- May 28, 2012
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Ok new to chickens and now I have about 8 hens all with varying degrees of facial swelling, and 4 have foamy eyes. 1 of the 4 has a little weeping from her eyes and lays down more than the rest but may/may not be eggbound. I can feel a lump in that general region but new to chickens so I'm not sure. None of the hens have any off-color discharge, or odor. All sound like they are breathing fine. All have good weight and are eating/drinking normally. All are being bombarded by Gnats and they are shaking their heads and scratching their eyes. My roo is not showing any signs of eye drainage, but is shaking head against the gnats as well. I started using Skin so soft on them applying a small drop behind the comb and below either ear in attempts to block the gnats but it only helps a little and only lasts a day. I was worried that too much (general spraying) would cause to much fragrance in the air of the coop. My coop is 2 parts, 10x10 square chainlink, covered in netting, and shaded with a nest house and a roost house inside both houses lined with Coastal Hay. This opens up into a 70 square foot chainlink "Yard" that is half/half sun and shade with multiple off-ground doghouses for napping and a large limb/jungle gym for perching. My birds are allowed into here when we are at work ect. locked in the smaller area at night. When I am home they have free run of the entire yard with their "yard" always open to run back into. We have had about 3 days of nice drying sun, but the 3 weeks prior have been solid rain it seems. Some of my birds stood out in the downpour for periods of time. 2x a week when the rain did let up a bit I raked out and replaced all the damp hay with fresh. Everything I have read suggests a respiratory infection. And most all threads suggest Tylan 50. I plan to go this route as a precaution but Tractor Supply website shows Tylan 50 as a cattle drug and I am wondering if I am looking at the right thing and if so how much should I administer and for how long ect. I am also wondering if the gnats may be contributing to the cause of the Infection and any suggestions would be great. I am worried if I keep putting daily SSS around the face it may also be causing adverse reactions. I plan to set up a box fan in the "Yard" so they may have somewhere to get a constant breeze. Also curious to anything I can do to ward of flies in the area coming to scrap feed, manure, ect. I work for a pool company but the DE I carry is not food grade so I haven't tempted to spread that down. some one told me to use lime also Sevin dust. I am headed to Tractor Supply tomorrow and would like to already have an idea of what I need. Thks
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