A bit of history first in case it helps with diagnoses.
My flock consisted of 2 rir that i've had for a year and a half and some chicks that i've been hatching since the summer. Back in october i bought 2 point of lay blue marans from a reputable farm as i wanted a few more hens for eggs and i liked the idea of the dark eggs.
Last week saturday i quarantined 1 of my marans as i had noticed that for 24 hours previous she had been hiding a sleeping a lot and she had a slight limp on her right leg, i thought it was best to put her in the crate to let her rest up.
She seemed no better by sunday, she had not eaten and was not drinking either so i bought her in the house to keep a closer eye on her. She sat puffed up, very quiet and just slept, by lunch time sunday she had died.
Apart from the limping and hiding on friday i did not notice any other signs of any thing being wrong with her beforehand, on closer examination on saturday i noticed her comb was like powdery dry (Whitesh) in some areas and her comb also seemed to be almost black in other areas, definately not pox as it was not spot like, it was more like very small areas of the skin were turning black.
Since sunday i have been keeping a close eye on my other birds and today i was upset to see the other marans acting not right.
She seems to be doing some thing strange with her neck, she seems to be pulling her head up high and then its like she wiggles it and drops her head back down, she has just kept repeating this on and off all day. I tried to catch her to give her a good check over but she just kept running every time i went near her. I am almost sure i saw a tiny patch of black on her comb, can't be completely sure as she isn't letting me get close enough to check properly.
Apart from this she seems normal, eating, ranging, active and alert. I will welcome any ideas as to what i might be dealing with as i do not want to lose her or any of my flock if it is some thing contagious that i can treat.
**UPDATE**
She is eating very well, maybe too much?, drinking and still laying almost every day. My concer is the thing she is doing with her neck/head, to make it clearer as it is hard to explain and to hopefully get a better diagnosis i have included a video that i took of her this evening. Best to watch the video till the end as its more clear to see what she is doing near the end of the video, the video is a little dark as i took it this evening but clear enough to see what she is doing.
Also i started all my chickens on flubenvet wormer today, just in case its worms.
PS Her crop does seem large, if it is impacted crop would she keep eating so well as she is? I think you can see on the video her crop looks large.
My flock consisted of 2 rir that i've had for a year and a half and some chicks that i've been hatching since the summer. Back in october i bought 2 point of lay blue marans from a reputable farm as i wanted a few more hens for eggs and i liked the idea of the dark eggs.
Last week saturday i quarantined 1 of my marans as i had noticed that for 24 hours previous she had been hiding a sleeping a lot and she had a slight limp on her right leg, i thought it was best to put her in the crate to let her rest up.
She seemed no better by sunday, she had not eaten and was not drinking either so i bought her in the house to keep a closer eye on her. She sat puffed up, very quiet and just slept, by lunch time sunday she had died.
Apart from the limping and hiding on friday i did not notice any other signs of any thing being wrong with her beforehand, on closer examination on saturday i noticed her comb was like powdery dry (Whitesh) in some areas and her comb also seemed to be almost black in other areas, definately not pox as it was not spot like, it was more like very small areas of the skin were turning black.
Since sunday i have been keeping a close eye on my other birds and today i was upset to see the other marans acting not right.
She seems to be doing some thing strange with her neck, she seems to be pulling her head up high and then its like she wiggles it and drops her head back down, she has just kept repeating this on and off all day. I tried to catch her to give her a good check over but she just kept running every time i went near her. I am almost sure i saw a tiny patch of black on her comb, can't be completely sure as she isn't letting me get close enough to check properly.
Apart from this she seems normal, eating, ranging, active and alert. I will welcome any ideas as to what i might be dealing with as i do not want to lose her or any of my flock if it is some thing contagious that i can treat.
**UPDATE**
She is eating very well, maybe too much?, drinking and still laying almost every day. My concer is the thing she is doing with her neck/head, to make it clearer as it is hard to explain and to hopefully get a better diagnosis i have included a video that i took of her this evening. Best to watch the video till the end as its more clear to see what she is doing near the end of the video, the video is a little dark as i took it this evening but clear enough to see what she is doing.
Also i started all my chickens on flubenvet wormer today, just in case its worms.
PS Her crop does seem large, if it is impacted crop would she keep eating so well as she is? I think you can see on the video her crop looks large.
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