I currently have a flock of 26 birds, two of which unexpectedly dropped dead in the past week. The first was an ameraucana hen, 1 year old. She had a slightly bluish comb, but I assumed it was due to being out in the snow and getting frostbite. The second one which died sometime last night was a Sicillian Buttercup hen who was 5 years old. She has no symptoms and seemed healthy when I checked on her last.
The problem may have started two weeks ago when I noticed one RIR hen, (4 years old) who had a runny nose and was slightly rattling. I isolated her, and she was treated for pneumonia by a vet. But then, one week into the RIR's treatment, a 5 year old Buttercup rooster had a lot of smelly nasal discharge and had lost a lot of weight. After a short course of antibiotics, he developed a thrush infection, which we are now treating.
However, since about a week ago, a noticed quite a few of the birds had runny noses, but seemed otherwise healthy. No one was gasping, sneezing excessively, or having odd poo.
I thought it may have been the new bedding we are using for the winter; marsh hay and pine shavings. We always use pine shavings, but we decided to use marsh hay for the winter to help them keep a bit warmer. I thought the chicken may be having some sort of allergic reaction, and I left it at that.
But today, as I mentioned, another chicken dropped dead suddenly, and now my 7 year old polish roo, 4 year old turken hen, and a bunch of others have a lot of smelly nasal discharge. Some chickens have clear, non-smelly discharge, but most of them have it in some form. Plus, my beloved turken hen is shivering and hunkering down. I'm afraid she'll drop dead next, and I'm beside myself with fear.
I need to find out what is going around, and how to stop it. If anyone has any idea of what sort of sickness my birds have, I'd be so grateful.
*Update*
It's Coryza. Please see my post on the second page for additional info.
The problem may have started two weeks ago when I noticed one RIR hen, (4 years old) who had a runny nose and was slightly rattling. I isolated her, and she was treated for pneumonia by a vet. But then, one week into the RIR's treatment, a 5 year old Buttercup rooster had a lot of smelly nasal discharge and had lost a lot of weight. After a short course of antibiotics, he developed a thrush infection, which we are now treating.
However, since about a week ago, a noticed quite a few of the birds had runny noses, but seemed otherwise healthy. No one was gasping, sneezing excessively, or having odd poo.
I thought it may have been the new bedding we are using for the winter; marsh hay and pine shavings. We always use pine shavings, but we decided to use marsh hay for the winter to help them keep a bit warmer. I thought the chicken may be having some sort of allergic reaction, and I left it at that.
But today, as I mentioned, another chicken dropped dead suddenly, and now my 7 year old polish roo, 4 year old turken hen, and a bunch of others have a lot of smelly nasal discharge. Some chickens have clear, non-smelly discharge, but most of them have it in some form. Plus, my beloved turken hen is shivering and hunkering down. I'm afraid she'll drop dead next, and I'm beside myself with fear.
I need to find out what is going around, and how to stop it. If anyone has any idea of what sort of sickness my birds have, I'd be so grateful.
*Update*
It's Coryza. Please see my post on the second page for additional info.
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