filmcmahon
Chirping
Hi all. I have 11 month old silkie bantam hen that has all of a sudden had a decline in health. we feed her and her two flock mates a local farm store’s poultry blend and keep their water clean, and then give table scraps every so often. she was laying up until two days ago. she still scratches around the run and takes dust baths but we had another chicken like her that had a sharp decline.
about three weeks ago her flock mate who was always kind of the weakest of the flock, had similar symptoms- dirty bum and was kind of off but not really. so one afternoon I went out to give her a bath and she was laying down gasping for air on her death bed. so i ran inside to get her some electrolytes water and greek yogurt with garlic but the would not eat or drink it. i would try to stand her up and she would just lie down. so i put her back in the run to drink water, and i pressed on her crop to feel for abnormalities when her breathing slowed and her head tilted forward. i was in such shock that i set her down and she layed there for a few seconds, GASPING and then went into convulsions and passed.
my fear is that these chickens have the same illness or issue, but i am so unsure of what to do. especially after witnessing the convulsions the last thing i want is to see that again.
what i know is that the symptoms have been very sudden. it started with a dirty bum (not very liquid poop though), then no eggs, then the lethargy. is there anything anyone would recommend to do as of right now, or any ideas on what it might be? i did some research and landed on potential cocci, but they have not had bloody stools.
i am seriously trying very hard to not wave the white flag with chicken keeping. we started in 2019 but i just don’t know what to do anymore
about three weeks ago her flock mate who was always kind of the weakest of the flock, had similar symptoms- dirty bum and was kind of off but not really. so one afternoon I went out to give her a bath and she was laying down gasping for air on her death bed. so i ran inside to get her some electrolytes water and greek yogurt with garlic but the would not eat or drink it. i would try to stand her up and she would just lie down. so i put her back in the run to drink water, and i pressed on her crop to feel for abnormalities when her breathing slowed and her head tilted forward. i was in such shock that i set her down and she layed there for a few seconds, GASPING and then went into convulsions and passed.
my fear is that these chickens have the same illness or issue, but i am so unsure of what to do. especially after witnessing the convulsions the last thing i want is to see that again.
what i know is that the symptoms have been very sudden. it started with a dirty bum (not very liquid poop though), then no eggs, then the lethargy. is there anything anyone would recommend to do as of right now, or any ideas on what it might be? i did some research and landed on potential cocci, but they have not had bloody stools.
i am seriously trying very hard to not wave the white flag with chicken keeping. we started in 2019 but i just don’t know what to do anymore
