*November 5 Update*
The birds are all fine, it may have been a little mix of the 'crack' ants as we call them now, and her getting ready to lay. We got our first egg and the others are starting to squat as well so it was most likely hormonal changes.
Symptoms:
6mo old Lt Brahma, Lazing around recently (less alarmingly at first) starting a week or so ago. Frequently dozing in the run now, fluffy and sleeping with head tucked under wing at 11am as I write this, highly unusual for her. Generally lethargic and not as responsive and active as normal. 1 runny white poop noticed. Still eating & drinking as far as we can tell. Has not laid yet.
Background:
'Bubbles' had always been one of the most robust of the flock, the most curious & bravest explorer and forager even though she is the youngest... and has been the smallest until she started reaching her full grown size. We've had her since she was a small fluff ball, fed her medicated chick feed, some DE mixed in then and now to her layer mash. We normally only allowed our birds to stay in the run because we were worried about the feral cats in the area and hawks. But... they have all reached near-full sizes at 6 months old so my husband just (this week) started letting them free-range in our fenced back yard.
That may or may not be the reason for Bubbles' problems. I saw them all by the trash can next to our fence and saw our EE eat a small piece of styrofoam that must have fallen out. We ran over and picked it up, checked over the yard for other trash & kept a closer eye on them. The EE is fine, but Bubbles has begun to sleep a lot, tucking her head in her wings and sleeping an unusual amount. No discharge or harsh breathing, still eating and drinking, has not laid an egg yet as far as we know, but had a white runny poop this morning.
Free ranging the girls have access to some questionable berries in some weeds behind my garden, and they have access to all of my (mostly dead now) tomato, corn, squash, lettuce and broccoli stalks as well as some rotting bits of tomatoes killed by frost. They also started eating the swarm of winged ants we get 1-2x a year for only 1-2 days... they emerge from somewhere near the house and begin climbing everything including our siding, trash cans, etc. When smashed they smell very strongly of pinesol... I know that sounds really weird but that's exactly the smell.
The second possibility is we recently (within the last month) introduced a bantam Cochin pullet to the flock, she had been quarantined for a month & closely observed before being put in a crate in the coop this month to establish her in the flock. She runs around with them outside and is sleeping with them in the coop now. None of the other 4 in our original flock are showing any signs of illness. Just Bubbles. Not exactly clearing our bantam of carrying a disease but I feel that makes it a little less likely?
Summary of Possible Causes:
Could she have gotten sick from a couple small bits of styrofoam? Our EE didnt get ill from that. Could it be poisonous berries or the possibly poisonous ants that smell like chemicals when smushed? Rotten tomatoes introducing some mold? Maybe an illness from wild birds (they sometimes fly into the coop and eat bits of scratch/corn the chickens dont eat)? It is also much colder than they have ever experienced before, reaching the low thirties sometimes at night. Possibly lowered her immune system? Pathogen from our cochin Bantam?
Please help, I know it is a long post but I wanted to try to give as much background and possibilies as I could. We love our Brahma, for both her beauty that got us interested in chickens and also for her personality and history with us as a family member. We are very tight on money right now with my husband between jobs, but I will not rule out a vet visit as a last resort.
The birds are all fine, it may have been a little mix of the 'crack' ants as we call them now, and her getting ready to lay. We got our first egg and the others are starting to squat as well so it was most likely hormonal changes.
Symptoms:
6mo old Lt Brahma, Lazing around recently (less alarmingly at first) starting a week or so ago. Frequently dozing in the run now, fluffy and sleeping with head tucked under wing at 11am as I write this, highly unusual for her. Generally lethargic and not as responsive and active as normal. 1 runny white poop noticed. Still eating & drinking as far as we can tell. Has not laid yet.
Background:
'Bubbles' had always been one of the most robust of the flock, the most curious & bravest explorer and forager even though she is the youngest... and has been the smallest until she started reaching her full grown size. We've had her since she was a small fluff ball, fed her medicated chick feed, some DE mixed in then and now to her layer mash. We normally only allowed our birds to stay in the run because we were worried about the feral cats in the area and hawks. But... they have all reached near-full sizes at 6 months old so my husband just (this week) started letting them free-range in our fenced back yard.
That may or may not be the reason for Bubbles' problems. I saw them all by the trash can next to our fence and saw our EE eat a small piece of styrofoam that must have fallen out. We ran over and picked it up, checked over the yard for other trash & kept a closer eye on them. The EE is fine, but Bubbles has begun to sleep a lot, tucking her head in her wings and sleeping an unusual amount. No discharge or harsh breathing, still eating and drinking, has not laid an egg yet as far as we know, but had a white runny poop this morning.
Free ranging the girls have access to some questionable berries in some weeds behind my garden, and they have access to all of my (mostly dead now) tomato, corn, squash, lettuce and broccoli stalks as well as some rotting bits of tomatoes killed by frost. They also started eating the swarm of winged ants we get 1-2x a year for only 1-2 days... they emerge from somewhere near the house and begin climbing everything including our siding, trash cans, etc. When smashed they smell very strongly of pinesol... I know that sounds really weird but that's exactly the smell.
The second possibility is we recently (within the last month) introduced a bantam Cochin pullet to the flock, she had been quarantined for a month & closely observed before being put in a crate in the coop this month to establish her in the flock. She runs around with them outside and is sleeping with them in the coop now. None of the other 4 in our original flock are showing any signs of illness. Just Bubbles. Not exactly clearing our bantam of carrying a disease but I feel that makes it a little less likely?
Summary of Possible Causes:
Could she have gotten sick from a couple small bits of styrofoam? Our EE didnt get ill from that. Could it be poisonous berries or the possibly poisonous ants that smell like chemicals when smushed? Rotten tomatoes introducing some mold? Maybe an illness from wild birds (they sometimes fly into the coop and eat bits of scratch/corn the chickens dont eat)? It is also much colder than they have ever experienced before, reaching the low thirties sometimes at night. Possibly lowered her immune system? Pathogen from our cochin Bantam?
Please help, I know it is a long post but I wanted to try to give as much background and possibilies as I could. We love our Brahma, for both her beauty that got us interested in chickens and also for her personality and history with us as a family member. We are very tight on money right now with my husband between jobs, but I will not rule out a vet visit as a last resort.
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