Help!sneezing/wheezing/gurgling

[vegaschick]

I got home from vacation last night and am wishing I had never gone. My sister was taking care of my flock, a rather labor intensive job in the hellish heat of Las Vegas right now, and I'm grateful but I am freaking out. I expected the panting...it's hot! I knew that some were starting to moult too. What freaked me out was the sneezing and gurgling...like a real congested, raspy breathing. The worst were a couple of the 16 wk olds that I had introduced to my main flock 2 wks ago (at which time I took them off the medicated feed). Lucy is the worst. She is sneezing, wheezing and has boogers. She's hot and panting, but her open mouth was very wet...not normal. She is still very active, walking around, drinking, not sure yet if she's eating and I didn't see any abnormal poos either. They have a henhouse with lots of ventilation, and a covered run. We don't have to worry about many predators here, but the doves were eating us out of house and home. Many of the chickens choose to sleep in the run on roosts placed throughout. The bedding is mostly sand with some shavings mixed in. Very occasionally I will let them out to "free-range" in the backyard. I have a mister in the run that I think my sister was allowing to stay on too long. I usually will turn it on for 3-5 minute intervals several times a day to allow the ground to dry between uses or else it only dries on top and they can't even dust bathe very efficiently. I hope that some of this is because of that, but I'm afraid that it might be the hens I got from a friend. I've been to her house and flock tons of times for months and figured that if her flock had something it would've shown up by now so I didn't quarantine the ladies. When I left they were all fine, but at least one of them is sneezing, too. She's not the worst affected...just some sneezing. I am so dumb and now my flock is gonna pay for it!


I will seperate Lucy along with a couple other sneezers in a dog cage so I can monitor the eating and poo. I will get some yogurt. I will go and get some POLYVISOL (I hope) and the good ACV with mother in it for the water. Should I put them back on the chick feed? It's medicated. I'm so sad and freaked out. As if struggling through the heat wasn't enough!

I'm not financially able to take them to a vet so...should I just cull? Is everyone affected or just those that are sneezing? Help?!?

 

[speckledhen]

To cull or not to cull is a personal decision. Since you really don't know what they have and most chicken diseases leave birds carriers like Typhoid Mary's in your flock, it's hard to tell you. If it was me, I'd cull immediately. That is the only method real old-time chicken keepers use to keep their flock strong. This isn't a kid with a head cold, this is entirely different. And ethics come into the picture if you ever plan to sell birds, chicks or eggs. Some diseases are passed down to the chick through the egg, called vertical transmission. Perhaps you could let your state vet test one bird to see what they have. Have you bought any new birds lately? If so, that is probably how the germs got in. Remember, just as with humans, antibiotics will not treat viruses, so I wouldn't throw meds at them blindly. The feed they're eating won't have any bearing on the disease they've caught.

 

[vegaschick]

okay, so if I cull, do I just get the gurglers? or the sneezers? Can some of them not be infected yet? What do I do with the bodies? Process, burn, bury...?

 

[vegaschick]

Anybody? I am going to cull today and really need to know.

 

[Vanessabuffsnsilkies]

I culled the gurglers and sneezers once, then the rest eventually started doing it. Now I have about 6 that I have to cull...

 

[vegaschick]

1 died, culled 7, waiting on more sneezes and raspy gurgles. I don't think I have them all by a long shot. I'm trying to mentally prepare myself to lose my entire laying flock. What's worse is that I have 14 chicks nearby. Not close enough to get sneezed on but they probably share air... So sad.

 

[justbugged]

I am so sorry. That is a tough thing to do.