Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[SillyChicken]

I think I have a problem...no I know I do...

I lost a hen last night. I brought her in yesterday cleaned her up checked her over to see if I could figure out what the issue was...and she ended up dying over night. She was an old hen. 5-6 yrs old maybe... so maybe age and immune system played a role. She was very lethargic, fluffed up and drinking water (laying next to the water-er). I picked her up and she belched out a ton of water. I thought..maybe sour crop, I was a tad squishy, but I felt gravel and it seemed kinda empty for being end of the day. I gave her some olive oil and massaged her crop, but couldnt' get anything out of it.

But, she also had a poopy back end... not super wet.. could it have been vent gleet or just diarrhea? I have not seen blood in the poops, but I have two more hens (also older) that are showing the same symptoms..And I've seen some super watery poops lately. Is gleet contagious among hens? They all share the same box.

I think this rain is just making too perfect of an environment for all sorts of issues.

Anyone have any suggestions? I was going to start with covid and treat for Coccidia first since I had that issue with chicks this year already. Then give a probiotic then move on to worming and then more probiotics.. Sterilize everything that I can.. I've already cleaned the coops. I clean them every weekend... is that enough? I'll check the crops on the other hens tonight. Anyone treat sour crop? My thought is they could have eaten some food that got wet since I toss out some scratch for them. I try to toss in the grass, but with this rain... idk..... but if anyone has any thoughts I'd be grateful for the help.

It only seems to be affecting the older faverolle hens.. so I'm suspecting it's their run and cocci first. I'll isolate the sick hens, and let the others out into a different area.. I will treat ALL the birds I have. with the corid.

I've been on line searching for everything today....... (work is going to wonder why there are so many inquiries for chicken poop! LOL!) Unless you guys can think of something else.

Found this in wiki... hmmm... wonder if gleet is indeed the issue, with the chicks too...

 

[RaZ]

Gleet is a new word to me. It is NOT in my Diseases of Poultry, 10th Edition

I searched on-line and found this, maybe it will help.
http://www.tillysnest.com/2012/12/vent-gleet-prevention-and-treatment.html

 

[SillyChicken]

Thanks Raz! Look up Thrush?

After looking into gleet or Thrush, its a yeast infection basically.. they seem to have most of the descriptive traits.. So, I'll be getting a disinfectant and spray down everything and start treating everyone for that first. The food is dry (except what they ate outside which could be the culprit).

 

[NovaAman]

Well, Silly, thanks, I am glad to hear they are well. Sorry about the lost hen and the gleet issue . Hope you can figure it out.

 

[RaZ]

Also consider external environmental factors.
I'm reading a peer-reviewed article on how pesticide applications may cause disruption of the internal flora within the gut. Some of the symptoms are similar to what I saw with gleet.

Also, we just had swap meet last week and there could have been a transference of an unknown illness. I'm not trying to alarm anyone. Just trying to eliminate variables that might be vectors of transfer of illness. We need to remain aware of bio-security and the protection of our animals' health.

 

[ladyrsanti]

A friend in California posted this on her page. Word is certainly getting around.

http://bakersgreenacres.com/?p=2328

 

[RaZ]

Some thoughts on the deep litter method for your coop...

I sectioned part of my garage for a coop back around October 2011. The footprint was ~ 9x11 feet (99 square feet).
I decided to try deep litter and built a base of straw, pine chips, sand and PZD. This is on a cement floor.

Now that my chickens are gone, I've pulled out all of the substrate. I have observed the following after 21 months:
1. There is no odor of ammonia present.
2. There were only 2 areas of dampness: where the waterer was and near the open door to the run. Both were only slightly damp.
3. There was very little dust, even when I started to shovel up the bedding.
4. There was no sign of decomposition (composting) taking place.
5. There was no evidence of insect activity.
6. There was no evidence of rodent presence, ie no rat droppings or mouse poop.
7. Some areas where more compacted than other areas but were consistent with the path to outside and the waterer.

I removed 9 barrows of litter from the coop today. Each barrow was ~10 cubic feet of volume. The pine chips were nearly pristine and the straw was merely broken physically rather than decomposed. There was no odor of decay whatsoever. In fact, when disturbed the pine shaving aroma was rather pleasant. Another observation was that the cement floor was completely dry under the substrate (except immediately near the open run door).

None of this is a scientific experiment. But I do find it interesting that the old saw that chickens are smelly just doesn't hold any validity. Same with attracting vermin. Or that deep litter is a composting method within a coop.

Now I'm curious as to how deep litter is with a dirt floor coop.

 

[snowflake]

I think I have a problem...no I know I do...

I lost a hen last night. I brought her in yesterday cleaned her up checked her over to see if I could figure out what the issue was...and she ended up dying over night. She was an old hen. 5-6 yrs old maybe... so maybe age and immune system played a role. She was very lethargic, fluffed up and drinking water (laying next to the water-er). I picked her up and she belched out a ton of water. I thought..maybe sour crop, I was a tad squishy, but I felt gravel and it seemed kinda empty for being end of the day. I gave her some olive oil and massaged her crop, but couldnt' get anything out of it.

But, she also had a poopy back end... not super wet.. could it have been vent gleet or just diarrhea? I have not seen blood in the poops, but I have two more hens (also older) that are showing the same symptoms..And I've seen some super watery poops lately. Is gleet contagious among hens? They all share the same box.

I think this rain is just making too perfect of an environment for all sorts of issues.

Anyone have any suggestions? I was going to start with covid and treat for Coccidia first since I had that issue with chicks this year already. Then give a probiotic then move on to worming and then more probiotics.. Sterilize everything that I can.. I've already cleaned the coops. I clean them every weekend... is that enough? I'll check the crops on the other hens tonight. Anyone treat sour crop? My thought is they could have eaten some food that got wet since I toss out some scratch for them. I try to toss in the grass, but with this rain... idk..... but if anyone has any thoughts I'd be grateful for the help.

It only seems to be affecting the older faverolle hens.. so I'm suspecting it's their run and cocci first. I'll isolate the sick hens, and let the others out into a different area.. I will treat ALL the birds I have. with the corid.

I've been on line searching for everything today....... (work is going to wonder why there are so many inquiries for chicken poop! LOL!) Unless you guys can think of something else.

don't know if the 2 are connected, but the poopy butt can be treated with epsomsalts bath then squirt Povidone Iodine on it,
maybe probiotics would help the intestine and garlic to boost the imune system

 

[Scifisarah]

Anyone willing to trade me 2-4 unopened bags of Chick Starter for 40 pound bags of Purina Layena Plus Omega? I'd be open to Dumor, Purine, Kent, or Blue Seal chick starter. I have thirteen coupons for free bags of Layena but only four adult chickens right now. Any idea how long chicken feed is good for? I guess I will just have to figure out how to store it since the coupons expire in October.

 

[1muttsfan]

Raz, for decomposition to happen the bedding needs to be a little moist, so if it was very dry you would not see that occur, the same as in a mulch pile. Lightly moist bedding is not smelly either, however to keep oxygen levels up deep in the bedding it should be turned every few weeks.