- May 11, 2013
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We've been keeping chickens for about 3 years with minimal problems. We started with three chickens that were about 2 years old. We lost one to a raccoon about 3 months ago. Just last week, we lost another one to some sort of illness--more on that in a minute. The remaining gal appears to be healthy--eating, drinking, laying, free-ranging in our yard when we are there to supervise, etc. I put a mirror in her coop so she has someone to talk to and keep her company. We also have 4 chicks--5 1/2 and 6 1/2 weeks old, and still living indoors, but having supervised time in the yard now that the weather is nice.
I haven't been able to clearly identify what might have caused the sickness/death in our Australorp. She was very lethargic (I didn't catch it at first, but looking back, I realize she had been lethargic for a couple of days before her symptoms became really obvious). One morning I found her sitting on the floor of the coop, very droopy and head hanging low. We took her out of the coop and put her in a crate with some straw. Because of our chicks, we had some antibiotic on hand, so I dosed the adult chickens' water, and we used an eye dropper to get some of the water into our sick girl. She then drank some on her own throughout the day, which was encouraging. Later in the day, we noticed her comb and wattle were turning a purplish/blue color. Also noticed very watery, liquid poop late in the day. I expected her to be dead by morning, but surprisingly she was still alive. I tried again to get her to drink and/or eat, but she was not interested in either. She just sat, head hanging, eyes mostly closed, very droopy. She did not appear to have any respiratory distress. Then, at about noon on Memorial Day, she lurched across the run and died a dramatic death.
My concerns at this point are:
I appreciate any advice you can offer!
I haven't been able to clearly identify what might have caused the sickness/death in our Australorp. She was very lethargic (I didn't catch it at first, but looking back, I realize she had been lethargic for a couple of days before her symptoms became really obvious). One morning I found her sitting on the floor of the coop, very droopy and head hanging low. We took her out of the coop and put her in a crate with some straw. Because of our chicks, we had some antibiotic on hand, so I dosed the adult chickens' water, and we used an eye dropper to get some of the water into our sick girl. She then drank some on her own throughout the day, which was encouraging. Later in the day, we noticed her comb and wattle were turning a purplish/blue color. Also noticed very watery, liquid poop late in the day. I expected her to be dead by morning, but surprisingly she was still alive. I tried again to get her to drink and/or eat, but she was not interested in either. She just sat, head hanging, eyes mostly closed, very droopy. She did not appear to have any respiratory distress. Then, at about noon on Memorial Day, she lurched across the run and died a dramatic death.
My concerns at this point are:
- What is the likelihood that my remaining hen--a Wyandotte--has been exposed to whatever illness overtook the Australorp? What can I do to keep her healthy? How can I determine whether or not it is safe for the chicks to be around her?
- Does the coop needs to be disinfected, and if so, how do I go about doing that?
- How long can my remaining hen be by herself? Do I need to transition the chicks to living outdoors sooner than later so the Wyandotte has some company?
- And then, of course, I will have all sorts of questions as to how I go about integrating chicks into the flock since we have not done this before...seems it must somehow be easier to integrate chicks into a "flock" of one...is this true?
I appreciate any advice you can offer!
