HELP, I'M TRYING TO SAVE MY FLOCK! Two birds have died within two weeks, seems to be spreading thru

[KT44]

Hello all,

Thanks for all your help and information. After much research I spent about 6 hours cleaning and disinfecting my chicken coop. I went to my local tractor supply and bought poultry dust, ivermectin, seven dust, feed formulated for birds in distress with extra probiotics. I cleaned out the whole pen, disinfected with DE, Seven dust, poultry dust, and put fresh pine bark. I also tried my best to clean outside run, put sand down to cover puddles. I bought a kiddie pool and filled with sand so they can better (dust bathe). I took each bird (with the help of my husband, because the birds were not to excited about this) put 4 drops of ivermectin on back of neck, dusted them under their wings with poultry dust, also a little around vent, and chest area. Unfortunately one of my birds that had been looking bad died during the process. I had planned on putting her in warm water as her back end looked pretty bad to try and save her. When we held her stuff came out of her mouth and her eyes started rolling. She died and It was pretty traumatic for me, and yes I know it's a chicken, but she was a bird I had for 4 years.

I was able to get ahold of labs that do necropsy. The one from UGA Athens http://vet.uga.edu/avian/diagnostic was very helpful and told me that it would be better to bring a chicken that is not dead yet (but with almost certainty is going to die) and they could probably get better results. For anyone that is wondering the price for necropsy at this place, it is not free and cost $16-17, blood test and stuff are extra and bird has to be alive (for blood work)

I am not sure that the measures I have taken are going to work. My husband and I are a bit different in how to handle this. He looks at them as chickens, I look at them as a living being, and try to be as humane as possible. I feel like I have a 50/50 chance of this thing running its course and killing off the weak birds, or I could loose my whole flock. This is my first time dealing with this and it was stressful for any of you that want to become a chicken owner or are dealing with your first serious illness in your flock. I will continue to monitor my birds, and I will take one for a necropsy if we decide that we would want to continue to have chickens, so that we can try and narrow down the problem and see if it is something that we could have prevented. I wanted to thank everyone that took time out of their day to respond. Its great to have fellow people willing to help. Wish me luck as I am trying to save the 10 birds I have left. I will keep everyone updated either way.
Thanks again
~Katie~

 

[enola]

Now that you have everybody dusted, you should probably worm them.

 

[KT44]

I did with ivermectin, which is supposed to be a wormer as well

 

[casportpony]

I did with ivermectin, which is supposed to be a wormer as well

Ivermectin is *not* an effective poultry wormer. Best to use something like Valbazen or Safeguard.

-Kathy

 

[Beekissed]

Just an added note....the space you have is not nearly enough to keep that many birds in a healthy manner. I'd keep no more than 4-5 birds in that space, if that. Yes, you can jam many birds in a small space and they might live there for awhile but they won't stay healthy for long. To prevent illness, parasites and the resulting misery and death in the future, a lower stocking rate is advised.

 

[casportpony]

@KT44 Get yourself a kitchen scale, get a baseline weight on each of them in the morning before they eat, then weigh them every other day in at the same time in the morning. Any that are losing weight will need to be watched closely. Also keep an eye on their poop, and if you can, post a picture of some fresh poop from one of the ill ones.

-Kathy

 

[KT44]

@Kathy,

Thank you for you continued support. I went out to check on chickens yesterday and the remaining ones are looking quite good and very active. They loved the frozen watermelon I took them along with some fresh spinach. I also gave them some yougart as it is a natural probiotic. Since I have already put the ivermectin on their skin, do you think it would be to harsh to do another wormer as from all of my reading the ivermectin was "supposed" to be good for parasites and worms except tape worms. I have not been able to find Valbazen, but my local store does have Wazine. Just wanted to get your opinion. I was thinking of letting the ivermectin run its course for the next 10 days. Was afraid of Overdosing chickens systems with all these wormers and such? Any thoughts? Chickens are eating (actually running after the food) laying eggs, and drinking water (which has added vitamins and Apple Cider Vinegar in it) .
Thanks Katie