Hi,
I'm fairly sure something isn't right with two EE pullets I just bought from a farm. I've had them 24 hours now. They're 10 weeks old and were housed in a small barn with about 70 other chickens. Both have some feather loss from roosters but this seems ok. I am worried that they are ill. I should have looked at them more carefully at the farm.
The light brown one looks fine in almost all respects but she seems a little too docile (very easy to pick up) for a farm bird and is relatively lethargic. Also, she chirps almost all the time; it's a little like she's purring. It sounds very cute but I'm also not sure it's normal. I wouldn't describe the sound as "wheezing." I've seen her eat and drink and she appears to be a normal size for her age. Possibly there's nothing wrong here but I mention the symptoms because of the darker EE bird:
The darker one is definitely not right. It has a tendency to do very little and prefers dark enclosed spaces. Lethargic. Eyes are often shut and don't look nice and round like a normal chicken. Nothing looks obviously inflamed. Sneezes occasionally. No discharge from eyes or nose. No strange smell from mouth or nose. This one is smaller than the lighter coloured bird which suggests to me that it's not been eating properly for a while.
I have isolated the darker one. Initially both birds were kept with my 15 week leghorn pullet. I'm using pine shavings as bedding. I've not noticed any weird poop but haven't looked carefully.
I'd rather treat them myself than go to the vet. I've looked at the health probs spreadsheet and some other posts but I'm still not clear what I'm dealing with because they lack a lot of the symptoms of respiratory disease, which was my first thought. I have some dissolvable duramycin-10 but haven't administered it yet.
Ideas?
Thanks!
Rob
I'm fairly sure something isn't right with two EE pullets I just bought from a farm. I've had them 24 hours now. They're 10 weeks old and were housed in a small barn with about 70 other chickens. Both have some feather loss from roosters but this seems ok. I am worried that they are ill. I should have looked at them more carefully at the farm.
The light brown one looks fine in almost all respects but she seems a little too docile (very easy to pick up) for a farm bird and is relatively lethargic. Also, she chirps almost all the time; it's a little like she's purring. It sounds very cute but I'm also not sure it's normal. I wouldn't describe the sound as "wheezing." I've seen her eat and drink and she appears to be a normal size for her age. Possibly there's nothing wrong here but I mention the symptoms because of the darker EE bird:
The darker one is definitely not right. It has a tendency to do very little and prefers dark enclosed spaces. Lethargic. Eyes are often shut and don't look nice and round like a normal chicken. Nothing looks obviously inflamed. Sneezes occasionally. No discharge from eyes or nose. No strange smell from mouth or nose. This one is smaller than the lighter coloured bird which suggests to me that it's not been eating properly for a while.
I have isolated the darker one. Initially both birds were kept with my 15 week leghorn pullet. I'm using pine shavings as bedding. I've not noticed any weird poop but haven't looked carefully.
I'd rather treat them myself than go to the vet. I've looked at the health probs spreadsheet and some other posts but I'm still not clear what I'm dealing with because they lack a lot of the symptoms of respiratory disease, which was my first thought. I have some dissolvable duramycin-10 but haven't administered it yet.
Ideas?
Thanks!
Rob
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