more sick babies, REALLY need some help this time!!!!

[Ema]

last week I filled out the questionnaire about a sick 7 week old pullet I had, I didn't really get any responses other than for one. I did everything I could for her but after several days she was doing worse, flapping about like she was having seizures and refused all food and water. She was so lethargic that she truly did look dead. I decided to end her suffering, fully knowing that what ever she had had gone too far along and there was no way she would get better. here is the link to the other post:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=541906

Which bring me to today, 2 more babies are exhibiting the exact same symptoms. now I am scared that the whole flock will be infected including my big girl layers in a nearby coop and the Turkeys. I cannot be certain that they are suffering from anything bacterial or viral, the symptoms are the same with all three pullets. I read up on the merck's vet dictionary and well a lot of diseases/issues result with paralysis and unresponsiveness.

It has been incredibly hot here, record high temps to be honest. Both feeders are full and checked each day, waterers are changed daily and refilled throughout the day due to the heat and the water going warm. I also have a ton of mosquitoes, enough to be called an infestation. And enough to keep them from wanting to go back into their coop in the evening.

The hens I currently have ill currently have watery diarrhea and its greenish, all signs point to heat exhaustion. I have decided to make them stay inside now, regardless of the fact they did not want to go in, I placed a fan in the coop to circulate the air and I went a step further and called my vet who referred me to a farm animal vet. I skipped work to go out of town and pick up Tetracycline 250, the only antibiotic they carry for poultry and he advised me to add 1 gram to 5 liters of water every day for 5 days, but that if another hen dies to bring her in for a necrosis exam to verify what they possibly have if anything.

What I need is people to help me out and give me some ideas on what I might be looking at, I listed all symptoms in the previous post, link is up above and if anyone has dealt with heat exhaustion, are those symptoms in compliance with it??

I am going on my second year with birds and have had no issues until now....

Ema

 

[Judy]

It does sound like heat. Mine are finally learning to walk or stand in a shallow pan of water that I keep a couple of frozen milk jugs in, besides having a fan and shade, and my hosing their area on bad days. No losses to heat yet. There are lots of threads on here right now about the heat, probably 2 or 3 a day.

Mosquitoes are a pain but won't make them sick unless they get wet fowl pox, which is unusual, and you are not describing any symptoms of it. Do you worm your chickens? Check for mites/lice? A heavy worm load in this heat might bee too much for them. And I have no idea what wormers you can get there.

 

[CapricornFarm]

It may be heat exhaustion. If you get a bird like that again , try putting it in a bucket of water. You need to get the body temperature down when it gets too high, so water evaporating off them helps. Getting fluids with electrolytes into them is important as well. Prevention is even better. In addition to fresh water, ice in the waterers in the form of frozen water bottles helps. I have been adding shallow pans and mud puddles so the chickens can wade in them and cool their feet. Cool treats like watermelon are appreciated too. Hope this helps, I would not force them to stay inside, unless there is a fan on. Sorry about your chicken.

 

[Ema]

sorry I forgot too add....

I do have a small kiddie pool with a bit of water that I replenish every day with cool water, my turkeys love love to stand in it and cool off their legs and I have seen a couple chickens in there too.

It took me a while but I did inspect all the chicks and my turkeys, all seem healthy, no mites or worms in their poop, eyes are nice colouring and their feathers look great. The only thing is that some of them are a bit dirty from the mud. their run used to be grass, there is still some grass but not a whole lot now that they stomped it down. I grab the hose and hose down the run so the ground is cool for them to lay on. they also have a tarp on the run to give them shade.

I am soo worried, this heat doesn't seem to be letting up, some parts of our province are at a record high of 50 Celsius here the highest we've hit thus far was 42 C with the humidity, awfully hot, not even my digs who love being out doors want to stay out there longer than 5 minutes and cry to come back in immediately. We've had no rain really, and the bit we've had just made it even hotter.

we hope that by keeping them inside during this heat spell that it will get better, combined with the antibiotics in their water. I tried giving them cold water melon but they looked at it like it was an alien and avoided it. so the flies got to it and I disposed of it. I can't even get them to eat scrambled eggs or hard boiled eggs, they are just not normal birds lol. my big girls gobble everything up in seconds.

Ema

 

[Ema]

Dh and I were talking and to take the extra precaution we will be taking the whole flock out or their coop, we recently built this new coop and run, but we are planning on taking everything out and spraying it down with bio-Earth including the inside and outside of the coop and run. We will then rinse it down with just plain water. I have not seen any mites etc on the chickens, but I want to make sure that lice/mites is not an issue or something inside the coop.

As for the hens, they each received a cool bath, and I cleaned their feathers cause they had a bit of dirt, while they were wet I inspected their feathers. they are refusing food, but are drinking the medicated water, but only when I coax them too. they are pretty weak.

Anyone know if it will cause them any harm if I give them a bit of yoplait banana yogurt drink?? or should I just avoid it completely until the meds are out of them. Anything I can give them to boost them up?? I already gave them Polyvisol earlier today. they will not eat boiled eggs

 

[ChooksChick]

YES!! Give them yogurt! They really need it if you're giving them antibiotics- to replenish their gut flora just like humans need after/during antibiotics.

I highly recommend going to a local pet store and getting baby parrot formula. There are several brands, but they are all very similar. They are a powdered feed that contains pre- and pro-biotics, electrolytes, protein, vitamins, minerals, etc. It's really as good as a concentrated food can get for them, and it will make the most of you getting any food into them. The best part is that they generally really like it once they get a taste of it.

The worst part of ill chooks is that they lose their appetite first, which of course causes a chain reaction of other failures, and you might lose them despite the original problem being fixed.

I highly recommend keeping them inside an airconditioned area for 3 days to stabilize their body temps and functions. You can sprinkle the baby parrot formula over their feed, mix it with water to make a paste, or even mix it with juice or water to dribble over their beaks to get them to take it. If you have to force it, you can put a feeding syringe into the back RIGHT (bird's right, same side as their crop) of their mouth, a bit at a time.

This will also improve their gut flora. I hope you can get some good success!

 

[ChooksChick]

I should also point you here:

I've put together some articles to help folks out during this incredible heat...we're on our 3rd week of triple-digit heat index temps.

There's a Heat and Your Chickens post on my BYC page. I keep mine cool using a bunch of different methods and letting them choose what they like most.

 

[Ema]

Chookschick:

thank you for answering my post, I was beginning to think all the veterans were on vacation ahahahaha. I know I haven't been on in a while due to work but all was going superbly well.

I will head to the store tomorrow and will pick up that formula. and thank you for that link. I searched the forum left and right and funny enough I never came across your page anyhow thanks for sharing and thanks for the wisdom

 

[ChooksChick]

Quote:
You're quite welcome! I was off the forum quite a bit and missed your posts- I moved my WHOLE FARM...and in this heat. Hope you can get those babies up and at 'em again.

If any are sitting tucked up (with their neck retracted into their bodies, fluffed up) you may have coccidiosis going on, to boot. This will make them malnourished and lethargic, as their intestines are being attacked by parasites.

Find some Amprolium pronto if you suspect this. Brand names are Corid, Amprol, and more. It's a Thiamine blocker and won't weaken them with treatment, and it works very quickly. They can pass very quickly and without very many symptoms with this illness, and heat exacerbates the problem. Coccidia naturally are present in the soil, and sometimes they overwhelm the chicks before they build an immunity.

Good luck!

 

[theparrotletdude]

Make an appointment with the vet

Try putting and ice cube in the water each time you change it, maybe it will help it stay cool.