Help my flock keeps dying

[Texasclucker]

I've heard other things about the dosage however my flock is literally never sick so I'm not a medicine giving professional I've read that giving the penicillin is a precarious task and be sure if you do take my suggested route to be careful of blood vessels

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Any chance consulting with a vet is an option?

 

[NatJ]

I would not give penicillin if you do not have a diagnosis. NatJ do you agree?

Yes, I agree. Figure out the problem before trying to treat with penicillin or any other antibiotic. There are many things that antibiotics cannot fix, but any medicine still costs money to buy, time to get, stress for the person and the chickens to administer it-- none of which help if the underlying problem is something else. For example, respiratory symptoms can be caused by bacteria, mold, dust, virus, and probably some other things as well. Antibiotic is no help at all against mold, dust, or a virus.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Cross-posted from the other thread, but not sure which you'll see first: Rather than guessing as to the cause and blindly treating I'd consider sending some birds for necropsy at the state lab, if you're in the US.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Keep this thread, @LiLBear0720 This is where you'll get help.

We need to know ages of birds as well as details of their symptoms and how long they've been experiencing them. What they're fed is good to know, too.

We got you. Take a deep breath and be patient. This is the greatest, most responsive online community. Ever.

 

[NatJ]

The OP now has 3 threads about this topic. I don't think spamming the forum will help get you an answer.

Not anymore.

The first thread is in the introductions forum, where OP was advised to post in this forum (emergencies & diseases).

This thread is in the correct place, and a mod has combined the third thread in with this one, so everything is nicely tidied up now.

Cross-posted from the other thread, but not sure which you'll see first:

They got combined, so it's all in one place now

 

[LiLBear0720]

Those that can help you will want to know the following: how old are your birds? What do you feed, including treats? How many have died? When did this begin? Describe symptoms. Is this an established flock? Have new birds been introduced lately? What do you use for bedding?

They r between 9 months and 1 year, we feed them pellet food crumbled up, oats as snacks every few days, meal worm every other day and kale <just tried today>. 3 have died, 1 was attacked by possum that got in, 1 had different issues <enlarged heart too big for body, and 3rd just got 3 days ago and found dead this morning. Resperitory, sneezing, wheezing like congestion, tired a lot more than usual, isolating self, only drank water which had apple cider vinegar in it. We didnt know to quarantine till was too late but now we took the 3 with symptoms and isolated them. We have straw and Timothy hay for bedding

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I am not an expert so just going to observe.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Chickens can be fragile. The heart issue was unfortunate but couldn't have been foreseen at all. The possum predation is a sad loss, but one you can learn from. Same with the respiratory infection.

That's a lot going on, and I can totally understand your frustration.

What substrate do you use in their coop/run? That can sometimes cause respiratory distress, though I admit it sounds like it could be a contagion.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I said I would opt out, but .... There is no point separating the symptomatic birds now, I don't think. Anything they have has already been shared with the rest of the flock. Unless you want to separate them for treatment.