My chickens are sick, please help!!!

[Quack and Cheep]

I have disabled children and we hatched some rare breed chickens last year as a hobby and it's been lovely up until now.

All has been fine up until now, the coop has been regularly cleaned and they have a massive aviary to themselves and are let out for an hour or two a day to keep the lawn down! The aviary floor is natural ground with bark chippings and shavings.

It has been a nightmare trying to keep everything dry though as the weather has been so awful here for months on end.

We also hatched some more this year and those seem fine right now.

We have Lavender aracanas, Appenzeller Spitzhauben, Favorelles, Frizzle pekins, two scatty but gorgeous White Leghorns and a Wyandotte.

But of the year old ones, I have 30 of them, some have developed respiratory problems.

I introduced two gold appenzeller pullets to the flock about 4 months ago that I purchased from a breeder. I quaranteened the two pullets for six weeks and as soon as I put them into the flock I noticed scaley leg mites, so out they came from the flock and were treated with Ivermictin from the vet.

The two of them are very noisy, squawking like crazy much worse that the others I have. I wormed them as soon as I got them with flubenvet and the scaley leg mites have now gone, could this be the root of the respiritory infection in my flock?

I regularly worm the birds with flubenvet twice a year and they have apple cider vinegar in their water. They are fed the appropriate heygates food for their age with fresh veg and occasionally fruit.

I put extra poultry grit into the aviary, just grit this time, not oyster shells, could I have hurt them by giving them grit that is too rough for them, causing damage resulting in infection?

I have taken it all out now and they are free roaming all over the garden to get the natural grit from our flower boarders.

I have done some research and the two most effective drugs for respiritory infections in chickens are Erythromycin and Doxycyline which is a drug to take care with in humans (used as an antimalarial) and can cause sensitivity to light in humans.

I have some ornimyco which is doxycyline 20mg each tablet for pigeons in a soluble form, I am hoping this will do the trick as my vet doesn't seem to know much about chickens as he practises mainly in small domestic animals like cats and dogs.

I am going to treat them all as this can be used as a preventative measure too, but I have seperated the sick rattly chest ones but want to get the antibiotics inside them asap.

Before I call the vet, does anyone know the correct dosage to mix in a litre of water for them? I read that it is 5mg to 1 litre of water on one poultry website, but that seems very strong if one pigeon takes 20mg a day for 5 days.

I would call the vet first but I know he will just do the same as me and look it up on the internet because he's not a chicken expert, so thought I'd ask here first before asking him.

 

[Judy]

Many chicken respiratory diseases are viral so antibiotics will not cure them. You can guess from the symptoms, but in the end, testing is the only way to be sure. Perhaps you will want to contact your state vet or a local ag college.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-injuries-diseases-how-to-diagnose-treat-your-chickens

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...try-often-mistaken-for-crd-mycoplasmosis/0_20

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/40141/link-find-your-state-vet-for-a-necropsy/0_20

 

[ChickenCanoe]

What is the ventilation like? 30 birds should have huge openings in the neighborhood of an entire open wall.
I find that often, when a respiratory problem occurs, ventilation is insufficient.

I feel you on the weather, it's been rough here too.

 

[Quack and Cheep]

Hi guys,

Thank you for all the information and the web addresses, I've been looking at them.

Vventilation is now good, I think possibly it may have not been sufficient before, they had large holes in their coup but the weather is a lot warmer now and they need more air inside. I have removed 3 large sections from their coup and replaced them with chicken wire. I have also made a light cover in case it rains.

But what to do now? Some are still sick and are sneezing with bubbly noses, they are still eating, I am dosing them with antibiotics but some of them look very thin and ill after two days. Their noses are still runny and I hear the occasional sneeze but it's not as bad as it was.

I have given them some nice warm mash and they love that, is there anything else that I might do to help them to recover other than keeping them warm, dry, fed and well ventilated?

They are lovely friendly birds, so can't wait until they are better.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Call around for an avian vet with experience with chickens - they're rare as hen's teeth. You're right, one without experience may misdiagnose.
Flockwatcher is right that most respiratory diseases can't be cured with antibiotics, however by now the birds, in their weakened state could have secondary infection the antibiotics could address.
Common things are infectious bronchitis and infectious laryngotracheitis, neither of which will antibiotics cure and the latter is untreatable. In the US it is a reportable disease.
Less common things are chlamydiosis, aspergillosis cholera and influenza, none of which have an effective treatment.
I really think it's time to get some lab work done before you have to cull the whole flock.

On a side note, if the scaly-leg mites persist, they can be controlled by brushing roosts and chicken's legs once a month with a mixture of one part kerosene and two parts linseed oil.

 

[Quack and Cheep]

Thank you for your advice, I had heard that kerasine and liquid parafin mixed could help so sounds like the same type of thing if they ever re occur.

I have already started asking about for an avian vet but can't find one yet. I'm tempted to take one to Sparsholt college to see if they can help. I will do, if they are not better by Monday.

I pray I don't have to cull them all, they are so lovely.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If there is a college with a poultry veterinary department, that would be the way to go. If Sparsholt doesn't do necropsies on poultry they should be able to send you in the right direction. Throat and nasal swab samples, blood samples and fecal samples at a minimum.
Perhaps cull your sickest bird and send it there. Sounds drastic but that would be the best way to find out exactly what's going on. After all, you're doing it for the health of your whole flock.
If you do that, make sure you ask the lab how to treat the carcass. (don't freeze it)
I found some good info for you.
http://www.ukas.org/testing/schedules/Actual/1769Testing Multiple.pdf
The lab on page 7 is in Hampshire, call and see if they do poultry.
Once you know what it is, you'll know how to treat and manage the building.

More info

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/artic...quarterly-surveillance-report-april-june-2009

 

[Quack and Cheep]

That is really sweet of you, thank you very much I will do.

The problem is that the sickest bird is the first hatched, my autisitic son's pet, I will probably choose the next one in line to cull and continue to isolate the symtomatic sick ones :0(

 

[Quack and Cheep]

autisitic = autistic

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Understood.
If the one in Hampshire only does swine there are plenty of others on the list that do poultry. Properly prepared and packaged, it could be overnighted to one of them. Vet schools' fees are usually quite low as are government labs.