Lathargic 10wk Buff Orphington

[tanababy]

I have several questions and I am a pretty new chicken owner and would love some help.
I am super worried about my new little Buff Orphington (I lost one last week) and now I am nervous about this girl. I went to the coop this morning and was not moving standing perfectly still for about 15 min in very back. I thought she was already dead. I crawled back to get her and she did move. I have given her water, but she won't eat. She just stands still with her head under her wing and eyes closed. This is exactly what my other girl did before she died.

So I have 2 RIR that are 18 months old, both very healthy, great layers and in coop. We have 4 girls that are 10 weeks old (2 sussex and 2 buffs) all other birds including my other buff seem normal. I had the 10 wk olds in a cage in the coop for that last 2 weeks, but last night I just let them all go together in coop. There was a little pecking order but with 4 against 2, my little girls did great standing their ground.

My husband went to the feed store and bought me Duramycin-10 (tetacycline hydrochloride) and Deccox crumbles. I have been looking on this site to see if this is a good idea to treat my flock with. But I am not sure if I treat my layers too and the containers they come in have dosages for huge numbers of chickens not 4 little girls.

The only other thing I can think of is. All my 10 wks girls are full feathered out. I have had them in our outside coop for last 2 weeks. Night temps are in the low 50's. I have pine shaving for their bedding and they are in a covered w/walls coop. But do you think it is too cold for them??? ( I live in the Seattle area and its has been wet and rainy)

I cannot believe how sad I am that this little girl is sick and not knowing how to help her. I really want her to pull though! Any thoughts on my best course of action? Thank you so much in advance.
Chantel

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

At 10 weeks old, if your coop is draft free, they should be fine with those temps. Have u checked for parasites (internal and external)? Does she have a squishy crop or bad breath? How does her poop look? It could be any number of things from cocci to an impacted crop. I wouldn't treat her yet- and if you do end up having to treat her- do it seperate from your flock. Alot of antibiotics require you to throw out eggs if your layers get into them. Try making her a mash of her regular food and some sugar water. Make it nice and soupy so you can give it to her through a syringe. Feed her every couple of hours or until she's back to eating and drinking on her own. Check her over real good for bugs/injuries, feel her crop to see if its squishy/hard/empty and report back with any other symptoms you may find. Its sometimes difficult to unravel the mystery of a chicken illness, and the tiniest little thing could be the cause of your birds problem. Good luck- hope she's feeling better soon.

 

[seminolewind]

Hi, I think it's most possible coccidiosis. Instead of the crumbles, which help them not get it, I would try more of a medicine like Corrid, Sulmet, or Sulfadimethoxine. ASAP. Make sure you can get some of the med/water mix into her.

 

[tanababy]

Thank you both for such a quick response!!
I pulled her from the coop and put her in a large rubbermaid in my garage. I looked her all over and I don't see any bugs or injuries and her body is warm. I am going to go back and check her crop better. I made her an egg with buttermilk (I read this on here) and she ate almost half of it already. She is just sleeping now, still does not look good. I will try the mash & sugar mix in a couple of hours and see if that helps too. I have to go into town today so I'll see if I can exchange the crumbles for more of a medicine. I am crossing my fingers. She hasn't pooped yet. I looked at the poop in the coop and it all seems normal, but it is so hard to tell because she was hanging out mostly in the very back under the upper nesting boxes and I cant get all the way back there. Now that she is by herself I should be able to tell better.

She is such a little love. I hope I caught this in time to treat her. Thanks again. I am so glad this site/community is here.

 

[tanababy]

Just a quick update. She seems to be doing much better. I have been giving her Sulmet via syringe. She still will not eat or drink on her own. But she is standing up alert and moving around. She even made some noise at me today. I am going to keep hand feeding her until she starts on her own.

Thanks again for your help. I feel 100% better about her today!!

 

[seminolewind]

I really hope the sulmet makes her better. It's good that you are making sure she gets it with a syringe.

 

[tanababy]

So our good luck has taken a really bad turn and I would love some advise on how to help insure my other girls don't die too.

We lost both of our sussex unexpectedly - they were both 11 weeks old and seemed to be doing fine and then one morning I found one dead in back of coop and the next morning the other was dead. I cleaned our coop and looked them both over there was nothing on them and no signs of trauma.

Yesterday my buff that was doing so much better, was walking slow again again and her wings were drooping. I decided to treat all the girls (even my older layers) so I used wazine for worms and did another treatment of sulmet. I used a syringe with the little buff to make sure she got it. This morning she was even worse. I fed her and syringe vitamin water in her, but she died around noon.

She had bugs on her little tiny white/tan bugs that look like sesame seeds. Not tons but I could see them. I checked my other chickens and both my big rhode islands don't have any bugs, but my other 11 week Buff (who is way bigger than the girl that just died) has them EVERWHERE. She seems healthly though. When my I bought my little buff in last week. I didn't see any bugs - so these are new.

I cleaned the whole coop and run, scooped up the top 1 inch layer of everything and changed all the bedding. I have dusted everything with DE and I am going to run down and get Sevin now.

I am so nervous that I am going to lose my whole flock. We started with 5 babies and now I only have ONE left. Its so terrible.

One last thing....my two older rhode islands have been missing feather on their backs for quite a while (the white fluff has grown in but feathers are still gone.) We had a huge New hamsphire that was very mean to those two and pecked and chased them all the time. We assumed it was her beating up on them. We watched her many times peck and pull feathers. She pulled feather out on the top of one the RI head. We finally decided to cull her (she was super mean to our kids too). Now I am wondering if our RI are sick and was not getting beat up?????

Thanks so much for any advise. This suck

 

[seminolewind]

They for sure have lice. Sevin will do just fine. I sprinkle some in the nests too.

If your chicks or older flock has ever been exposed to the outside world, possible contact with other chickens, like buying chicks or chickens, there's the possibility of Marek's Virus. The chicks would be the common age for it. If your older chickens were bought from outside your property, they could be carriers. Even vaccinated chickens can be carriers. Marek's can be no symptoms to just about any symptoms, not just paralysis.

I hatched 10 eggs that I bought , under a few silkies. At about 8 weeks old, one a week or so has succombed to Marek's. Varying symptoms, floppy and eating, or, looking normal and not eating and wasting away, or floppy and gasping , etc. These chicks have never been exposed to any wild birds, etc. Just my flock. I have 4 chicks left without symptoms, but I'm still waiting.

I'm only saying all this because your chicks are the right age for it, and your older ones are fine. It would be typical to happen to chicks that are put out with the flock for at least 2 weeks.

Sorry this is happening.

Could your New Hampshire have been a roo? That's what it sounds like

 

[tanababy]

Seminolewind - thanks!! I wasn't sure if it was mites or lice. They are all treated now and I feel so much better. I treat again in 10 days....right??

Thanks for the info on Marek's Virus. I'll research that more. I hope your last four chicks make it!! I am pushing for them.
Thanks again!

 

[seminolewind]

I treat with Sevin about every 3-4 months. And you are right about treating again. The tan lice won't kill your birds, they eat the dander. Let me know what happens with your chicks.

This is a good thread for showing how different the symptoms can be. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=524932