I have some sick girls...

CamsCluckinChicks

Songster
10 Years
Jul 20, 2009
150
7
111
Clunette
Hi all. I live in Indiana and this is my very 1st winter having chickens. It's been a bitterly cold winter for here with highs barely making it out of the single digits most days. In the middle of two cold fronts we had a massive warm-up with highs near the 50's three days straight, then right back to bitter cold.

Yesterday I noticed one of my red hens had a 'snotty nose' sound. She was sneezing some too. I brought her into our garage and gave her a heat lamp, fresh water and food...she drank well and ate the three pieces of milk-soaked (the milk was boiled with onions) bread. Today I went out to the coop and two more of my reds were exhibiting symptoms. Off to Big R we went and I found Tetracycline Hydrochloride for poultry and found the answer for how much to use (thank you BackYardChickens!!). We treated their drinking water. I also brought my favorite red, Ginger, into the garage & gave her a quiet, private heat oasis unto herself. It seemed to really perk up the other red (Rhody). They are not together...I'm 'assuming' they have the same thing, as they both have what sounds like snotty noses.

Is there anything else I can do? My entire family has a cold!! I was reading in my Chicken Health Handbook that the common cold in a chicken is actually Infectious Bronchitis. I have chickens ranging in age from 6 months to 18 months (none added in the last 6 months...all were hatchery chicks). Is this because of the wet and extremely cold conditions? Is there anything more I can do? Did I panic in starting the antibiotics right away?

Thanks!
Cami
 
Get some Tylan-50 (I used the powder that you dissolve in drinking water) it cleared up my bird's NASTY bronchitis in less than 24 hours, after the tetracycline had failed and the penicillin had failed.

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Miracle product!
 
They didn't have any Tylan-50 at either of our farm supply stores. But, I found it on Amazon in 100gram containers for about $50. Does that sound about right? I won't be able to order it until next week, but in the meantime I have the Tetracycline, which will hopefully keep it at bay until I can get the Tylan in.

Thank you!!
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I recommend Tylan also. Treat the entire flock. You might want to consider putting a heat lamp or 2 in the coop to keep it warm for them until everyone is well. The initial respiratory infection can weaken everyone and make a secondary (more deadly) infection possible. Try to keep them warmer (I know its hard....we're in NH and the night temps with wind chill have been -16degrees with the days -1 degrees) and give them lots of treats like scrambled egg, shelled sunflower seeds, warm oatmeal, apples, cabbage and they love pumpkins and squash. I buy whatever is on the reduced produce rack at the grocery.

With the Tylan everyone will get well fast.

Try firststatevetsupply.com they sell Tylan and you should be able to order it 24 hrs day
 
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Can you eat their eggs while they are being treated with Tylan? One of my chickens was sneezing today. I'm keeping an eye on it and may need to treat. Not as cold here, but we had a snow storm and tonight when I peaked in the hen house the poor things were basically piled on top of each other trying to stay warm.
 
Can you use a heat lamp to warm up the coop? They are already sick and the cold won't help their condition.

I was going to add more information but it doesn't seem like you are using the information we are giving you. I feel sorry for your chickens.



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I apologized to cacklialky...I had this member confused with the OP:(
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Hi,

I think you mistook my post for one by the original poster on this thread. I am someone else and live in North Carolina. My chickens have been fine. Just posted because we experienced an extremely rare bout of cold weather this weekend and I only noticed today that one of my chickens sneezed a couple of times. I read this thread because I thought it might be helpful in case my chicken gets worse. It seems to me that the original poster is looking after her chickens just fine. We are all trying to get information here and look after our animals. I did find this thread useful because of information about Tylan and will order some if I need to. And yes, if it seems that my chickens are sick, I'll try a heat lamp. Most people around here don't use them, however, because we don't experience the extreme temperatures that you do in colder places. As I said, we are experiencing a fluke right now.
 
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OK. Update...and questions. Sorry it's long!!
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And so sorry it took me a few days!!

I ordered the Tylan, but in the meantime I'm continuing to treat with the broadband poultry antibiotic I received from our local farm supply store. I absolutely do not want them going untreated until it gets here. I'm SO petrified of respiratory disease in my chickens!!!
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They all seem to be getting better. No more sneezes and no more 'snotty nose' sound! Yay!! My egg production is almost back up to full swing already. I think I caught it really early and might 'get away' with only treating them with what I currently have.
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I will always keep Tylan around though after 'talking' with you all!! I have NO IDEA what I would do without you!!
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I read in my Chicken Health Handbook how to make electrolytes for them and I also have been doing that (salt alternative, baking soda, salt and water). I also have been feeding them in the mornings scrambled eggs, various squash (10 cents a pound right now!! Woot!!), grape tomatoes cut in half (they're a little pricey, but my Buff Orp roo loves them...and they're FULL of water), cabbage (both green and red), broccoli and cauliflower...all fresh veggies. Oh! I'm also giving them a generous helping of scratch grains and cracked corn in the early afternoon to keep them moving, therefore generating heat, etc. They are, of course, getting their regular layer feed too.

Heat... They had 2 red heat lamps, plus 1 white one that comes on from 7am-7pm. Well, after my husband did a bunch of research, he learned we might have actually been adding to the problem because even though we do have ventilation in the coop, when you add all those warm bodies (who insisted on laying practically on top of each other), plus all the heat bulbs I had going...moisture! I think that honestly is part of why they got sick.
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I do clean out their coop once a week. I prefer to use a bale of straw - I like the smell and ease of removal, etc. - but there seems to be a shortage of straw in the area so I'm currently using pine chip bedding (like you get in the large plastic 'bales' at farm supply stores)...approximately 3" to 4" deep. They have a wood floor. I always sprinkle (generously) the coop (flooring, roosts, nesting boxes) with food grade Diatomaceous Earth...and we typically mix some in with their food also. Food grade DE is also incredibly difficult to find locally, so I order it online...oh the S/H costs!!
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So, now I have one heat lamp and one white light (7am-7pm) and my husband built me a heated waterer this past weekend...there is some heat coming from that as well. My exotics coop only has 1 heat lamp. I never witnessed any illness in any of them, but chose to go ahead & treat with both the antibiotics and electrolytes. They have a purchased heated waterer and I have been feeding them lots of fruits & veggies also. I haven't heard any respiratory distress from any of them, but I know they were exposed. Ultimately, they will be in a part of the same building - not to mention they came as babies from the hatchery along with my layers - so we don't practice biosecurity between coops. Don't yell at me please. Come this spring, they will all be in the same big building, just in separate area's with separate predator-proof play yards. The building will be 8' wide x 36' long...at 4 sq. ft. per bird, that gives me room (not including roosts and external nest boxes) for approximately 72 chickens...and I have quite a few Bantams...My chicken count will be 58 after my spring chick order, with 40 Standard and 18 Bantams. There will be four different 'cribs' inside the building...one for my layers & Buff Orp roo (he's hilarious), one for my Polish, one for my Silkies and one for my Cochins. Does this sound OK?

I have an 8x8 coop with 64 sq ft. of floor space, 24' of roosting space and 9 sq. ft. of nesting boxes. We are adding on another 64 sq. ft. of floor space this spring (I'm adding a few more layers). Right now I have the sides insulated, but not the ceiling/roof (plans to do this next weather break). We have three wall registers installed for ventilation. One is approximately 36"wide x 5"high up high on the back of the coop and then two approximate 8"wide x 8"high above the front door windows. I wasn't keeping them all open before because it was so bitterly cold. I now have them all open, but pointing up so any draft will rise 1st, then circulate...as opposed to the cold air hitting them directly.

I'm positive my amateur/begginer's mistakes caused them to get the cold/IB. I was so worried about them freezing... Which I guess is kind of ridiculous. My great-grandparents and my grandparents had chickens...They free-ranged during the day and then my grandma's would simply shut them up at night. They ate all manners of scraps (I only feed my chickens vegetarian with occasional scrambled eggs), they ran all over the farm, some of them would follow my grandparents around. But they didn't have any heat in their coop, in fact it was a little drafty. My Grandma is still alive (90 years old) and she laughed at me when I said we insulated the coop and put heat lamps in there. Not laughed at me in a mean way, but in a 'you poor misguided grandchild'. LOL!

Am I wrong to 'spoil' my chickens? I love them very much...both because they bring me so much amusement & joy and because they provide us with such excellent eggs!! I've actually made enough money selling the extra eggs for $1 per dozen, they pay for their own feed...and most of the dog feed! LOL!

I found a homeopathic treatment online for IB/common cold in chickens. I boiled milk with cut up onion, strained the onion and then soaked toasted (because I didn't have any stale) bread in the strained milk...then fed my 2 reds who 1st became sneezy the bread. They were 100% better within 24 hours of eating the bread. They are still being treated the same as the rest of the chickens at this time, but I thought if someone had never heard of this...and in a pinch it definitely helped until our farm supply store was open the next day!! Funny, the 2 reds I'm referring to went without laying for 2 days. That 1st night I treated them with the bread/onion/milk remedy and then the next day. Now they are back to laying big, fat brown eggs.

So - I should insulate the roof. Should I add more ventilation? Should I invest in a couple flat panel heaters for next winter (can't afford them quite yet)? Are there any other 'tricks' to keeping birds healthy during cold temps? Does everyone allow their chickens access to the outside even on 10 degree F weather? We were keeping mine in the coop when it wasn't getting above 20 degrees F. Is this wrong? I read somewhere that if you keep your coop too warm in the winter, they won't venture out. I found this to be true when I had 3 heat lamps (the 2 red fulltime & 1 white to prolong daylight) going. Now that I've removed a little bit of the heat and have been able to open their coop daily (we've been between 25 and 35 F for the past several days), they have been going outside. They like to roost in the sun at the end of their yard. Are they smart enough to not stay outside if they're chilled?

Gosh, I feel so ignorant.
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And, again, I'm truly sorry this is so long and that I'm such a chicken farmette virgin!! I really, really do not want to lose any of my feathered babies...especially because of my newbie-type mistakes! I'd never forgive myself!!

Thanks for everything you guys!! I love knowing you're here...and can't wait until I'm a knowledgable chicken farmetter!!
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