Hi,
We are very new chicken keepers, and we're making all sorts of mistakes so far.
We got 2 8-12 week old pullets last Saturday. On Monday, we were worried they would be alone and cold...so we bought two more. From a different flock. And ignored quarantine protocols.
Now we're chastising ourselves wishing we'd done it right.
We lost our first pullet (Mabel...RIP) this morning. We're not sure exactly what happened to her. We found her barely breathing this morning when we opened the coop, and she died within an hour. (She may have been a bit off yesterday afternoon; she wasn't out in the coop with her sister like usual.)
This forum post seemed relevant, so now we're putting Corid in their water for the next week: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/pullets-dying-need-help.809381/
However, now we're properly paranoid about the other pullet from Saturday (Clementine). She's acting mostly normal, but we're wondering if her beak looks off. We wanted to see if the forum could help us diagnose if anything's wrong, or if this is just what pullets look like. Pictures attached.
1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
8-12 weeks old. We don't know enough about chickens to be sure.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
No behavioral changes.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
12 hours?
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
The two Monday birds (Pearl and Ruth) are not exhibiting any abnormal symptoms.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
No.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
Lack of quarantining...
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
Medicated chick starter, water with Corid in it.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Maybe slightly runny.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Corid.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
Don't know...mostly want to know if she actually looks sick to other bird keepers! We could go to a vet if needed.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
They live in an Omlet Eglu cube with a 2 meter run. The nest bedding is large flake pine shavings.
Please help us...we really hope we're not losing another one.
We are very new chicken keepers, and we're making all sorts of mistakes so far.
We got 2 8-12 week old pullets last Saturday. On Monday, we were worried they would be alone and cold...so we bought two more. From a different flock. And ignored quarantine protocols.
Now we're chastising ourselves wishing we'd done it right.
We lost our first pullet (Mabel...RIP) this morning. We're not sure exactly what happened to her. We found her barely breathing this morning when we opened the coop, and she died within an hour. (She may have been a bit off yesterday afternoon; she wasn't out in the coop with her sister like usual.)
However, now we're properly paranoid about the other pullet from Saturday (Clementine). She's acting mostly normal, but we're wondering if her beak looks off. We wanted to see if the forum could help us diagnose if anything's wrong, or if this is just what pullets look like. Pictures attached.
1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
8-12 weeks old. We don't know enough about chickens to be sure.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
No behavioral changes.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
12 hours?
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
The two Monday birds (Pearl and Ruth) are not exhibiting any abnormal symptoms.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
No.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
Lack of quarantining...
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
Medicated chick starter, water with Corid in it.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Maybe slightly runny.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Corid.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
Don't know...mostly want to know if she actually looks sick to other bird keepers! We could go to a vet if needed.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
They live in an Omlet Eglu cube with a 2 meter run. The nest bedding is large flake pine shavings.
Please help us...we really hope we're not losing another one.
