Limping and favoring leg

[Ridgerunner]

If you have that mold all around your yard you are not likely to ever get rid of it. New spores are being created all the time so there is a constant source. For it to grow it needs moisture and a food source. That food source could be anything organic, rotting leaves, grass, or chicken poop for example. Some molds are dangerous, some are beneficial, most are neutral. I don’t know if that mold is harmful to your chickens or you or not but I can understand you wanting to get rid of it or at least minimize it. And I certainly don’t like wet runs.

I share Aart’s concern about deep litter, if it stays wet it can get moldy and really stink. I don’t think sand is the right answer either. For sand to work the water has to have a place to drain to. I don’t think you have that.

I’m not sure how that water is getting in at ground level, it could flow in when it rains but I’m guessing your yard is just a general low spot that stays wet a lot. If water is flowing in maybe you could put a berm around the run to stop it from getting in.

If it were mine I’d probably fill the run in with dirt to a depth of a few inches. Not sand but some kind of clay dirt that will stop the water from flowing or soaking in. I did that to my coop when I built it, added some dirt to raise the floor above the surrounding area. And I put a swale/berm on the uphill side to divert running water. I don’t know if this would work for you or not. It’s hard to say.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

@Wyorp Rock

I'm confident my flock has mycroplasma.
However I will still isolate her until she is symptom free. I learned that lesson the hard way!

She's eating on her own, she ate a lot her feed tonight and also ate a good amount of applesauce. I'll watch the amount of feed she takes, good point on the protein.
After I gave her meds she actually walked around the garage looking to forage!
I'm hoping she makes a full recovery!

Re: the run. It is intended to be an area across the yard from their coop where they can hide out, get out of the rain ( we live in Washington) and we can close up if we are going to be gone long. We typically let them free range all day long.
It's covered right now with a tarp, we intend to get a roof on asap.
I wrapped it with plastic for winter, leaving both ends a little open for circulation.
Water gets in at ground level, no standing water, but the dirt stays damp.
I notice the white mold growing around my yard, but especially on the ground in the coop. I'm sure it's from the wetness... I'm not sure how to get rid of it.
I'll post a photo of it below.

I'm glad that she is up and moving around. This sounds promising. If she's looking to forage after the meds, then put out a few of her favorite treats for her to "find"

I'm so sorry that your flock has Mycoplasma. You can "live" with Mycoplasma in your flock depending on what your goals are. You would want to keep a "closed flock" and not sell/give away any hatching egg, chicks or adults. There is always the potential for passing it on to someone's flock.

I see you have been given some good advice concerning your run. Hopefully more will have some input. I agree, it looks like you may need to "build up" the ground in your run so that water runs away instead of in. I'm sure it is very frustrating. I do think there is a solution though.

Keep us posted on her progress! I wish you well.

http://ucanr.edu/sites/poultry/files/201395.pdf

 

[ravismomma]

Thanks for the info @Wyorp Rock when we got the necropsy results back we closed our flock. I am only a enthusiast, no breeding or selling. They are pets, and the sick one is my fav. I told myself I wouldn't get attached.... ha!
It's unbelievable how quickly they got sick, within months. I can't figure out how it happened. They all were bought from the same breeder who vaccinated breeding stock... I'm at a loss.
However here we are, just trying to keep them healthy.
I'm bummed I can't add to my flock, especially if Ginger doesn't make it. I'll be down to 2.
What do people who have tiny flocks do when they get down to one bird? Just have 1? How totally lonely for them. Oh well, I digress.

Thanks for the link for the run. I'll hurry and get the roof on with large overhang and see if that helps.

Thanks again for your help!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thanks for the info @Wyorp Rock when we got the necropsy results back we closed our flock. I am only a enthusiast, no breeding or selling. They are pets, and the sick one is my fav. I told myself I wouldn't get attached.... ha!
It's unbelievable how quickly they got sick, within months. I can't figure out how it happened. They all were bought from the same breeder who vaccinated breeding stock... I'm at a loss.
However here we are, just trying to keep them healthy.
I'm bummed I can't add to my flock, especially if Ginger doesn't make it. I'll be down to 2.
What do people who have tiny flocks do when they get down to one bird? Just have 1? How totally lonely for them. Oh well, I digress.

Thanks for the link for the run. I'll hurry and get the roof on with large overhang and see if that helps.

Thanks again for your help!

Your welcome for the help, but I wish I had better answers/more information for you.

You are doing the best you can. You've had a necropsy and are taking steps to keep watch on your flock. I hope someone else will give input on keeping and adding to your flock. Don't give up, there are things you can do, I'm sure.

A roof with an overhang sounds like a good plan for your run. I think we all have our challenges with coops/runs. While almost all of mine is covered and dry, it can be quite dusty. Even the uncovered portion right now is nothing but dust. We've had no rain since August which is very unusual for WNC. We are in a severe drought right now and a lot of wildfires are raging, so with that comes quite a bit of smoke. Anyway....nothing I can do about that.

Please do keep us updated. I hope Ginger pulls through.

 

[QueenMisha]

Thanks for the info @Wyorp Rock when we got the necropsy results back we closed our flock. I am only a enthusiast, no breeding or selling. They are pets, and the sick one is my fav. I told myself I wouldn't get attached.... ha!
It's unbelievable how quickly they got sick, within months. I can't figure out how it happened. They all were bought from the same breeder who vaccinated breeding stock... I'm at a loss.
However here we are, just trying to keep them healthy.
I'm bummed I can't add to my flock, especially if Ginger doesn't make it. I'll be down to 2.
What do people who have tiny flocks do when they get down to one bird? Just have 1? How totally lonely for them. Oh well, I digress.

Thanks for the link for the run. I'll hurry and get the roof on with large overhang and see if that helps.

Thanks again for your help!

You can add to a flock with Myco - but it has to be with the understanding that the bird cannot leave the flock again and is likely to contract the disease. The bird may or may not require some treatment for symptoms. Some birds show them, others do not. Thankfully Myco is relatively easy to treat as far as symptoms go and rarely is it fatal. Having several year experience dealing with it I've only ever seen four maybe five birds succumb to it, out of many hundreds.

No matter what, you don't want one singular bird. If you do get to a point when that's all you have you will realistically need to make a choice between adding to the flock and culling the remaining bird. There's the eccentric but workable third option of keeping it as a house pet, but it would need a ton of daily attention and socialization to make up for a lack of other chickens - easily as much time as a dog would take. They're very social animals and it's hard to replace that.

In my experience the best treatment for Mycoplasma is always Denagard. It quickly relieves symptoms in even the worst affected birds. I've seen birds added to the flock, given Denagard during the period after contraction when they would become symptomatic, and essentially remain asymptomatic lifelong thereafter (though most become carriers regardless).

 

[ravismomma]

You can add to a flock with Myco - but it has to be with the understanding that the bird cannot leave the flock again and is likely to contract the disease. The bird may or may not require some treatment for symptoms. Some birds show them, others do not. Thankfully Myco is relatively easy to treat as far as symptoms go and rarely is it fatal. Having several year experience dealing with it I've only ever seen four maybe five birds succumb to it, out of many hundreds.

No matter what, you don't want one singular bird. If you do get to a point when that's all you have you will realistically need to make a choice between adding to the flock and culling the remaining bird. There's the eccentric but workable third option of keeping it as a house pet, but it would need a ton of daily attention and socialization to make up for a lack of other chickens - easily as much time as a dog would take. They're very social animals and it's hard to replace that.

In my experience the best treatment for Mycoplasma is always Denagard. It quickly relieves symptoms in even the worst affected birds. I've seen birds added to the flock, given Denagard during the period after contraction when they would become symptomatic, and essentially remain asymptomatic lifelong thereafter (though most become carriers regardless).

I just lost my girl Wednesday... now I'm down to 2.
I'd love to know more about how to treat with denaguard. I have it, haven't used yet.
There's littl info out there and I'm concerned about using it appropriately.
I'd like to dose my two girls now as the weather is changing and I'm notecing a sneeze.

Re new birds Im super concerned about infecting a new bird, and/or bringing in a new infection with already sick birds.
But if I do get down to one I may have to consider it.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I just lost my girl Wednesday... now I'm down to 2.
I'd love to know more about how to treat with denaguard. I have it, haven't used yet.
There's littl info out there and I'm concerned about using it appropriately.
I'd like to dose my two girls now as the weather is changing and I'm notecing a sneeze.

Re new birds Im super concerned about infecting a new bird, and/or bringing in a new infection with already sick birds.
But if I do get down to one I may have to consider it.

I'm so sorry for your loss.

@QueenMisha should be able to give you more info about the Denaguard. You may need to pm her.

 

[QueenMisha]

I just lost my girl Wednesday... now I'm down to 2.
I'd love to know more about how to treat with denaguard. I have it, haven't used yet.
There's littl info out there and I'm concerned about using it appropriately.
I'd like to dose my two girls now as the weather is changing and I'm notecing a sneeze.

Re new birds Im super concerned about infecting a new bird, and/or bringing in a new infection with already sick birds.
But if I do get down to one I may have to consider it.

Sorry for your loss and sorry for the late response.

What kind of Denagard do you have? The ideal sort is the 12.5% liquid solution. Correct dosage to treat symptoms per my vet is 1.5 teaspoons per gallon of drinking water. The stuff tastes very nasty, so you will need to add fruit juice, corn syrup, or sugar to the water. I usually treat for 7-10 days. Don't get it in your eyes - learned that the hard way.