, and keep the area clean.

Thus far, vets cannot be trusted here. There may not be any licensing or training. A vet is someone who says they are a vet.

So I have no idea as to diagnosis or treatment and am looking to your experience for possible insights. Meanwhile, I know that sickness is something that has to be dealt with and that this will not be the first time. I have ordered from Amazon three sturdy, metal small dog cages, approximately 18x18x18 cubes. I intend to quarantine individually, each with fresh water and food and newspaper underneath. This reason for this is that I want to be able to observe each bird as an individual, both behavior and symptoms. Maybe that way I can get a clearer picture of symptoms and possible diagnosis. What I have going for me is observation, so I want to optimize that. Depending on how many birds I lose, I will replace with new ones as I want to maintain my flock around 10. Any new pullets will go into quarantine (individual) before introducing to my flock.

Any insights or observations will be appreciated.

 

[azygous]

Observation is the best teacher. You will never stop learning about chickens, no matter how long you have kept them. Stick around on this site and you will also learn from our experiences and observations. Hive mind.

A discharge from the eyes and nares (beak holes) can signal a respiratory disease. An antibiotic is helpful in treating it. But a brown smelly liquid leaking from the beak or nares can also indicate a crop disorder, a full crop backing up out of the beak because of being over-full.

Here's how to determine if you are dealing with a crop disorder. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

You can get antibiotics online. You will need to determine if they will ship to your location. Look for Tylosin soluble powder. Here's one place that sells it. https://www.jedds.com/shop/tylan-soluble-100-g/

For other antibiotics, look for fish meds, namely fish mox, online which is amoxicillin. Pigeon meds also cover antibiotics that you can get without a prescription online.

There are people here ready to help you. Just holler.

 

[azygous]

A word of caution, when keeping chickens quarantined or isolated, you need to supply grit (small gravel) for digestion or your chickens can die.

Another source of illness that can produce the symptoms you describe, especially the listlessness, is coccidiosis. You would need a coccidiostat to treat it. You can buy that online. It's not an antibiotic. It merely block thiamine that the parasites feed on.

Worms could also be an issue. Fenbendazole would be a good general worming med.

 

[linuxusr]

You mention many useful points for consideration. The one I want to follow up on is the use of grit for their gizzards. When I had my first flock as a young boy (1960's, ten Rhode Island Reds, Massachusetts) we had a small barrel of crushed clam shells that we either scattered or mixed with feed. Here in the Dominican Republic I cannot find what I need. When I tell people about it, they act like they don't know what I'm talking about. It could be that for free range chickens you could be ignorant of this necessity and it wouldn't matter because the chickens would find what they need . . . Update: I just discussed this with my wife (Dominicana) and it turns out that in our stairwell we had a sack of what is called "arena" used for masonry work. It seems to be ground from soft sedimentary rock and ranges in size from sand to 1/2 the size of popcorn seeds. I just now sifted a bunch removing the sand and broadcast a bunch in my main coup and in my quarantine area.

Meanwhile, my wife has been very aggressive in the care of my sick ones. Maybe too aggressive, not paying attention to dosage, etc. She rubs on antibiotic ointment on their nares and face, in the eyes, drops in the water, etc. I feed plenty of high protein and green vegetables and clean water. After a few days now they are all active and their eyes are clear and the bad odor has disappeared. This doesn't prove that any of these measures work--difficult to demonstrate causality--it could be that their immune responses cleared the virus/bacteria/parasites.

Tomorrow I pick up my 18x18x18 small dog cages when I will isolate these pullets and keep them separate from each other to avoid cross-infection. Each will have their own water and food. This way I can observe each one for both behavior and symptoms and get a clearer fix on their status. If they continue to be well in a week or so, I will introduce one at a time to my main flock.

Meanwhile, I'm fairly adamant about a rule that I'm going to follow. Any chickens suspected of illness in my main flock will get quarantined. Any new ones I buy to replace the ones that died will also get quarantined for about two weeks.

 

[azygous]

Glad you found the masonry sand. That should work well for grit. Clam shells and oyster shells are calcium carbonate and water soluble, so they don't work as grit. They are good calcium sources, though, and should be offered crushed to laying hens.

You seem to be resourceful and so does your wife. I have no doubt these pullets are in good hands.

 

[linuxusr]

Hello azygous:

This is a follow-up. Plus I need help with a new challenge.

My idea of isolating sick birds in individual cages so as to better observe behavior and symptoms sounds good in theory but doesn't work so cleanly in reality.

The first bird I isolated let out a continual distress call. Releasing stress hormones does not bode well for recuperation, so I put him back with his mates (other sick birds) and he immediately quieted down. Lesson: Chickens are social.

I have four sick ones now, so I have them in cages, two each, and that works better.

Here's where I need help. I introduced a recuperated bird to my flock and an immediate fight ensued, beaks locked and tussling, very aggressive, so I removed that bird.

What to do? How do I introduce a bird that was in quarantine and provokes a fight?

My logic tells me two possibilities:

a. Intoduce the bird and let them fight it out until one submits and a new order is established. In the case of possible injury, I was thinking I could separate with a water pistol!

b. I could introduce the bird in his small quarantine cage and set that cage in my coop. This way there would be protection from physical contact and the possibility of acclimation in time. The problem would come at evening roosting time. That caged bird would probably put out a distress call when his mates roosted and he could not join the flock.

Please advise. Thanks!

 

[azygous]

Some chickens will refuse to eat if they don't have the companionship of another chicken. So as long as you aren't dealing with a contagious disease where it can be passed by a sick chicken with active symptoms, it's better to keep the sick chickens in the flock or provide for a companion as you have thought to do.

If a chicken has only been isolated for a few days, sticking them back with the flock and letting them go through the ritual of re-establishing the social order is the easiest way. Just watch that there isn't a big pile-on where the chicken returning is mobbed and pecked by numerous chickens.

Usually, a returning chicken only will face one chicken that wishes to retain her new rank, and the conflict will be brief while the two decide who will outrank the other. It's unusual for this to last longer than 30 seconds before things are decided. It's not a major thing to come away with a bloody nick to the comb of one or both chickens as they typically grab the comb of the other in this argument. Don't get overly concerned.

A chicken kept isolated for a week or longer may need gradual reintegration. I accomplish this with a safe enclosure where the flock can get reacquainted with the returning chicken while the returning chicken is safe but can get used to being back in the flock without needing to defend themselves. Gradual mingling over a few days with increasing time in the flock as the returning chicken balances their self confidence with the conflict of social pressures is the safest way. It shouldn't take more than a week to accomplish the reintegration.

I always put the returning chicken with the others to roost in the coop at night right off. Chickens seems to recognize that a returning chicken is no threat when everyone is only focused on settling in to sleep for the night. In fact, you can begin by returning the isolated chicken directly to the coop at night so everyone wakes up with the returning chicken, making it seem to them the chicken belongs.

Those are my basics. I fine tune the procedure as needed to accommodate individual quirks of temperament.