Help Help Help!!!!

[Help the hens]

Please HELP!!!! I had 31 chickens and towards the end of December 1 got sick and it is like some yellow stuff that smells horrible!! I also noticed that my hen who had this had scabs on the beak the hen is currently sick but did not die yet but she got the others sick and 3 died already but today while I came to go check on another chicken that got sick I noticed that she was not breathing well and i did not know what to do I watched helpless her suffocating to death and I cannot get over that sad moment as I watched in desperateness she died and I felt so bad and sad But I checked and opened her mouth in her wind pipe there was a yellowish like smelly gunk that I think choked her HELP ME WHAT IS THIS Disease as I said it is yellow gunk. I still cant get over as my hen starred at me in the eyes helpless I started to shed some tears. :'( Please what do I buy for this Please I beg you. thanks for reading bless you all

 

[LittlePip21]

I'm so sorry for your loss I have had a similar experience as well, and I understand the feeling of helplessness as your birds die in your arms. Can you give me more details? What do their abdomens feel like? Are they abnormal in any way? How were they sick? Did they puke up gunk? What did the droppings look like? Are the scabs recent or are they from something else? Also, did they convulse, go limp, or stiffen at death? Sorry to have to ask all this, but it might rule things out.

 

[Help the hens]

Thank you for your kindness Um their abdomens feel normal, droppings are as usual but the gunk is like yellowish cheese-like growth from the mouth and sometimes ends up on their beak smelling like something died the scabs were not their before though and what is weird is that if I try to get the yellow gunk out It starts to bleed so I don't do that no more please help if any remedies work I appreciate it but for the hen that died today her crop was empty and she was in the corner all weak and gasping for air please do you have a diagnosis?

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC - sorry that it is not under happier circumstances that you join us. I would strongly advise posting on the ER forum - https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/threads/add/forumId/10
and try to include photos of the head / beak / mouth area. Whilst awaiting responses there, you may wish to search "wet fowl pox" so you can compare photos with your birds.

Good luck
CT

 

[Help the hens]

Thank you ill try it

 

[drumstick diva]

sounds like a fungal(yeast) problem. I have a feeling I have read about this before but, my mind is very slow at retrieving info.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi

I'm so very sorry for your losses.
Yellow cheesy gunk is the chicken equivalent of puss which will of course smell bad because it is an infection. Whilst I can't say what the underlying cause may be, the infection will need treatment with antibiotics. Here in the UK that would mean a trip to the vets, but you haven't included your location in your profile, so I don't know what the situation is where you live. Location will also have a bearing on whether wet pox is a possible cause, since you wouldn't get that at this time of year in a cold climate.

Once you have a series of deaths like this, I think it's time to seek professional help, even if it is just to perform a necropsy on your most recently dead bird so that you know what you are dealing with. Place her in a plastic bag and refrigerate until you can find an address for your local lab. Some state facilities do them for free, others make a charge. There is a list somewhere on BYC of laboratories in the USA that do necropsies on chickens, but again that may not be applicable to you, depending on your location. I'm not generally one to suggest people seek veterinary assistance for their chickens, but I think in this case where your flock is being struck down by it, it's time to bite the bullet and speak to a vet

I'm sorry I can't be of more help but other than recognising your description as being puss, I'm not familiar with a respiratory disease that causes this although I wonder if it may be Coryza as that causes breathing difficulties and bad breath.

Hopefully someone else will come along that has experience of these symptoms and knows of a treatment you can buy over the counter.

I will be following to improve my knowledge and to wish you and your flock well. Please keep us updated on progress, either good or bad but keeping fingers crossed it will be the former. It may help to use some Vetrx on them until you get further more knowledgeable advice, as that is good for respiratory problems I believe.

Best wishes

Barbara

 

[rebrascora]

Just did a search on Infectious Coryza and that looks like that's it. Here is a link to a bird being treated on You Tube....it is a bit brutal, so not for the faint hearted....but should help you confirm that's what it is....

Not sure even I could do that sort of treatment on a bird, so think you probably need veterinary help.

Good luck

 

[QueenMisha]

Welcome to BYC! It's great to have you.

@Rebrascora has given you some excellent advice above and I concur that with the severity of illness you're seeing it's time to get a veterinarian to look at the matter.

 

[N F C]

So sorry you're having trouble with your birds' healthy. Hopefully the information the other greeters have given you will be of help.