Official BYC Poll: Which of these health problems has affected your flock?

[Tclloyd0812]

I didn't know that it was safe to sell chicks if you've had Mareks in your flock. How does that work? This is an innocent question. No ill intention in any way.

Edited to add: My apologies. I didn't mean to go off topic and I believe this could lead that way. Please disregard

I don't have a flock that has mareks. I was talking about my original flock from a few years back. This thread was asking what you've dealt with in your flock and I was explaining how my original flock was sick because of introducing sick hens unknowingly.
I would NEVER sell chicks from a flock that was sick. That is why I said we couldn't do anything with sick birds so we culled the ones that didn't die. They were all culled a few years back.

Our newer flock now that we breed and sell chicks from is clean and we are on the waiting list for being NPIP certified around Thanksgiving.

Edited to add: We are very strong believers in the Mareks vaccination now because of our previous experience. No bird that enters our property comes without a vaccine.

Also, wanted to clarify we sanitized the old coop 2 times and aired it out for 6 weeks before introducing new birds, but they were still chicks because I hatched them out in my incubator so it was more like 10 weeks before they even went in the new coop. My NEWER flock (I say newer because I'm talking about my healthy breeding flock I have now) all are doing well and haven't shown any signs of diseases over the time I've had them. And we made sure to only buy from good, reputable breeders with clean bills of health and hatched their eggs out myself.

 

[Perris]

Some of my flock have definitely had mild cases of lice, mites and coccidiosis at one time or another, which they pick up from the environment and mostly deal with themselves, via dustbaths or develop immunity to (they free range and it's unavoidable).

I suspect some might have or had MG; there's definitely some sort of disease here that took 5 of last year's 6 home bred and grown chicks (all died on verge of maturity, not when they were chicks; 2 suddenly and 3 wasted away); the one that survived only weighs about 1kg and has liver or kidney damage (sulfur yellow urates). She otherwise seems fine, tail up, eats well, poos well, and is not bullied by the rest of the flock, so I think she recovered (liver/ kidneys apart) from whatever it was, but I don't think she'll ever lay. None of the adults showed symptoms, so either they've got natural immunity or weren't as susceptible as the youngsters. This year's chicks have not yet shown any sign of it either, but they're not yet as old as last year's were when they died.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I don't have a flock that has mareks. I was talking about my original flock from a few years back. This thread was asking what you've dealt with in your flock and I was explaining how my original flock was sick because of introducing sick hens unknowingly.
I would NEVER sell chicks from a flock that was sick. That is why I said we couldn't do anything with sick birds so we culled the ones that didn't die. They were all culled a few years back.

Our newer flock now that we breed and sell chicks from is clean and we are on the waiting list for being NPIP certified around Thanksgiving.

Edited to add: We are very strong believers in the Mareks vaccination now because of our previous experience. No bird that enters our property comes without a vaccine.

Also, wanted to clarify we sanitized the old coop 2 times and aired it out for 6 weeks before introducing new birds, but they were still chicks because I hatched them out in my incubator so it was more like 10 weeks before they even went in the new coop. My NEWER flock (I say newer because I'm talking about my healthy breeding flock I have now) all are doing well and haven't shown any signs of diseases over the time I've had them. And we made sure to only buy from good, reputable breeders with clean bills of health and hatched their eggs out myself.

Thank you so much for your kind and thorough explanation. I wasn’t sure how that works, but you really helped me understand and I really appreciate you taking the time for that. Congratulations with your upcoming NPIP certification!

 

[Cryss]

Besides bumble foot and worms I have one hen with heart problems evidenced by water belly which I drain occasionally if needed. I have just recently started having a problem with infected foot feather follicles (say that 3 times fast!). This includes a swollen thick red line up the feathered side of the leg. Then I noticed a non foot feathered bird with a very thin red line in the same area so now I’m thinking whatever causes the line is also causing the infected foot feather follicles rather than vice versa. I may make a thread for advice.

 

[Tclloyd0812]

Thank you so much for your kind and thorough explanation. I wasn’t sure how that works, but you really helped me understand and I really appreciate you taking the time for that. Congratulations with your upcoming NPIP certification!

No problem! I think I just worded it weird originally so it was hard to understand! I definitely understand your concerns! Thanks!

 

[Owllea]

A few lice come and go, but for the most part things have gone smoothly.
The ‘other’ includes one chicken with a hernia that ruptured while we were out with them, and we were able to help her go in peace rather than be eaten alive by her coop mates. Another hen, “Harriette” got attacked by a dog-healed- then got an impacted sour crop that required surgery-healed- then got a hernia and was recently peacefully put to rest after months of just waiting for a rupture to happen.
I’m hoping breeding some sturdy farm mutt chickens will avoid hernias from being a regular thing. Harriette was a black sex link and the first one “Beverly” was a production red or RIR from Orshlens. So maybe the heavy layers are more prone?

 

[micstrachan]

Laying disorders has been the biggie. I believe 3 had EYP. (One confirmed upon necropsy, one diagnosed by avian vet and one presumed to have it based on chronic soft eggs and rapid onset of symptoms). One died of fatty liver hemorrhage and a chick died with Marek’s-like symptoms. I currently have a hen with ascites that fills back up after draining within one week. She also has an unidentified mass. She will likely be euthanized this week and sent for necropsy.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Laying disorders has been the biggie. I believe 3 had EYP. (One confirmed upon necropsy, one diagnosed by avian vet and one presumed to have it based on chronic soft eggs and rapid onset of symptoms). One died of fatty liver hemorrhage and a chick died with Marek’s-like symptoms. I currently have a hen with ascites that fills back up after draining within one week. She also has an unidentified mass. She will likely be euthanized this week and sent for necropsy.

You've had a rough go of it within the last year or so, if memory serves. I have "watched" you deal with and overcome a lot with your flock. You are rather amazing, if I may say so.

Seems like chicken health problems come and go in waves...

 

[Bridget B]

I have just finished treating all of my older birds for coccidiosis as I had one bird that passed away one day after I noticed that something was wrong. When I picked her up that evening, she felt thin to me. The next morning she was dead. She was one of my favorites, her name was Deloris. I started looking around and noticed a bloody stool under the roost where she was the night before.

We just got ten new chicks, and of course they are separated from the other birds. Thinking that now is the time to medicate the adults for cocci and after that we will worm them. The chicks are fine now, but I'm not going to take any chances. I'm monitoring them really closely, if one does get sick I'll have to treat them all I suppose. The chicks are only 2 weeks old, so adorable and spunky.

I had two other casualties from my original and first flock. One was bullied to death. She was pecked in the eye. I treated her with antibiotics and she seemed like she was getting better, at least for another month. Then she started having neurological symptoms. I had to euthanize her. It was obvious that it had gone to her brain.

The last bird that was lost had also been bullied, she was the bottom of the pecking order in the old coop. We had three Minorca's that were in the first flock. They are really interesting birds, and great layers, but mine are very flighty and also prone to be bullies. When we built our new coop we moved them over to it with the rest of the birds. The bullying started right away. I decided to put the Minorca's back in the old coop. Shortly after the move, the bottom Minorca died. She stopped laying a few weeks prior, so I thought it was from the moves. The other birds also had stopped laying but we had 115 degree heat the week the bird died. So that was also part of the problem. I got a fan and a mister that solved the heat problem in the new coop and run. The Minorca's came in the house for a couple of weeks to make sure they were cool enough. I have found a new home for them with a friend that lives in a cooler town, south of Phoenix.

Sadly, my poor birds suffered from my ignorance in chicken keeping. I will have to stay on a yearly plan for Coccidiosis and worming. I need to gather a first aid for chickens basket too. I want to be ready for any emergency.

Thanks to everyone here that submitted informational materials for us newbies. I had been lurking for over 5 years, but still have so much to learn.

 

[TOPChickens14]

My flock is pretty bad at feather picking and I have had a few hens die from I don't know what.