Hello all, I'm new here and new to keeping chickens this year. I didn't introduce myself yet because we're having a bit of a crisis. In April of this year, we started with 14 chicks from a few different places - Tractor Supply, Orschlen's, and a private breeder. Around two months ago, we had one of our Speckled Sussex birds turn up sick. She had a mass or tumor on her thigh, that was open and hard to the touch, dry, and not weeping. She developed a couple of other ones and then passed after about a week. This was quite a while ago, at least 6 weeks. Then a couple of weeks later, one of our Barred Plymouth Rocks developed some masses on her face, both sides. We treated her with Vet Rx and Tylan 50 injections, but lost her. Here are some photos of her before we lost her.
Now, our other Speckled Sussex has fallen ill as well. She had diarrhea for several weeks, but she acted okay. We tried electrolyte, probiotics, and yogurt which didn't help the diarrhea. On Saturday morning when I opened the coop, she was sitting on the floor instead of the roost and was unable to walk correctly, when she tried to walk she'd lean forward and almost somersault. We quarantined her inside the house. This morning she was having trouble breathing, so we used Vet Rx and a dose of Tylan 50 orally. Upon closer inspection, she has a mass on the left side of her neck, almost in front of her wing. Here are a couple of pictures.
We're not only concerned with this bird, but are worried about what could be happening to our flock. We took the first Speckled to the vet and her thought was that it was getting picked on, but the additional masses came on when she was quarantined. Does anyone have ideas? Do you know what this might be, or anything we could try to save her and protect the rest of the flock? I understand that if this is a disease, this girl could become well again but will possibly be a carrier of whatever she's come down with. She's still eating and drinking, but breathing in through her mouth. I assume we shouldn't introduce her back into the flock if she does get better, no?
Now, our other Speckled Sussex has fallen ill as well. She had diarrhea for several weeks, but she acted okay. We tried electrolyte, probiotics, and yogurt which didn't help the diarrhea. On Saturday morning when I opened the coop, she was sitting on the floor instead of the roost and was unable to walk correctly, when she tried to walk she'd lean forward and almost somersault. We quarantined her inside the house. This morning she was having trouble breathing, so we used Vet Rx and a dose of Tylan 50 orally. Upon closer inspection, she has a mass on the left side of her neck, almost in front of her wing. Here are a couple of pictures.
We're not only concerned with this bird, but are worried about what could be happening to our flock. We took the first Speckled to the vet and her thought was that it was getting picked on, but the additional masses came on when she was quarantined. Does anyone have ideas? Do you know what this might be, or anything we could try to save her and protect the rest of the flock? I understand that if this is a disease, this girl could become well again but will possibly be a carrier of whatever she's come down with. She's still eating and drinking, but breathing in through her mouth. I assume we shouldn't introduce her back into the flock if she does get better, no?
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