Old(ish??) hens prone to illness?

[Mrs. K]

Well, I have only had one sick chicken. A yellow fluid was draining from her mouth, and I pulled her immediately and culled her.

I have never had egg binding. I wonder if it is because I have a large 600 sq foot run, and a lot of clutter so my birds jump up on things, down, over and under - they get more exercise? Or is it I don't recognize it, but I have never seen the penguin stance that people post on here.

We live in pure sand - my birds create their own sand baths - the spot moves around the coop. But I have never had lice or mites (whispering here).

I have had sudden death syndrome, where one day the bird is fine, and the next day dead. But one does not treat that.

My biggest problem is predators, and I love to let them out to free range. I now have a current run that is chain link, and if I keep them confined, I don't loose them.

I don't have real long lived birds - in my flock a 4-5 year old bird is an old bird. I have only had two get to that age. And I lost them both to a predator when they died.

I would however, not treat a prolapse or impacted crop, I would cull those birds. I would treat lice or mites. To be honest, I seldom handle my birds, as in a lot of them have never been touched. I just watch them. I tend to have a rag bag crossbred group. I have gotten pure bred chickens, but find I really like a mixed flock better.

I am rather casual about their diet, they get all the table scraps, and scratch. Along with chicken feed. I tend to feed chick starter to everyone when I have chicks, as I can get it easier than all flock. I do hatch at least once a year, or buy chicks.

I hope like crazy I have not jinxed myself.

Mrs K

 

[BDutch]

What kind of info would be needed?

I see you described a bit more
Best is to film the chickens and post this on Vimeo/YouTube with a link here. Extra close up photo’s to complete it.

I don't honestly know whether they're miserable or not. Both peck, scratch, and go nuts for mealworms just like normal chickens.

I don’t get the impression they are very sick with this description. And obvious want to live if they are enthusiastically coming over for treats.
The bluish comb can be a heart condition but not a big problem when she runs dor treats. Sitting bold is no good sign either but can be temporary. My oldest chicken did this twice for a couple of weeks too.

I am trying to decide if they're even worth keeping if they are not healthy.

I have a few old bantam chickens. My oldest is 11 yo, and had a few periods where she was not fit. Slow and sitting on one spot more than usual. Was the last to come out when I opened the run door to let them free range. But she still enjoys the sun baths, searches for food and is respected by the other hens. Atm she is more active again and stopped sitting bold. She completely stopped laying this year and her comb is very small without a nice red colour. Another 10yo stopped laying this summer and has a small comb without much colour too. I like to have them around for company and don’t intend to cull them. I think they are fine as long as they walk around, talk chicken, and have a good appetite.

 

[BDutch]

Scabbing: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/scabbing-sticktight-fleas.1674842/

It seems you are a bit of a worrying type when it comes to the health of your chickens.
I have a young hen who got black spots on her comb when it got very hot early summer. She got it bc she didn’t calm down and didn’t go into the shade like the others. She learned from it and nows now to stay calmer and drink more. It had me worried too bc i never had this with my other chickens. She fine now. It took over a month to disappear and look fine again.
I can only advise to be patient with chickens that have something wrong as long as they do not have parasites or anything seriously wrong with them.

Maybe it takes a couple of years to get more confident chickens are living creatures with ups and downs. Having commercial laying hybrids does not help. The backyard mutts and heritage breeds are often healthier and have a longer life without health issues. Maybe that is something to keep in mind if you want to expand in the future. But be super carefull with buying older chicks or pullets. You don’t want to bring in a new disease into your current flock.

 

[BDutch]

That's the direction I'm leaning. I do not want chickens just to have something to doctor. The more hands off, the better for me. You mentioned you have never doctored a bird - can you elaborate? Does your flock just not have many issues, or do you let them sort themselves out when they arise? Or, do you cull at first sign of needing doctoring?

Everyone has a different approach. Some cull immediately when a problem occurs. Other try to heal at any cost. Most chicken keepers are somewhere in the middle.

I ask because in the duration of the last year, my flock has had one issue or another. Some were fixable (impacted crop, scaly leg mites, injury) and some weren't (egg binding, prolapse).

Great jobs!

So to hear you say you have NEVER doctored a bird...that is like a foreign concept to me. I didn't know anyone could do that.

I hardly ever doctored a bird. Never went to a vet with them. But I do give injured birds time to heal and address parasite problems like red mites.

If my experience is an average experience for most, then I may re-evaluate owning chickens.

You sure had a difficult start buying ex-commercial hens. Many health issues you experienced with the ISA’s are related to ex-factory farming hybrids who were solemnly bred for egg laying in the first 20 months of their short lives.

Taking another path in the future will make keeping chickens a lot easier with a little bit of luck.

I enjoy my (healthy) chickens, but honestly, I didn't expect chickens to require this much maintenance. They need care, of course, but not constant fretting on.

I had trouble too in my first year, buying chicks with health issues. Initially I kept one cockerel and next spring I gathered eggs, had to get rid of the rooster and let my first broody sit on the fertilised eggs. The chicks got a cold. A rat appeared. Had 3 cockerels who had to go . But had no trouble after that for about 5 years. They required not much care or maintenance at all.

Some periods are easy, some periods are difficult. I have chickens now for 11+ years and still enjoy having them, for fun and eggs.

Nowadays if I want new chickens I do some research where I can buy fertilised bantam eggs (a bantam breed I want) and wait until I have a broody in spring. Then I buy fertilised eggs within an hour drive.
This way I kept away from Marek and other diseases without quarantining. And enjoyed the fun of having a mother hen with baby chicks, who learn to live a chicken life from an experienced mother. Getting safe chicks can be done with an incubator and raising chicks in a brooder too.

In the US many people buy sexed chicks from large hatcheries who get send by mail. This is a no-go in my country and many other countries.

I hope you can make a decision that suits you, reading the different approaches and experiences from others. Whatever you choose is okay. One direction doesn’t have to be better than the other but keeping chickens has to be fun if it’s not for a living.

 

[WannabeHomsteader]

Everyone has a different approach. Some cull immediately when a problem occurs. Other try to heal at any cost. Most chicken keepers are somewhere in the middle.

Great jobs!

I hardly ever doctored a bird. Never went to a vet with them. But I do give injured birds time to heal and address parasite problems like red mites.


You sure had a difficult start buying ex-commercial hens. Many health issues you experienced with the ISA’s are related to ex-factory farming hybrids who were solemnly bred for egg laying in the first 20 months of their short lives.

Taking another path in the future will make keeping chickens a lot easier with a little bit of luck.


I had trouble too in my first year, buying chicks with health issues. Initially I kept one cockerel and next spring I gathered eggs, had to get rid of the rooster and let my first broody sit on the fertilised eggs. The chicks got a cold. A rat appeared. Had 3 cockerels who had to go . But had no trouble after that for about 5 years. They required not much care or maintenance at all.

Some periods are easy, some periods are difficult. I have chickens now for 11+ years and still enjoy having them, for fun and eggs.

Nowadays if I want new chickens I do some research where I can buy fertilised bantam eggs (a bantam breed I want) and wait until I have a broody in spring. Then I buy fertilised eggs within an hour drive.
This way I kept away from Marek and other diseases without quarantining. And enjoyed the fun of having a mother hen with baby chicks, who learn to live a chicken life from an experienced mother. Getting safe chicks can be done with an incubator and raising chicks in a brooder too.

In the US many people buy sexed chicks from large hatcheries who get send by mail. This is a no-go in my country and many other countries.

I hope you can make a decision that suits you, reading the different approaches and experiences from others. Whatever you choose is okay. One direction doesn’t have to be better than the other but keeping chickens has to be fun if it’s not for a living.

Thanks for all your advice and thoughts. Yes, perhaps I am just a worrying type. I suppose, more than anything, I was curious to know how other people manage their flocks when it comes to less-than-amazing health, and you addressed it. Most chicken keepers are "somewhere in the middle". I will not be buying ex-commercial hens again - my 3 pullets are bantams I bought as chicks a few months ago, and I have enjoyed them. I am planning to hatch fertilized eggs someday if/when the bantams go broody.