I know I have some disease in my flock - but just don't know what to do!

[speckledhen]

Thanks everyone, I will call my vet and find out if they can do a necropsy, or get them to find out where I can get one done. I think its going to be the only way I can find out whats going on. I can pretty much rule out poisoning as the only place they visit occasionally is next doors paddock that my neighbors use as a dog agility training area, I know they don't put anything down in there. They do wander onto our lane at times, but nobody sprays around here. I can't think they are drinking antifreeze (certainly not on our place) and the feed isn't moldy as its kept in its sack in a bin in the barn and my gang go through about 2 sacks of feed a week! Whatever is affecting the guineas isn't affecting the chickens.......................and they share the same coop.

Feed can come to you with mold in it direct from the store. I've had it happen and I didn't realize it until most was eaten and two hens were dead from crop stasis-nothing appeared moldy until the bottom of the bag.

Contact a State Poultry Lab. The state vet would be the one to do the necropsy. Could even be free or very reasonable, more so than an actual vet.

 

[Trefoil]

Have you wormed your guineas?

 

[BritinMO]

Funnily enough I bought some wormer at the store yesterday, so they will all get wormed - although weirdly, the 2 guineas that were looking 'poorly', seemed to have really perked up the past few days thank goodness. Its been pretty cold the past 2 nights so I have put a heat lamp in the coop just to keep them that little bit warmer.....

 

[PeepsCA]

High protein feed and some extra carbs will help keep them warmer too.

Good luck with the worming, make sure to keep them locked in with the medicated water being the only source of water that they have while they are being dosed, (if you are using a wormer mixed with water... If you are catching and dosing each bird individually... I do not envy you one bit, lol).

 

[BritinMO]

"If you are catching and dosing each bird individually".......................

do you want me to die??????

I'm going to stick in their water, today will be a great opportunity as we are getting snow later so tomorrow they can stay in the coop and run, I know they will spend the whole day screaming abuse at me from their perch in the run, but I'll try and explain to them that its for their own good - and ONLY for one day!

What do you recommend to pile on the carbs? They all get a good snack of 12% horse feed twice a day picking up any grain that the silly horses drop! They are always so suspicious of any treats I give them - when they finally decided that the small cherry tomatoes weren't going to kill them, it was sooooooo funny seeing then running around like crazy with them in their beaks!

 

[PeepsCA]

My birds harass the horses while they are eating too, grabbing any stray morsel that they can get and sometimes jumping in the feeders/grain buckets too, pests! Many feed scratch grains for the extra fat and carbs, or rolled/cracked corn, but my birds really don't like either of those feeds unless they have to eat it. So it's not really a treat to them, it's more like hospital cafeteria food, lol. Mine really really like Wet COB (corn oats and barely w/molasses) tho, I guess because of the molasses. Occasionally they will get a couple handfuls of small kibble kitten or puppy food, something that's got decent fat in it and high protein... but not too much (I mainly feed it to my Peafowl as a treat/supplement).

What kind of 1 day wormer are you going to use?

 

[BritinMO]

Oh right - I would never have thought about the puppy or kitten food - I will get a small bag and see if they go for it - I can't think my lot will go for scratch grains - they seem to be pretty fussy, or more likely........................spoiled!!!

The wormer I got is called Wazine 17, it says its for Turkey, Chicken and Swine....SWINE?????? I was going to use the chicken dosage rather than the turkey dosage (especially as I have chickens with the guineas - do you think that is ok? Then it says do not use in chickens producing eggs for human consumption........well how long do I have to not eat the eggs for after they have been wormed??? Why can't they write proper instructions, lol!

I'm going to hold off this wormer until you tell me its ok to use

 

[PeepsCA]

Wazine only treats round worms, and none of all the other nasty worms that cause death/sickness in your flock... so if you can return it and go get a bottle of liquid Safeguard Goat Wormer, that's a much more effective wormer. It is used off label, so there won't be any dosing instructions for poultry on the bottle. I'll send you a PM with the dosage and administration method I use. (You can also do a search on BYC to get more info on dosages and administration methods).

 

[melroseladi]

I also use SafeGuard for both my Guineas and my chickens. I use 3cc's (mixed with about 1/8 cup water0 to 2 lbs of feed. I put the feed down and keep it there until it is gone. I don't feed anything else. The nice thing with SafeGuard is that in research there is no case of overdosing so if 1 bird gets a bit more then the others it will not harm it. I retreat in 10 days if I suspect a worm issue. I toss all eggs for 3 weeks after the last treatment. For maintanance I don't do the second dosing.

 

[BritinMO]

Thanks for the info - I will get some Safeguard!