First time post! Help! Rattled Beathing!

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Libby1369

Libby1369

Hatching
May 29, 2015
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First off thank you all of your help! I have already learned a lot over the past few months! We always had chickens growing up but this is my first time as an adult to have my own and it's been 15 years since I've lived at home. Needed a lot of refreshing!
So here is my problem. I have both layers and Cornish cross. So far they have all been very healthy. I have butchered all but 3 of the cross. They are maybe 12ish weeks. I was VERY careful when feeding them to slow their growth enough to not have as many issues as recommended by the chicken farmer who talked me into them (I thought I would never be able to butcher). Today I was in the coop planting a treat bed and everyone seemed fine. They put themselves to bed and I packed up. As I was finishing I heard a very strange noise. I went inside to discover the cross hens with a very rattled breathing pattern. They are asleep on each other in a pile (they never have roosted) so I can't tell if it's two or all three but I think it's 3. They have all of there color for now. What is it!? Has this been going on only while they sleep? How could they spontaneously get it with the same intensity in the same hour? Is it chf? Do I butcher? Is it a respiratory infection? Do I treat it? I have pen g on hand jic, had an incident with the dogs when we first brought them home. If it is respiratory should I just butcher them? Can I eat them? We have brought home new chicks. They stayed in the house for a week. Then they went outside, it's warmer lol! They are in the same area but are separated. It is just a few so they have a large dog house with a large dog cage wrapped in chicken wire. They all appear healthy. Could they have gotten them sick? And what about my girls? Do I need to do anything with the healthy appearing layers? As far as cleanliness goes, they have a clean area. The meat chickens were over whelming w the poo factory issue but obviously that issue is better than ever. Also it's the first time this summer it has been dry for two weeks. In other words, if they were going to be sick, I would have expected it during the monsoon season.
Thank you in advance for your suggestions!!!
 
Libby1369 said:
First off thank you all of your help! I have already learned a lot over the past few months! We always had chickens growing up but this is my first time as an adult to have my own and it's been 15 years since I've lived at home. Needed a lot of refreshing!
So here is my problem. I have both layers and Cornish cross. So far they have all been very healthy. I have butchered all but 3 of the cross. They are maybe 12ish weeks. I was VERY careful when feeding them to slow their growth enough to not have as many issues as recommended by the chicken farmer who talked me into them (I thought I would never be able to butcher). Today I was in the coop planting a treat bed and everyone seemed fine. They put themselves to bed and I packed up. As I was finishing I heard a very strange noise. I went inside to discover the cross hens with a very rattled breathing pattern. They are asleep on each other in a pile (they never have roosted) so I can't tell if it's two or all three but I think it's 3. They have all of there color for now. What is it!? Has this been going on only while they sleep? How could they spontaneously get it with the same intensity in the same hour? Is it chf? Do I butcher? Is it a respiratory infection? Do I treat it? I have pen g on hand jic, had an incident with the dogs when we first brought them home. If it is respiratory should I just butcher them? Can I eat them? We have brought home new chicks. They stayed in the house for a week. Then they went outside, it's warmer lol! They are in the same area but are separated. It is just a few so they have a large dog house with a large dog cage wrapped in chicken wire. They all appear healthy. Could they have gotten them sick? And what about my girls? Do I need to do anything with the healthy appearing layers? As far as cleanliness goes, they have a clean area. The meat chickens were over whelming w the poo factory issue but obviously that issue is better than ever. Also it's the first time this summer it has been dry for two weeks. In other words, if they were going to be sick, I would have expected it during the monsoon season.
Thank you in advance for your suggestions!!!
Click to expand...
My dear cornish cross chickens are breed for meat and should be butchered at 8 weeks. Cornish crosses will develop all sorts of health ailments as they were bred to gain weight super fast, there bodies cant support their weight.

hmm.png
 
Their explosive growth puts a major strain on their organs - they will either have their legs give out or have a heart attack first.
 
Ok, well. I understand that. But they are the last to be butchered for a reason. They were not up to size. Like I said, I carefully fed them so that they would grow at a healthy, sustainable rate (until a certain point) their counter parts were at least another 5lbs, also healthy. No leg problems, healthy hearts. Trust me, I know hearts. And animals. These girls were running around and playing on their swing today. Not gracefully of course. If I had to compare my chickens to my dogs, they are the pugs of the family. I guess I should have said, can I eat them w a respiratory infection, or should I give them antibiotics first? Most logical explanation is that their stature made them prone to an infection that the others are able to fight off for now. The new chicks came from a questionable source. Good intentions but was continuously introducing birds from other places and keeping the chicks in moldy conditions. The cross are more hunger driven and may have poked their heads into eat the grass that the young chicks had access to. They would eat it just so the others couldn't.
 

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