New chickens and they're sick!

[Miss Lydia]

Glad to hear their feeling better, maybe since they are settling in to new setup, it has subsided for now, from all I've read thats how it works, sure wish it was gone for good. Take some time off it can really get to you I know I've been there and so has most others on here..

 

[sabella]

Just heard back from the Ga Chicken Lab veterinarian. He said since it responded to abios so quickly then it's likely nothing but to give them a full 14 days on them and then a week off. If it comes back it is likely MG and will be tested. He said this is slim though as they are responding to the abios so well!

 

[RedneckChikns]

Im sooo glad to hear you have the upper hand.....we have ALL had this exp....at least anyone who has been in chickens awhile. Sometimes you want to throttle the seller, then again sometimes the seller just honestly didnt know, and sometimes your birds do pick up the funk when relocated picking something up at the new place. There are SOOOO many variables. Ive gotten sick chicks from the most reputable hatcheries and bought healthy LOVELY SQ birds from the dumpiest of places that you were almost scared to get out at.

This whole reporting thing is for the birds unless they have AI or something. Either the person is honest of they arent and if they havent offered to give you your money back by now you can write that off. Reporting them is a joke and threats are a joke and often make the buyer look like the small unknowlegable person (which they usually are). But you can spread their name throught the grapevine, usually to no avail. But keep in mind too...if you have wild birds at your house (who doesnt)...or soil on your ground, you run the risk of your birds getting sick. Next day sick..blame the seller, a week later sick and WHO KNOWS, could have come from the seller, or your place or the tires on your vehicle or the bottoms of your shoes and you carried the funk into your place. I know its hard to think in these terms but you must...do you go to a feed store?? Are you walking in the same place that joe blow and his sick chickens did and his has chicken poo on his boots? ANd you are both buying feed on the same day?? You can come home with the funk. Really. It can be that kinda scary with chickens.

Best you can do is what you can do, test, treat and cull if you have to. Dont blame the seller too quickly in most cases but take a look at your enviroment first. (but in your case you def. got sick birds from the seller). And remember even the healthiest looking bird can be a carrier of the nasties. Thats why QT is very impt. on all new birds and even THEN you cant always tell...and who can afford labs on all new birds if you are doing large amounts of them...no one does. That where biosecurity measures must be take seriously and that with some luck and you will have great birds.

I sell many chickens to first timers and backyarders and I want them to READ posts like this. Be an INFORMED Buyer. DONT buy at auctions! Be Cautious of swap meets. Worry about birds that have come home from a show enviroment. QT EVERYTHING and buy bleach and other disenfectants by the truck load...learn to be a FREAK about handwashing and changing clothes and shoes. And realize that chickens arent the hardiest creature and are carriers of lots of nasties that can cost you your entire flock! If you want a lifelong pet, get a puppy, if you want to take chickens seriously be ready to do your homework and follow bio security measures and be prepared for sickness and deaths-they happen in chickens!. NEVER let strangers in your pens or allow them to handle your birds. etc etc etc. And with chickens you do have to develope a bit of a hard heart.

Im glad your birds are doing well....dont loose any sleep over it. It is a learning exp. for you and for all the others who are following your story! And in your case the seller should have given you your money back on day 2! If yours got this, I wonder how many dead ones they have at THEIR place by now???

 

[sabella]

Thank you redneck. You have done as much to ease my mind as the vet did.

After all the death doom and destruction of the previous pages I was a bit frazzled.

 

[sabella]

Blue girl from first post

Here's the blue girl from this afternoon

 

[speckledhen]

She does look much better. Pretty girl you have. Hopefully, it doesn't ever come back. I just hate you went through all this stress with your first birds. I still would be super cautious with them, though. Do things to plump up their immune systems like vitamins and garlic and active culture yogurt.

 

[sabella]

Oh yeah. Definitely. After they get off the abios (7 days from now) they'll get raw apple cider vinegar (ACV) and pro biotics. The ACV has the added benefit of deworming.

And thanks, it would have been a shame to lose her.