how can i avoid putting down my whole flock and still show?

[comedianchick]

first of all one of my chickens is GONE just out of nowhere no feathers no nothing!?!. 2 have bubbles in their eyes and are sneezing (prob coryza so my wholse flock may have to be put down) theyre all under a year and most 7 weeks old) and 2 have crooked beaks!!!out of 12 now 11 birds.... and to top it off 2 of my quail flew away and one died!!!mind you these are show silkies who were quite expensive and are my pets and im just very upset!!!i can A never show them again and b they will prob die anyway

i mean i love chickens but it just seems like im not having the best luck..any suggestions on what to do would be appreciated....i think in just so upset because all the things happened at once within a 2 day peroiod.

 

[RM44]

You have every right to be upset. Personally I think sometimes we need to grieve before we can move on to the next step.

I just went through this myself (the sickness) and had to put my whole flock of 6 down a few months back.

Since you say most are under a year old and some are 7 weeks old, I'm assuming you introduced some new ones recently? Did you quarantine? (And don't feel bad if you didn't b/c some birds can come in as carriers and not show any signs during quarantine anyway.....)

As for the crooked beaks, did all those come from the same breeder or hatchery?

You might consider having one of the sickest birds necropsyed to find out for sure what disease(s) they might have, and then you can make your decisions from there.

Good luck to you. I know you must feel terrible and I am sorry you're going through this.

 

[comedianchick]

well the crooked beaks are from a breeder and they just developed it and i think that the birds i already had at were sick althugh they werent showing signs of it (carrier) and they passed it on to the chicks after i put them together!!! thank you for understanding its just so frusterating i feel helpless and i really love these chickens!!!and oh yea one of the crooked beak ones is the missing !!and the whole reason i got them from a breeder was so i didnt have to del with heartbreak anymore. i have had a chicken with a crooked beak and i tube fed her three times a day and she still ended up passing away in my arms. i feel better that i got it all out now!!!what diasease did your birds have im sorry you had to deal with this also its painful to have to make such a heart breaking decision on something that is supposed to bring you joy!!

 

[comedianchick]

i really want to show my chickens and now it will never happen again unless i put down all these that may have coryza.. please help is there any treatment i can do?

 

[speckledhen]

The problem is that your flock members are now carriers of Coryza, if you are sure that's what they have. I hate this for you! It's so awful and I can only imagine how you must be feeling. Until you have wiped out Coryza carriers and the disease from your flock, I don't believe you can ethically show your birds. If I were you, I'd have the state test my birds and get their advice on how to eradicate this from your flock and the coops/pens and start over with a healthy flock. Again, I'm so sorry this has happened to you.

 

[comedianchick]

what about closed flocks?i had so much fun showing and i only did once so i guess i have to decide whether to show or put them down...the problem is also that my dad just spent about 200 dollars on the chicks and my father got them for my birthday i would feel badly having to tell him this u know.

Edited to remove posted age.

 

[saladin]

You don't have to put down anything yet. Mortality rate with coryza, if it is coryza, is said to be around 10%. I have found it to be higher in younger stock. Here is what to do:

1. Separate the sick.
2. Clean out the pen where the flock is housed. Spray it with a mixture of bleach and water. I use 1 cup bleach to 1 gallon of water. Let the pen air out and put back fresh straw.
3. Start adding 1 oz of bleach to 1 gallon of the drinking water. Do this from now on. Use plastic waterers. When sickness breaks out up the bleach to 2 ozs. You will still need to clean out the waterers at least once a week.
4. Go to the feed store and buy Duramycin (Oxytetracycline) injectable: also, 10 ml syringes.
Give the medicine by mouth: this works faster than injecting. Only give it to the sick ones. For you birds give it at the rate of 1/2ml the first day (that is a MASSIVE dose) and 1/4ml each day after this for 5 to 7 days.

Understand, you have chickens. They will get sick and die. Don't panic just do what I've outlined. It is simple and relatively successful. You might still lose some. saladin

 

[saladin]

One other thing, now that you have the sickness present you need to clean out that pen on a regular basis and disinfect it. saladin

 

[comedianchick]

thankyou so much for all the replies i like having options!!!

!!!saladin do you think tylan 50 would work also will they aspirate it if i put it in their beaks i put some apple cider vinegar in there water and gave them eggs and put a few drops of tylan in the sick ones beaks. now i will clean everything. but for ethical reasons i can never show even with all of this right?and their symtoms are neeing bubble in their eyes but i dont smell anything

 

[speckledhen]

He just needs to know that the recovered birds are still carriers. That's one thing that many do not realize. gumpsgirl had a thread way back where she went through a process of ridding her flock of Coryza. All carriers had to be culled as they showed symptoms and it was a year long process, however, she doesn't show her birds.