I have six Rhode Island Red hens that I purchased locally as my first flock of birds in early May. Two of the smaller birds just became ill. The first one died Monday after becoming really lethargic, her comb flattened out, and she had severe diarrhea. She died one day after I discovered her like that and had quarantined her. That same day I quarantined the first hen, I discovered another hen with a "floppy" comb, so I immediately quarantined her as well, which was Sunday. On Monday after finding the first bird dead, I bleached the hen house and roosts and nesting boxes and floor of the hen house and removed all the hay that was in there and put it out of reach of the chickens on the other side of the barn. Tonight, the second quarantined bird has become lethargic and when I pet her, the diarrhea just shoots out of her. She stands with her eyes closed, but when I pet her she tries to open them. The other four RIR hens look great with no signs of any problems and I have three olive egger chicks in with them that are approximately 12 weeks old and are not showing any signs or symptoms that these two have had. Any suggestions? I did change their food from mash to pellets at the beginning of June. We also had well problems approximately 10 days ago in which there was some rust in our water. Could that have caused this? The water cleared up within a day or two and I did truck water from my neighbors well for a couple of days.
1) What type of bird , age and weight. RIR 1 year old
2) What is the behavior, exactly. Lethargic, comb droopy, diarrhea
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? Two Days
4) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. The first bird that died, had a small peck mark above her right eye The second bird appears to have no marks on her
5) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. Changed food from mash to pellets and had well issues for a couple of days with rusty colored water
6) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. She quit eating, but has been drinking water.
7) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. Runny, watery almost clear poop
8) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? Quarantined
9 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? I prefer to treat myself, if possible.
10) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
11) Describe the housing/bedding in use I've been using hay for bedding, changing it frequently at least every other day and disposing of it out of reach of the chickens. They have a large outdoor pen and inside our barn is their "hen house" which is a caged area inside of an enclosed room. I've been leaving the door to this room open, to increase air circulation due to warm weather. The outdoor part of their pen previously was used for goats and during the winter for a dog
1) What type of bird , age and weight. RIR 1 year old
2) What is the behavior, exactly. Lethargic, comb droopy, diarrhea
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? Two Days
4) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. The first bird that died, had a small peck mark above her right eye The second bird appears to have no marks on her
5) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. Changed food from mash to pellets and had well issues for a couple of days with rusty colored water
6) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. She quit eating, but has been drinking water.
7) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. Runny, watery almost clear poop
8) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? Quarantined
9 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? I prefer to treat myself, if possible.
10) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
11) Describe the housing/bedding in use I've been using hay for bedding, changing it frequently at least every other day and disposing of it out of reach of the chickens. They have a large outdoor pen and inside our barn is their "hen house" which is a caged area inside of an enclosed room. I've been leaving the door to this room open, to increase air circulation due to warm weather. The outdoor part of their pen previously was used for goats and during the winter for a dog
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