Please help, I'm losing my mind here!

[SavageDestiny]

If you think it is the herbs or a mold, you can remove those things and watch them. Here is a list of respiratory diseases that can cause wheezing. They can be bacterial or mycoplasmas which will respond to antibiotics such as Tylan50 injections, Gallimycin or oxytetracycline in the water, or they can be viruses which don't respond to antibiotics, but they might prevent secondary bacterial infections. Here is the link, and look at mycopasma gallisepticum (MG or CRD), infectious bronchitis, ILT, and infectious coryza: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

There is definitely no mold. Ew though. I really doubt it is the herbs, but I pulled them out anyway to be on the safe side.

Berta doesn't fit any of the symptoms listed for any of those, really. She's still gobbling up her food and acting totally normal, not listless. She doesn't have any discharge or swollen features. The closest she has is what looks like Mycoplasma gallisepticum. I suppose it is possible that she has that since finches in Portland (a couple hours away) tested positive for MG recently.

I can't hear her wheezing today and she hasn't sneezed again, but I haven't picked her up today either. Should I get some antibiotics or wait to see how she goes?

 

[Aacre]

Have you tried feeding her (or all of them) fresh garlic? This can help with forming good antibodies to fight infection and also using ACV in their water can fight respiratory issues. 2 or 3 tbs of ACV per gallon of water whenever there is respiratory stuff going on.
I'm so sorry that you feel discouraged with the chickens. I sure hope it gets better for you because they really are worth it!

 

[Aacre]

Oh, if you decide to do ACV, you might try getting the kind with "mother" in it because it has some amazing benefits that the more refined ACV doesn't have.

Also, for the hen who may have sprained her leg from jumping, could you put something about half ways up, a sort of ladder type thing so that she can jump in two jumps instead of the one long jump? I imagine that she will jump again if she wants to, and this could at least prevent her from hurting herself when she does.

 

[SavageDestiny]

Have you tried feeding her (or all of them) fresh garlic? This can help with forming good antibodies to fight infection and also using ACV in their water can fight respiratory issues. 2 or 3 tbs of ACV per gallon of water whenever there is respiratory stuff going on.
I'm so sorry that you feel discouraged with the chickens. I sure hope it gets better for you because they really are worth it!

Quote:

Oh, if you decide to do ACV, you might try getting the kind with "mother" in it because it has some amazing benefits that the more refined ACV doesn't have.

Also, for the hen who may have sprained her leg from jumping, could you put something about half ways up, a sort of ladder type thing so that she can jump in two jumps instead of the one long jump? I imagine that she will jump again if she wants to, and this could at least prevent her from hurting herself when she does.

The girls get a clove of garlic chopped up in their dinner every night. They do already get ACV with the mother in their water as well.

Good idea on the "step" for Tillie, but unfortunately the spot where she likes to jump up and down is directly over the entrance to their coop. So I can't put anything there because then I couldn't get into the coop! Silly bird.

 

[birdlady79]

I u

Can someone please help me out? I am having such a hard time with my girls. I got 4 chickens just about 3 weeks ago, never had them before. I have had nothing but problems with them. I made a thread here about the irritated skin I found immediately, then the lice I found: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/860077/bald-and-red-on-her-underside Then one of them, Tillie the EE, started limping a week ago. No bumblefoot, cuts, abrasions, or sores and it's not paralyzed, so I'm hoping she just strained or sprained it. She is weight bearing on it just not fully. She likes to get up on top of their 6' tarp shelter and jump down, so I'm assuming she tweaked it doing that. So I am just keeping an eye on it for now, though I got a multivitamin to add to their water since I read that can sometimes help with limping. I have been dusting with wood ash, they have DE and wood ash dust bath holes, cleaning out the coop and spraying it with Poultry Protector weekly, and working my butt off to get rid of the lice. I went out of town for 4 days (my husband took care of them) and came back yesterday to find that while 3 of the girls are good, Gladys the Buff Orp is just crawling with lice again and her skin is all red and irritated. I went to the feed store today to get something stronger to just get RID of the lice and they sold me a sulfur insecticide/poultry dust that they use on their own chickens. I decided to dust all of them down with it even though only Gladys appears to have issues. Everyone was fine until the last girl, my Black Sex Link Berta, who I realized once I grabbed her was wheezing and gurgly. She sounds congested but I couldn't see any discharge. I dusted her while she wheezed at me and when I put her down she had a sneezing fit. Now I'm trying to figure out what new freaking medication I'm going to have to start them on now and it is so overwhelming. I just... UGH! I am so ready to throw in the towel and just give up on chickens. I feel defeated. I love my girls a lot, and this is killing me that they're having so many issues! I am trying SO HARD to do everything correctly. I did loads of research before I got them. Their coop is clean and not smelly, with pine shavings for the floor. It is well ventilated. They have a decent sized run (24'x14'). I feed them good, whole grain food and ferment it. They get probiotics a couple times a week, ACV in their water and garlic with their dinner. They get lots of fresh, healthy foods to supplement their diet. I even have herbs in the nest boxes that are supposed to help respiratory health and be soothing. What am I doing wrong? Why are my girls having so many issues? There have never been chickens on this property before. The only chickens other than mine I have been around are the ones in the flock I got them from, who belong to my friend. NONE of her chickens are having any issues like this. She feels terrible but this isn't her fault, her whole flock is healthy and these girls were before they came home with me. How on earth is this happening? It has only been THREE WEEKS, even if I was messing something up horribly how could this all happen so fast? Here are some pictures of the girls, coop, and run to help you get an idea of their living situation. These were before I actually had the girls, but they're the best pics of the coop I have. You can see one of the dust bath areas behind them here. The girls all eat VERY enthusiastically, scratch around, and act about as I would expect from chickens. Please help me get them healthy.

I understand how you feel!! It feels like everyday it's something new..... And $$$.. I'm new to this and It's so frustrating... I use Sevin and garlic for lice/mites which I haven't seen but they itch and pick, it's helped them..... I'm fixing to switch from DL to sand.... The DL makes me itch....I do ff and ACV .. Which they love... I thought mine had cocci, maybe they did maybe they didn't.... Now it's sneezing and puffed feathers..... I'm ready to pull my hair out too!!! I'm thinking this is an expensive hobby, but I love em' and just want them healthy....... Hang in there, you'll get through it... Just remember your NOT alone... Lol. Your hens are very pretty...

 

[SavageDestiny]

I u
I understand how you feel!! It feels like everyday it's something new..... And $$$.. I'm new to this and It's so frustrating... I use Sevin and garlic for lice/mites which I haven't seen but they itch and pick, it's helped them..... I'm fixing to switch from DL to sand.... The DL makes me itch....I do ff and ACV .. Which they love... I thought mine had cocci, maybe they did maybe they didn't.... Now it's sneezing and puffed feathers..... I'm ready to pull my hair out too!!! I'm thinking this is an expensive hobby, but I love em' and just want them healthy....... Hang in there, you'll get through it... Just remember your NOT alone... Lol. Your hens are very pretty...

Thanks for the encouragement. I love my girls too, that's part of why this is so upsetting. I just want them to be healthy!