Quarantine: One hen died and now the other is sick

[Newchickenowner 2020]

Yes and at the same time some seem invincible. I have an 11 year old bantam cochin that has been through being the absolute smallest in the flock at under a pound while the others were all 5+ pounds, a mite infestation, 16° F below zero for a solid week and was head hen for over 7 years. They are fickle little things at times.

Wow 11 is really impressive! The goal is to ensure my hens are happy and make it that long as well. I'm reading and absorbing as much info as I can and everyone's responses have been so helpful - I just want to make sure I'm giving them the best life possible. Comforting to know that they are resilient, thanks so much for your replies.

 

[atechieboss]

Thanks for coming back to me, really appreciate everyone's time and responses! It was really the best part of my day going out to spend time with them so it's been a rough few days.

Both hens were 7 months and had only been laying for about a month and a half. Edna didn't lay an egg for about a day before she got sick and Gladys lay an egg on the day that she was brought in but the vet confirmed she was running a fever. Both chickens had been free range in my back garden for the last five months. I feel like this had to be triggered by the heat because surely they would have gotten ill well before this if not?

I should mention, the reason I rushed Gladys in was I noticed her crop was soft and squishy, like there was fluid in there as opposed to food. The vet didn't confirm a specific infection which I'm now realising from the posts is something I should have gotten info on. The vet did say she didn't think it was egg yolk periontitis because she couldn't feel anything.

The symptoms were:

- Panting/gasping
- Lethargy
- Lack of appetite
- Diarrhea
- Not drinking water
- Swollen "squishy" crops

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This summer in Southern Maryland we've had a couple months of extreme heat and humidity. My "Bantamville" [for Bantams] consists of a 10'x16' shed with a cut-out door on the side that leads to a shady, fenced area of 10'x60'x4' of wire fenced area. I also put in two small Bantam hen houses in the yard. I have a fan and a light plugged into the shed. Unfortunately, during this period I lost 30 hens and roosters in the area (and no chickens from the big yard). At one point, I bought several bottles of VetRX and put it in their water, hoping to "fight" back.

My medication options were very limited, per FDA rules. Tylan powder didn't seem effective, so I bought bottles of VetRX and spiked their water for a couple days. Since then I've purchased LA-200 and extract it by needle but give it to sick chickens orally (I don't do injections), or give them VetRX orally. [Two guys told me they pro-actively gave their 12 chickens LA-200 medication and lost none.] Anyone not eating or sitting alone during feeding goes inside for medication orally. During the raging deaths, though, even bringing them in and medicating them still resulted in them dying within hours or a day.

The vet said, based on several earlier necropsy reports, that the flock had a viral upper respiratory problem and that it wouldn't go away without "culling" the whole flock. He said some would not die but be carriers, nonetheless. He said if I don't believe in killing them, to just not add to them, so that's my plan. Four months ago, I had purchased 12 Leghorn chicks and 12 Golden Comets from Tractor Supply and 12 Maran pullets from a Maran breeder. I was going to put them in Bantamville until they became adults, and then let them out in the big yard. Eleven of the 12 Marans died, and 3 each of the Leghorns and Golden Comets died but the rest seem okay. The rest of the casualties were old timers of various kinds. What's weird is that I have a lot of other free-ranging hens throughout my six acres but haven't lost any during this same heat wave. [Is there something toxic about the Bantamville area?] For awhile I was finding 1-2 chickens/day dead in Bantamville. The vet didn't like anything that I put in the water for the whole flock but, rather, treat each individual. I didn't find that effective; I'd see one sitting alone, bring them in and treat them, and then they'd be dead within a day.

I have hatched 18 babies that I would normally put into the Bantamville area but after this experience, I'm thinking they'd have a better chance in the main yard. [Thoughts?]

The other problem is that vets not allowed to prescribe really effective antibiotics because of FDA rules. I found that out because one of my peacocks (and their 80' x 35' x 10' high enclosure isn't even near Bantamville) came down with an upper respiratory problem and it covered one of his eyes. The vet put him under and cleaned out the huge pocket of mess, and then asked me to put an eye salve on his eye every day. He was able to give him an injection of a very strong antibiotic because he said the FDA rule applies to chickens (egg-bearing). The vet is stopping by to give my peacock another antibiotic injection, and I'm putting a salve on his eye, and it's getting better. He's in a large cage in the kitchen. He said to take the straw out of the peacock's 10'x10' and replace it with pine shavings because dust is a real issue for peacocks. He said the best thing is to keep him in this 10'x10' forever, away from the other peacocks, lest they come down with this same thing.

I also have a neighbor who was shooting my Guinea fowl with his BB gun. The police said there was nothing they could do because the Guinea fowl were in their yard (eating ticks), but the police at least talked to the neighbor.

It's been a bad summer and the loss of my precious chickens has been horrible. If I could turn back the clock 90 days, what should I have done differently?