"Louisiana "La-yers" Peeps"

[TurksPoultry]

I have a broody!!!!

:yiipchick

You can lay half pads round the outside of cage, this will keep most diggers out

good idea! And for that matter, I'm sure you can think of tons of heavy things to weigh down the fence materials and avoid any permanent change to the property. @mishka

 

[cajun chicken]

Hey La-yers! I've been really busy lately and haven't been online much. Hope everyone and their flocks are doing well.......my flock not so much.

We started 2 years ago with 10 birds( 5 RIR and 5 BR) from a hatchery and all went well the first year or so until I added a few birds from local swaps, etc. That's when the problems started. Over this past winter some of my birds started showing symptoms of some type of respiratory issue. Bubbly eyes, wheezing, sneezing, and some gasping for air at times. We didn't lose any birds so I kind of thought it would be OK to just treat the birds I had with Tylan and VetRx when the symptoms flared up and it seemed to work. That was in November and December, I figured it had worked it's way through the flock and we could hopefully move on. We decided in February to add some chicks and possibly start a breeding program all the while knowing in the back of my head that I was probably making a big mistake adding to a flock that already had health issues. Honestly, I feel pretty darn stupid right now because I went against my gut feeling and got more chicks anyway.
Fast forward to now.........The respiratory thing has flared up again and it's affecting a lot of the young birds we have (8 week olds) as well as some of our layers. Egg production is down and I'm tired of treating sick chickens all of the time. My wife an I are contemplating whether or not we are going to have to cull our entire flock and wait a while and start over. I don't think it's worth having a necropsy done because whatever it is keeps coming back and It's not going away. I really just wanted to vent a little and I figured y'all would understand. Thanks for reading

 

[Ron Skekel]

Hey La-yers! I've been really busy lately and haven't been online much. Hope everyone and their flocks are doing well.......my flock not so much. 

  We started 2 years ago with 10 birds( 5 RIR and 5 BR) from a hatchery and all went well the first year or so until I added a few birds from local swaps, etc.  That's when the problems started. Over this past winter some of my birds started showing symptoms of some type of respiratory issue. Bubbly eyes, wheezing, sneezing, and some gasping for air at times. We didn't lose any birds so I kind of thought it would be OK to just treat the birds I had with Tylan and VetRx when the symptoms flared up and it seemed to work. That was in November and December, I figured it had worked it's way through the flock and we could hopefully move on. We decided in February to add some chicks and possibly start a breeding program all the while knowing in the back of my head that I was probably making a big mistake adding to a flock that already had health issues. Honestly, I feel pretty darn stupid right now because I went against my gut feeling and got more chicks anyway. 
   Fast forward to now.........The respiratory thing has flared up again and it's affecting a lot of the young birds we have (8 week olds) as well as some of our layers. Egg production is down and I'm tired of treating sick chickens all of the time. My wife an I are contemplating whether or not we are going to have to cull our entire flock and wait a while and start over. I don't think it's worth having a necropsy done because whatever it is keeps coming back and It's not going away. I really just wanted to vent a little and I figured y'all would understand. Thanks for reading 

I would urge you to have the necropsy. You describe symptoms of many pathogens. Some can live in the ground for a year. Some you should cull and others you don't. I just had this discussion with the Ag vet. You could send a live bird to be sure. When I get new birds I quarantine them for 30 days. Then I know if they have anything they brought with them. You describe what might be micro plasm. Did they get like crusty mud looking scabs on their comb and wattles? Some things are passed from hen to egg. Chicks can be carriers never getting sick but making others sick. I'm sorry you have had a hard time this last year. You may find out it was just respiratory issue and nothing more. This is one reason I don't do swaps too many stories of sick birds. Find a good breeder and get eggs or chicks. Practice good biosecurity. I don't let people in my chicken yard with out disinfecting their shoes etc. They could be sick from someone with chickens that were sick walked in there yard then yours. Or from wild bird droppings .So I would want to know and get the test and hope for the best. Pam

 

[cajun chicken]

I would urge you to have the necropsy. You describe symptoms of many pathogens. Some can live in the ground for a year. Some you should cull and others you don't. I just had this discussion with the Ag vet. You could send a live bird to be sure. When I get new birds I quarantine them for 30 days. Then I know if they have anything they brought with them. You describe what might be micro plasm. Did they get like crusty mud looking scabs on their comb and wattles? Some things are passed from hen to egg. Chicks can be carriers never getting sick but making others sick. I'm sorry you have had a hard time this last year. You may find out it was just respiratory issue and nothing more. This is one reason I don't do swaps too many stories of sick birds. Find a good breeder and get eggs or chicks. Practice good biosecurity. I don't let people in my chicken yard with out disinfecting their shoes etc. They could be sick from someone with chickens that were sick walked in there yard then yours. Or from wild bird droppings .So I would want to know and get the test and hope for the best. Pam

Thank you Pam. I think I'll give the state vet here in BR a call tomorrow and see what he thinks. As far as the scabs you are talking about, I have not seen that. Mainly puffy eyes, bubbly eyes, sneezing, and some gasping. You are right about bio-security.......everyone told me that including the state vet when he came out and did my NPIP testing. I just figured it wouldn't happen to me but boy was I wrong!
At this point, I think culling the flock is inevitable but you're right, I need to know if and how long I need to wait before starting a new flock. If they were laying good I probably wouldn't mind keeping them and just treating as the symptoms arise but production is down. Only getting 6 eggs a day off of 15 layers. I don't think it's right to just keep sick chickens forever and have them suffer. I'll let you know what he says. Thanks

 

[lakones]

Thank you Pam. I think I'll give the state vet here in BR a call tomorrow and see what he thinks. As far as the scabs you are talking about, I have not seen that. Mainly puffy eyes, bubbly eyes, sneezing, and some gasping. You are right about bio-security.......everyone told me that including the state vet when he came out and did my NPIP testing. I just figured it wouldn't happen to me but boy was I wrong!  
  At this point, I think culling the flock is inevitable but you're right, I need to know if and how long I need to wait before starting a new flock. If they were laying good I probably wouldn't mind keeping them and just treating as the symptoms arise but production is down. Only getting 6 eggs a day off of 15 layers. I don't think it's right to just keep sick chickens forever and have them suffer. I'll let you know what he says. Thanks

I hate to read all of this Cajun! It's difficult to think of culling the whole flock. It is good that you are willing to if necessary, but be sure you really need to first.
I attended the first swap at TSC in Zachary and was there when everyone was setting up. I saw enough to tell me I didn't need to be there! That's not to say there are not good sellers too, but I saw birds for sale that would have been culled if they were in my flock. If I had to guess that would be my first guess of where your problems started.

 

[Cody A]

+1 Cajun Chicken. Like Pam suggested. I'd most definitely get a necropsy/s done to try and get this diagnosed.
Sorry to hear you have to go through this.

 

[campingshaws]

Good morning LA-yers! I got back in the country on Saturday and spent the weekend resting. The cruise was so much fun!

When I got back the babies were HUGE and outgrown their brooders! So I moved them all into the big run.

 

[arconfederate]

Welcome home! Looks like you had fun.

 

[TurksPoultry]

Thank you Pam. I think I'll give the state vet here in BR a call tomorrow and see what he thinks. As far as the scabs you are talking about, I have not seen that. Mainly puffy eyes, bubbly eyes, sneezing, and some gasping. You are right about bio-security.......everyone told me that including the state vet when he came out and did my NPIP testing. I just figured it wouldn't happen to me but boy was I wrong!  
  At this point, I think culling the flock is inevitable but you're right, I need to know if and how long I need to wait before starting a new flock. If they were laying good I probably wouldn't mind keeping them and just treating as the symptoms arise but production is down. Only getting 6 eggs a day off of 15 layers. I don't think it's right to just keep sick chickens forever and have them suffer. I'll let you know what he says. Thanks

I hope u can figure out the prob, that it isn't too terrible, and not have any more issues. This is a good lesson for US all. My hubby was talking about a friend of a friend who's giving away her birds, getting out of poultry, since she fell and broke her foot. Just Last Night he was saying this, and I had to explain that our flock is basically closed for this reason. Never even met this lady, but I'm terrified of those issues with all the dealing I do, in poultry.

Welcome home!  Looks like you had fun.

Xs2 Camping looks like u had a blast, even got to play w birdies!! Nothing like getn home to ur own though

+1 Cajun Chicken. Like Pam suggested. I'd most definitely get a necropsy/s done to try and get this diagnosed.
Sorry to hear you have to go through this.

never see u anymore, u been hatching like a mad man this year? I know w the season upon us, were all running like crazy!

 

[cajun chicken]

Thanks for the help and kinds words everyone! Got up this morning and found 2 dead hens.......not good. Talked to the state vet and he set me up for tomorrow to take 4 birds (2 dead ones and 2 live ones that show symptoms) to the state animal something something lab by the LSU vet school on river road. Sorry can't remember the name but it's a long name lol.
Gonna cost me a ben Franklin to get the necropsy done. At this point depopulating is likely what the outcome
Is going to be but still will be good to know what I need to do to decontaminate before starting over. I had small amount of hope before I found the dead ones this am but now I've accepted it. Just going to wait for the necropsy and go from there. Thanks