Need help please. Pullet seems to have obstruction in throat and/or air sac/lung

[azygous]

The issue with your other chickens can be better addressed after you have a random poop sample analyzed. There's a certain efficacy in one shot in the dark, but more than that can get ridiculous. And dangerous.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Amelia Bedila is responding to treatment. Judging from her behavior, especially this morning, she is anxious to get back to her flock. I realize that I was very close to losing her so I don't want to push it. Just like you said, she started showing a huge turn around last night and this morning she seems just like herself. She gets very loud anytime my daughter and I leave the bedroom/bathroom and is talkative to us when we're in there. With that said, I'm in no rush, but I believe she is.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Amelia Bedila is responding to treatment. Judging from her behavior, especially this morning, she is anxious to get back to her flock. I realize that I was very close to losing her so I don't want to push it. Just like you said, she started showing a huge turn around last night and this morning she seems just like herself. She gets very loud anytime my daughter and I leave the bedroom/bathroom and is talkative to us when we're in there. With that said, I'm in no rush, but I believe she is.

I'm glad she is doing better!

Do you have enough space in your coop/run to either place a large dog kennel or fence a section off for her if you want to keep her somewhat separate? I feel they do much better if they can at least see the others. I try to not to separate a bird unless I have to, but in your case, I agree bringing her in for care was the right thing to do!

Also just curious of your plans for the cockerels? Can they be housed somewhere different? That's something to think about especially if you feel they may have contributed to her decline. I love roosters, but sometimes you have to manage them a bit differently, especially when young and full of hormones. Most of the time once mature they chill out except during spring LOL

 

[azygous]

That is just the best news! Now we have pretty good evidence AB is suffering from a bacterial infection and we got to it in time. It's now important to just keep up the mox twice a day for a full ten days from Monday.

And @Wyorp Rock is absolutely right about getting her back to her flock. Both AB and I were knocked on our asses, and while mine was relegated to being in bed all day yesterday and sleeping most of the day, chickens recover much differently. They make much better progress when kept active with their buddies.

When I have a sick chicken such as AB, she usually doesn't even need to be segregated as long as she's able to stand up for herself. And since chickens with an infection such as this usually respond quickly to an antibiotic, standing up for herself is usually not an issue. But after you return her, do keep an eye on her for a bit.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Thank you both for your replies. My main concern was her being contagious to the others. I am working on plans for the cockerels now. As much as I love cockerels/roosters, I can't allow them to make the girls lives miserable. Unfortunately I don't think that these 3 boys will be safe to integrate in my existing bachelor Flock as they are 2 silkies and a bantam cochin. The barred rock and 2 legbar/marans crosses are so much bigger. If I let them make another bachelor Flock, that would be 4 separate flocks, not including the ducks. I'm going to let Amelia Bedila visit and maybe put Blue in a dog kennel for a bit. I don't know what to do exactly but her health is far more important than his hormones. Both of you have been literal life and sanity savers and I will forever be grateful

 

[azygous]

I don't envy your having to figure out a plan to deal with your roosters. Back when I started keeping chickens, I found myself suddenly with three roos, and two began trying to kill each other the second they got a hormone between them.

It can happen awfully fast that you have a flock issue concerning roosters, and I dealt with it at first by barricading the roosters all into one twelve square foot section of the coop. I believe this was one of the first issues I brought to BYC soon after joining. I was told rather sternly, "What are you waiting for? You better get busy and build a bachelor pad for these boys."

It was like having a bucket of cold water tossed over my head. I got busy building a bachelor pad. Now, I go to great lengths to avoid having excess roos. Most recently I ended up having to cull a six-week old Blue Andelusian cockerel that had already begun to display very aggressive behavior and I knew from past experience, this one would not fit in easily with my other two roos. It wasn't an easy decision, but I'm glad I did it when I did.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I keep saying that I am going to cull all 3 of the 30 week olds in the bachelor Flock, because I'd cull than rehome them to someone that has bad intentions. That's such a fear of mine, is to rehome them to someone that will use them for fighting. That's such a sick thing I don't understand how anyone gets enjoyment out of it. When it comes down to it, I can't cull either. I'm such a softie that it's ridiculous. I've thought about calling around to local butchers to ask if they do the whole process, but I don't want to pay an arm and a leg either. 2 of my older boys (30 weeks old) will flog any of us if they get the chance. It's frustrating having to carry around a pool noodle to keep them off of us. My daughter is always terrified so she makes sure I am always in between her and the 2 mean boys. You'd think this would be enough, but here we are. She hasn't been flogged and I imagine if she was, their existence would be in past tense. The little guys (a 17 week old Silkie, 16 week old bantam cochin, and a 16 week old silkie) have shown aggression so even though I was hoping for silkie and silkie cross chicks, that's a terrible idea and shouldn't happen, so I need to fix the situation asap. 4 separate flocks is a lot, when if I could just do what's needed and wanted, I'd have 2 flocks of pullets and then ducks. So instead of 5 coops, I'd have 3 (all of these numbers are including the 6 ducks and their duck house/coop)

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I keep saying that I am going to cull all 3 of the 30 week olds in the bachelor Flock, because I'd cull than rehome them to someone that has bad intentions. That's such a fear of mine, is to rehome them to someone that will use them for fighting. That's such a sick thing I don't understand how anyone gets enjoyment out of it. When it comes down to it, I can't cull either. I'm such a softie that it's ridiculous. I've thought about calling around to local butchers to ask if they do the whole process, but I don't want to pay an arm and a leg either. 2 of my older boys (30 weeks old) will flog any of us if they get the chance. It's frustrating having to carry around a pool noodle to keep them off of us. My daughter is always terrified so she makes sure I am always in between her and the 2 mean boys. You'd think this would be enough, but here we are. She hasn't been flogged and I imagine if she was, their existence would be in past tense. The little guys (a 17 week old Silkie, 16 week old bantam cochin, and a 16 week old silkie) have shown aggression so even though I was hoping for silkie and silkie cross chicks, that's a terrible idea and shouldn't happen, so I need to fix the situation asap. 4 separate flocks is a lot, when if I could just do what's needed and wanted, I'd have 2 flocks of pullets and then ducks. So instead of 5 coops, I'd have 3 (all of these numbers are including the 6 ducks and their duck house/coop)

You may want to try to re-home them.

Silkies and Cochins are not used for fighting, but you would want to let prospective takers know that they are "human aggressive".

Growing them out a bit more and butchering is definitely an option. Many a good thread and tutorial here on BYC and online how to process chickens. If nothing else, skin them and take breast, thighs/legs - this way you don't have to deal with quite so much of the plucking and "innards" that you have to with plucking/whole processing.

 

[azygous]

Hard decisions are hard. No one has ever argued otherwise. I've sure had to make some eye watering decisions in my life that were not going to have happy outcomes either way I decided. And you know what? It never gets easier even after decades of facing them.

You are already weighing the pros and cons. That's how I always began the decision process. What are the benefits? What are the liabilities? Will the decision benefit more living beings than the opposite decision prevents me pain? It's complicated and involves a lot of soul searching.

And the really hard thing is that you are on your own in the decision. No one else has the same set of circumstances you do, so only you can make the best decision for your family and your flock.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

@Momplus1 how is Amelia Bedila doing?