How to diagnose the problem with new flock

[KathieL]

Let me begin by saying I am a novice when it comes to hens and what problems they can have. I purchased 25 hens from a person on facebook near me. We met them and took delivery of the hens. When the man was unloading them from his pen to ours in the back of the pickup he said they look pretty sad because they are molting. He said they might stop laying for a little while because of being transported and the stress they were under from that. It was a little cool and damp that day. He also said we might put some antibiotic in their water for a little while. The next morning when I went to take care of them, they were wheezing pretty badly. We did get antibiotic from the feed store on the way home and I put antibiotic in their water (tetracycaline). After about 3 days they were not any better and some of them laid their heads around kind of under their wing. One of them got swollen eyes. I told my vet about them when I took my dog to him and he gave me baytril. It worked miracles. In a week most of them were doing great. Some of them still poop just like water, no color. Some of them make a hiccup noise sometimes. Even one hen I already had when I brought them in got whatever this is from them and she now hiccups. She was wheezing but she is not wheezing now. So with that long explaination of my situation, my question is, how do I find out what they have? Do I take a hen to the vet? Do I take poop to the vet? Do I not worry about it and after 28 days start to eat and sell their eggs? I know, I should have told him to keep the hens but I believed they were just molting because I heard no wheezing when he was unloading them. And it could be that the trip in the back of his trailer in cages for a 30 minute ride plus the ride in the back of our pickup in a cage for a 15 minute ride on the damp cool day may have just given them all a cold.

 

[Akrnaf2]

You are dealing with multiple problems here.
A. You said that Baytril helped them so one of the pathogens that your flock had was a bacterium you should read the FDA guidance about using Baytril on food production chickens- you cant use this antibiotic on chicken that you are going to eat thur eggs or meat.
B. According to your description there is still disease in your flock that Baytril have not treated, it could another pathogen that you have in the flock maybe a virus or a resistance bacterium.
C. You should improve their diet. Give them som vitamins and minerals in the water, give them some vegetables and fruit, give them some boiled eggs if you can, or some dried cat food( have a high percentage of animal protein), add some hot chili flacks in their food, add some ACV to their water.
D. Isolate the disease chickens.
E. Next time,if I was you,I would buy a young vaccinated chicks from a reliable breeder.it will be les expansive in the long run.

 

[KathieL]

I have started putting the vinegar in their water. They get veggie and fruit scraps. Do I get the vitamins and minerals from the feed store or do I need to go to the vet for that? Yes, I should have bought the babies from a hatchery and raised them myself. This is the 3rd flock I've had, but the first 2 my father in law helped me with from day old chicks to hens. We had no sickness at all. I just did not think about these having a problem when they advertised them. And when he said they are molting right now I just believed him. I have learned a lesson, won't do it again, but for now, I have $150 sunk in these hens and would like to get them healthy, if it's possible.

 

[Akrnaf2]

It is possible its depend on what pathogen they have and how much you will invest on them. Your decision is a very risky one, because if your flock is infected with Marek's disease virus your farm/ place will be always infected! You can't get reed from this virus! And it is not the only one! In your place I would choose the most 10 healthy, and worth keeping, separate them from the other and than make some thinking about the fate of the other 10! I am not from the USA but I think that you could fined the vitamins in the tractor shop.