King County, Washington!

[sphinxface]

Yeah, did he offer to replace the birds at cost? He did offer to replace the chick I had gotten that died the first day home with the same kind.

 

[poppyflock]

poppyflock, did Cory/Baxter Barn offer a refund? Very disconcerting to hear about your ordeal. Especially with coryza being so infectious, I would be nervous about sourcing other birds from that same location.

As it happens, I purchased two pullets at the end of June too from Portage Bay Grange. Typically I probably would have gone out to Baxter Barn instead but my wife wanted to go to breakfast at Portage Bay Cafe, so it was two birds one stone kind of situation (no pun intended). Anyway, maybe I got very lucky to avoid Baxter Barn this time!

Thanks for sharing.

Hey NWchickenherder, thanks for the response. I haven't asked for a refund yet, although I probably should. Hopefully he'd be willing to do that. The only thing he's offered is a few days worth of Tylan, but that just seems like a short term solution to coryza. I'm sure he'd be willing to replace the birds, but unfortunately I'm reluctant about getting any more birds from them.

Sounds like you guys lucked out getting your birds from Portage Bay- I've heard good things about that place! I'll have to go there next time I'm chicken shopping. Do they have birds all year round?

 

[poppyflock]

Yeah, did he offer to replace the birds at cost? He did offer to replace the chick I had gotten that died the first day home with the same kind.

He hasn't offered to replace them, but I also haven't asked - so I guess there's a chance he would. That's nice that he replaced your chick that didn't make it. If it were a different illness I'd look into getting them replaced, but coryza is so easily spread between birds that I'd be worried any new bird from them would also be already infected. It's really contagious and it's the sort of illness where even if it's treated, they're still carriers for life and the disease can continue to return throughout their life, and they can spread it to other birds.

 

[sphinxface]

Ive already decided to buy my next batch from a breeder. I was excited bout the variety and didnt realize they were hatchery stock. But its good to know

 

[NWchickenherder]

@poppyflock Portage Bay Grange does have birds year round. They do not have as wide of variety as Baxter Barn, but they had breeds I was interested in nonetheless. If you go to their website they have an online system that shows you what breeds they have available, hatch date, and quantity available. They are just hatchery stock and yet PBG is fairly "proud" of their pullets (i.e. about 75% more expensive versus Baxter Barn pullets of the same age). But regardless of that, PBG has always been really nice to do business with. We buy all our feed and supplies there, which is competitively priced. And I'm happy to report that the 2 pullets we purchased there have been healthy and are good looking birds!

 

[poppyflock]

@NWchickenherder thanks for the info on Portage Bay Grange! I checked out their website and it's super cool. They do have the one breed I was specifically looking for - Welsummers. Maybe in a couple months- after I get this sick chicken situation sorted out- I'll pay them a visit. Thanks for your help!

 

[sphinxface]

I got my welsummer from Baxter Barn, very talkative, and super attentive and friendly. I taught her to come when called no problem. I think the breed must be a good breed, I will probably get more in the future ;3

You should post pics when you get em they are the cutest little chicks ♡

 

[poppyflock]

Just wanted to update you all - my boyfriend had a long phone conversation with Cory this morning. He was very helpful and understanding. He really thinks it's coccidiosis and not coryza. I'm not 100% convinced he's right about that, because the symptoms don't seem to point to that, but he is the professional so hopefully he's right! Plus I'm not 100% sure it's coryza either so I think it's worth a shot to continue trying to treat them. We bought Corid this morning and will be treating them with that. Cory also said we could bring the chickens back and exchange them for new ones or get a refund, or we can try to treat them with meds first to see if that works. He also said we could come out there and he'd give us Corid and immune boost free of charge, but we decided to buy it somewhere close to home because it's such a long drive out to Fall City.

Anyway, I just wanted to update everyone. I don't want to bash on Baxter Barn unnecessarily. I contemplated even bringing it up online because I didn't want to cause problems. But I think it's important reminder that these things happen...honestly, on the way home on day I picked them up, I contemplated only quarantining them for a few days (I'm a very impatient person). I was like "There's no way they could be sick!" (ugh). I feel so stupid for even considering that and I'm SO glad I did keep them quarantined.

I'll let you guys know how the treatment goes over the next couple weeks. Thanks again for all your support and helpful info!

 

[sphinxface]

Haveyou guys been to Crossroads vet? I just wanted to make sure everyone was aware there were Vets out there that have a lot of experience treating chickens. One of my hens needed surgery and there was a lot of compassion by the techs. They raided the staff fridge for grapes for my hen after her surgery. A lot of them have owned or do own chickens and you can tell they are all familiar with them.

I felt compelled to talk about some local places that are really great. And Poppyflock, you could always get some bloodwork done from almost any vet since they just take the blood and send it out?

 

[poppyflock]

@sphinxface thanks for the vet suggestion. When you say Crossroads do you mean like in Bellevue? That's not too far from us. We did consider getting blood work and I called a vet in Bothell that treats chickens, hoping they could just take a blood sample and have it processed. They said we'd have to pay $60 for the cost of a regular visit, plus the cost of the lab testing, which I think she said would be around $120. Unfortunately we're just too strapped for cash right now. I just finished school and am applying for jobs but currently unemployed - so until I have a job, going to the chicken vet is just not an option.

With that being said, I'm happy to report that it seems like the chickens are doing better since we started giving them Corid, so that's a good sign. I'll definitely keep the Crossroads vet in mind if our chickens ever need medical attention in the future- thanks for the recommendation!