PLEASE HELP, Losing a chicken a day! UPDATE: CORYZA CONFIRMED.

[Buxton Ducks]

My chickens were all healthy until about a week ago. I have lost 7 since then (2 died today). They are all dear pets and this is killing me. Their eyes are getting very watery and crusty, then they are becoming lethargic, then they die. Their droppings look mostly normal but I have noticed a few that have a little blood in the stool. It is affecting some of my old birds and my yearlings. I have three sick silkies right now and I know they are next! My favorite little D'Uccle, Edith, died today. My ducks and geese are in a separate pen, but they are all fine. If this kills them all, I am DONE with chickens.

 

[FlyHigher]

Blood droppings probably mean coccidiosis! Give them some Corid ASAP!
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Crusty eyes mean fowl poxes(wet)? not sure about that.[/FONT]

 

[Buxton Ducks]

From what I have researched it looks like Coryza! Not good! Chickens suck, I have never ever had ducks get sick and their eggs taste the same!

 

[Blarneyeggs]

Coryza is supposed to leave a distinct smell about the head....does this sound right?

Soooooo sorry you're going through this, hope your losses stop immediately.

 

[myfinefeatheredfriends]

I have both chickens and ducks. Started raising chickens in 2001, ducks in 2003. Since then I've lost about 16 out of 100-some chickens and only one duck out of 60-some due to an infection he got when he tore his bill on a rusty nail during a power outage. Ducks are much more hardy than chickens, I agree, but both species have their faults. So sorry to hear about your flock... sounds like either infectious bronchitis, Newcastle or cholera to me.

 

[FlyHigher]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Normally Coryza does not cause blood droppings.[/FONT]
Maybe Coryza + Cocci. However, Cocci are more dangerous and mortal than Coryza, AFAIK.

btw, I do not think chickens suck or their eggs taste worse than ducks'..
They are better pets than ducks I think, although ducks are much more easier to raise..

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Sorry for your lose!

 

[Buxton Ducks]

Sorry Sarcasm doesn't show via text.... I was only saying they suck because it is so frustrating. It seems that every time the seasons change, everybody gets sick. I feel like my ducks are looking at me like: "hey, remember when you just had us and there was no drama!" Time to go do my routine before work and see how many I lost over the night.

 

[Pullet Surprise]

First of all, I am so sorry for your loss. The second thought I had was that if it is true that they seem to get sick everytime the weather changes, then there is something going on there.
I would think that it is time to have a good hard look at WHY they have problems. You should not have these problems. There are TONS of variables that can effect a flock's health and most can be dealt with easily.Start with having a good hard look at feed, housing, run/free-range, etc. There are a couple of threads that take a great deal of time to read through, but are quite worth it.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-horrors-anyone-want-to-follow-their-progress and https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...l-up-a-rockin-chair-and-lay-some-wisdom-on-us

I think they will help you evaluate your flock(s) and their problems and get to the bottom of WHY they are getting sick so often.

 

[Buxton Ducks]

Everybody survived the 28 degree night and the four sickest (Myrtle, Mable, Cleo the silkies and Edna the Turken) were in the warm brooder last night. I had to physically opened all their eyes, poor things. I am going to have an emotional break down if I lose any more! .......aaaaaaand the ducks and geese are fine