Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[Blarneyeggs]

[COLOR=FF0000]I am freaking out![/COLOR]

Some one please, help me out here.  I have a brooder full of sneezing & raspy breathing chicks.  I am not kidding.  It started with the older ones that were in with my ducks and now it has spread to almost everyone else.  I had two that are gasping like they have something stuck in their throats.  They did stop when they fall asleep.  One passed since this morning.  They have been on Duramycin for 3 days with more spread and no improvement.  There is no eye or nose discharge.  Just the sneezing and raspiness.  Everyone is still eating & drinking and no one is acting cold.

I have NO idea what the heck to do!  The chicks range from 5 days to nearly 3wks old.  I have 150 chicks at stake - chocolates, Polish tolbunts, my restart of wheaten Ameraucanas, bantam BBS Orps... Plus more chicks in the hatcher that I have no idea what to do with!

I thought, and still think, this started with the chicks that were in the brooder with the messy ducks.  Could they have brooder pneumonia and they are passing the bacteria?  Or is this something else?  I am concerned because of that black cockerel I got that has the clear nasal discharge and the sneeze.  I have been VERY careful to wash an disinfect when I work with him.  But, he's in with 3 girls and none of them are sick (all in quarantine)  So, obviously that's not contagious.  I've had them for 2wks and no spread.

Some, please tell me you've dealt with something like this and what you did.  OMG, I hope I don't have to cull everyone.

So Sorry, Bobbi. Could you take the chick that you lost for Necropsy? Then you would know for sure what you're dealing with.

 

[LeBlackbird]

[COLOR=800000]I have to ask if our young enabler is going to the summer picnic and swap,,,,really hoping for a couple of those buckeye culls.[/COLOR]

I'll have to see what I'll be up to, I'm going to try!! That's at Galgo's house right?

Poultry 101 was fun!!! Long day though, can't say I looked forward to getting up at 4:30. Regardless, learned alot and enjoyed it

 

[chiques chicks]

Fruit tree's in chicken run....Is this a good idea ?   would it even grow with the high nitrogen of chicken poo ?   would a certain kind of fruit do better than others ?  hubby wants a cherry tree, I was thinking plum...

Help...especially those that have been to my place,  is this even possible without the tree just being a waste??

My one run looks like yours and has the year old apple trees in it. Don't know if it I'd going to hurt the trees or not. I would think they might be OK at three outer half of yours. Jmo

 

[LeBlackbird]

My escapee slate hen has returned home all on her own!!!! JJ noticed her out around the pen & called me to help. I told him to put tom & the other hen inside the coop & open the pen door. We stood & watched for about 10-15 minutes as she slowly came closer & eventually started trying to find a way through the wire. We edged a bit closer from opposite sides of the pen & just kept her from walking on past us with our presence. She eventually walked right in the pen once she found the door. JJ hurried up & closed the gate & let tom & the other hen out. They are all 1 big happy family again. (Lucky for a man & a couple kids I knew Tom would call her back & we just needed to give her some time.)

YAYY!!!!!

 

[PrnzsButtrcluck]

I am actually I little exctied, my son brings home a book on Jim Henson to do a report on him! He was so excited and I was excited because he knows who Jim Henson is!! Perhaps I will help him make a Puppet to go with his report!! A Ryan Muppet!!

You must!!!

 

[heatherscooby77]

I have bought birds from papabrooder. I had an awesome hatch rate for eggies coming from California! I got 15 English Orps, and 3 b/b/s Ameraucana. Highly recommend him! I wanted to say that all 3 AMs hatched and 12/15 Orps hatched.

 

[Chick a dee1023]

My escapee slate hen has returned home all on her own!!!! JJ noticed her out around the pen & called me to help. I told him to put tom & the other hen inside the coop & open the pen door. We stood & watched for about 10-15 minutes as she slowly came closer & eventually started trying to find a way through the wire. We edged a bit closer from opposite sides of the pen & just kept her from walking on past us with our presence. She eventually walked right in the pen once she found the door. JJ hurried up & closed the gate & let tom & the other hen out. They are all 1 big happy family again. (Lucky for a man & a couple kids I knew Tom would call her back & we just needed to give her some time.)

That's great!

 

[Reyvaughn]

I've never had a problem with my ducks & chicks being together unless the bedding gets too wet. I have ducks & chicks (& poults & quail) all in 1 brooder right now. I limit water supply & don't let them soak the bedding. I remove wet bedding daily as needed. My duckies also go to wire bottom cages ASAP, but so does everything else. The chicks could have possibly gotten sick from either mold in the bedding or from being cold & wet. Try treating if possible but clean everything & separate out the worst ones.

I prefer to only brood duckas and chicks together for one week and I insist on a quail waterer so the ducks can't play. This particular brooder I was having issues with because I just hatched 52 chicks, had 40 in the outside brooder and another 20 in the other other small brooder. I had no place to go with anyone until I built a new brooder. I was cleaning out the wet shavings every day, but that older, 3wk old duck would have it trashed in less than 30min. I have all the ducks outside in a wire bottom chinchilla cage now. The bedding is clean and dry, but this started before they got the new, big, clean, dry brooder.

If I was you I'd call and talk to Peter Brown. He has always given me great advice instead of just throwing different types of antibiotics at them which isn't a good idea by guessing. With that many birds on the line I'd call ASAP. His phone number is on the first state vet supply website of his.

I have only given them duramycin. I couldn't just let them in there to die without trying something. Since duramycin is a broad spectrum antibiotic, I was sure it'd help some. I will see if I can reach Peter Brown tomorrow and hope he is available on Sundays.

Add some sugar to the water, are they drinking? The sugar will help with the bitterness of the antibiotics. Check your feed. Are they eating? Is the feed commercially made, or buy the local mill? Is it medicated?

Yes, they are eating and drinking normally. The feed is fine - just got it Friday and it's made at the mill. My feed only lasts one week and is stored in an air tight freezer (not working). No, my feed is not medicated. I do not feed it - haven't in over 2yrs. This isn't cocci anyways.



I wasn't able to do much today. I had previous plans that kept me from the house for over 12hrs and Dewey did not listen to a word I said. So, tomorrow all the brooders will be stripped, cleaned, disinfected and filled with new bedding. All the sick chicks will be separated and given Vicks under the wings. I am going to try finding citric acid or some kind of copper sulfate to disinfect the water, as per my reading on brooder pneumonia. Of course, I am out of Oxine and I told Dewey I needed it. So, I need an oil based disinfectant for the bedding after it's all clean and fresh, too. Again, as per my reading.

Hopefully I don't lose anymore.

 

[duckncover]

Is there anyone out there close to Scranton that can sell me a friendly adult chicken or duck for a pet?

 

[sharron]

OUCH You are a little further than I thought,

how about a relay, apollo is about 45 minutes to an hour from me, and we're going to the auction tomorrow