Please help, New to owning chickens, and I think one is sick!!!

[cuntrygurl]

Hello,
PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!
Thank you for reading, I will start with what I found this morning and then some back ground:

I went to check for eggs this morning, my americana was in one of the nesting boxes laying down, I scooted her over a little and usually she is not one that likes to be touched, well she was letting me pet her and wasn't moving so then I saw her eye and for a moment I thought she didn't have it anymore. Both eyes were shut with a bit of... gunk and something was coming out of her nose I got her to get up and she started shaking her head and wiping her beak on the ground. I separated her from the rest and tried to hand feed her watermelon, she got up on her own and one eye opened and there was a dried clear/white crust around the opened eye and her feathers around the eye looked like they had been wet, and dried with the same crust... I don't know what to do, any suggestions? Antibiotic perhaps? Please help!!

Background:
We purchased 6 chickens when they were 2 months old, now they are 5 months old, a few days ago we added two more chickens that are aprox 5 months old. The coop they are in is very large, I can stand up and walk around in it, and there is a 14X14 Chain link fence around that with a shade across the whole thing and then a large open run. We feed them the best organic feed, plus fresh vegis and fruits. I clean the coop poop once or twice a day, new clean water twice a day, and everything is cleaned once a week (so very clean) The new chickens were not in a great env. and stunk, we sep them for dirt bath and when they were cleaner and didn't stink we added them to the rest of the chickens, a lot of pecking going on, could this be part of the problem?

 

[Chickengal505]

Calm down, If you can, go to a store (feed and seed, pet store, wall-mart, ect.) and get some dog/cat saline eye wash, clean her eye with that. she most likely has a respiratory infection. Note, If you choose to try and treat, she will be a carrier forever and you risk infecting the rest of your flock even if you keep the seperated. Or you could keep her in with the rest and wait untill your current flock dies off complety. Or you could cull them all, or cull her. Not very many choices and I'm so sorry you have to go throught this

 

[tammye]

did you keep the new chickens separated from your flock for 4 weeks? a must do to prevent the spread of disease. I think you have a respiratory/sinus problem going on. Look up respiratory disease here in the search for lots of treatment info. hopefully someone will be able to tell you which antibiotic to use, i think it is Tylan, but not sure. at least keep the sick hen away from the others give her some electrlyte solution in her water for strenght for now, but I bet you need some antibiotics. you will need to treat the whole flock. good luck

 

[cuntrygurl]

Yikes.... thank you for the response. Calling the feed store now.

 

[ranchhand]

Welcome to BYC, sorry it's for a negative situation.

It sounds like to 2 newer birds were carriers of a respiratory disease. As such, there is a risk all of your older birds will catch it. I would suggest treating them all with an appropiate antibiotic and then closing your flock or culling and starting over.

Quarantine is VERY important when bringing started birds. Here's a link to a very good, albeit long, thread about it.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=12751

It sounds like you are a very responsible chicken tender, just new at it. Read all you can on BYC and you'll learn fast.

 

[cuntrygurl]

Thank you for your input, as I am still learning all of these new terms...what is closing the flock? Once they have been treated and symptoms are no longer I understand that they can now be carriers, does this also mean the eggs are unsafe for human consumption? I just learned what culling was.... darn it, I really don't want to have to do that. We did not keep them separate for long...the hubby is in BIG trouble now because.... I told him we should keep them in a different area...all together for good.

 

[stargirl]

Oh I'm sorry to hear that!

I know how scary it can be!

My birds are carriers for a respiratory infection and mostly it is fine. My girls are pets and culling just wasn't an option for me, but its a personal choice.

Carrying the RI doesn't really affect them. Sometimes when they're stressed or the weather is really bad they get the sniffles again, and sometimes I treat them with antibiotics to combat this. As far as I know, respiratory infections aren't usually fatal unless a bird is already ill or doesn't get the treatment and nutrients it needs to fight it off.

The eggs are absolutely fine for human consumption! Some antibiotics mean you can't eat the eggs for a few days, but the rest of the time the birds are healthy and lay just like any others.

A closed flock means you're not breeding your birds then passing them on, or moving birds in and out a lot. Obviously, this would spread the infection. If you planned on doing this, you might need to do some hard thinking. If you just want a small flock for your garden, then it isn't too difficult

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
The eggs will be fine after treatment is completed and a "withdrawal" time. My vet recommends at least 3 weeks, but most meds will say on the label. Throw the eggs away, giving them back to the chickens or the dogs, etc., simply results in antibiotic dosages that are not called for.

A closed flock means no birds in or out, no visitors who have birds and no visiting other bird owner's unless heavy duty bio-security is in place. Like showering, disinfecting/changing shoes and clothing. Most of it is covered in the quarantine thread. Don't fuss at hubby, it's all stuff you have to learn as you go.

Culling does not always mean killing. It simple means "removing from the flock". In your case, it would be unwise to sell or give away any of your birds, it could easily move disease along and destroy someone else's flock. So yes, in your case it would mean killing.

Sorry for that bad bit of notice.

Best of luck to you.