Vampire Gardener
Chirping
- Apr 25, 2023
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I have 9 chickens that are 11 months old. One girl is acting a bit odd. Her name is Beatrice and she's a Wyandotte.
On 3/13/2024, I moved their coop to a new location in my yard. I had never done this before. I put all of them in their playpen (a mobile area of about 100 sq feet). I put them in their playpen each day while I clean up their coop and run. They were in the playpen for about 3-4 hours when they are normally only there for an hour. They had access to water and shade so I don't think that could do anything. But it was the hottest day we have had so far this spring with outside temps to 77 degrees.
Their new coop location is closer to where I have had compost and there is a chance she and the others might have gotten into something that was composted 6+ months ago. I don't think there should be anything newer than that. I did put up an electric fence so they shouldn't be able to get to the compost, but I'm afraid she might have found something nearby.
The first two nights in there coop in its new location I noticed a handful of the birds were breathing with their mouths open at night. I thought maybe they got stressed or dehydrated. I don't think they were dehydrated because they had access to water, but I did move the coop so maybe the stress was too much for them?
The mouth breathing at night only lasted a few nights. I have live cameras in the coop and have been watching them periodically so I noticed that the open mouth breathing improved.
Yesterday (3/19), I noticed Beatrice seemed to be a bit lethargic. She laid on the ground and on the edge of their dust bin. Today when I put them back in their run after their playpen time, I had to pick her up because she didn't want to go in the run. I normally coax them with treats but she wanted to walk around instead. I picked her up and noticed her crop was full ( I don't think that is bad, since she has had access to food for a few hours already) but she had this growling type of breath that was new. She wasn't growling at me, just odd sounding breathing.
A couple hours later I went out to the run and she was standing up around with the other girls. I gave them some of my leftover apple to see if she would eat and she took two pieces. She seemed to be slower than the others but she did want the treat. Then she went and laid down under the coop as did a few of my other girls. She just seems to be a bit slower with growling breath.
We've had some crazy weather flucations for our area and a lot of wind the past few days. High of 77 and low of 30 with winds in excess of 10 mph.
Any advice would be appreciated!
More information:
1) What type of bird , age and weight - Wyandotte, 11 months and normal weight. No weight change.
2) What is the behavior, exactly. Lethargic, laying on ground, growling breath.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? Recent symptoms 2 days (stress trigger? Week ago)
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? Laying on ground - yes , lethargic - no, growling - no.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. No signs of trauma
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. (see above - moved coop, weather and potential access to compost pile).
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. I did see her eat laying pellets yesterday and today and couple pieces of apple today. They free range for an hour before bed in an area with bushes, centipede grass, fruit trees, and pine bark mulch (no fruit yet). Their playpen has fescue and dirt mostly and they are in there for about an hour in late morning (11-12 ish time frame).
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? Seems normal. I've had to clean her butt twice in the past two months. She doesn't crouch like the others when she poops so on occasion her back end gets dirty. Nothing is covering her vent, just her feathers.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? I have just been watching her closely and changed out their waterers to make sure there was not mold or algae. I give them fresh water in 4 different waterers each day but one of them gets a bit of sun so I wanted to make sure there wasn't anything bad in there. Nothing noticeable. I did move the electric fence farther from the compost pile.
10 ) 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 would prefer to treat myself, but will call my vet if need to. He's not cheap and money is an issue right now as I am not working, but I don't want her to suffer if that is what needs to happen.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help. - Nothing picture worthy at this point, just a chicken laying on the ground. Will try to get audio, but the growly breathing is quiet, not loud like a cat purr.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use. In the coop they have pine shavings on the floor, under the roosts and in the nesting boxes. In the run I bring in dried leaves. In the playpen it is just dirt ground and grass. There are a lot of leaves in their forage area. Could a moldy leaf be an issue? Should I remove the dry leaves?
Thanks!!!
Erica
On 3/13/2024, I moved their coop to a new location in my yard. I had never done this before. I put all of them in their playpen (a mobile area of about 100 sq feet). I put them in their playpen each day while I clean up their coop and run. They were in the playpen for about 3-4 hours when they are normally only there for an hour. They had access to water and shade so I don't think that could do anything. But it was the hottest day we have had so far this spring with outside temps to 77 degrees.
Their new coop location is closer to where I have had compost and there is a chance she and the others might have gotten into something that was composted 6+ months ago. I don't think there should be anything newer than that. I did put up an electric fence so they shouldn't be able to get to the compost, but I'm afraid she might have found something nearby.
The first two nights in there coop in its new location I noticed a handful of the birds were breathing with their mouths open at night. I thought maybe they got stressed or dehydrated. I don't think they were dehydrated because they had access to water, but I did move the coop so maybe the stress was too much for them?
The mouth breathing at night only lasted a few nights. I have live cameras in the coop and have been watching them periodically so I noticed that the open mouth breathing improved.
Yesterday (3/19), I noticed Beatrice seemed to be a bit lethargic. She laid on the ground and on the edge of their dust bin. Today when I put them back in their run after their playpen time, I had to pick her up because she didn't want to go in the run. I normally coax them with treats but she wanted to walk around instead. I picked her up and noticed her crop was full ( I don't think that is bad, since she has had access to food for a few hours already) but she had this growling type of breath that was new. She wasn't growling at me, just odd sounding breathing.
A couple hours later I went out to the run and she was standing up around with the other girls. I gave them some of my leftover apple to see if she would eat and she took two pieces. She seemed to be slower than the others but she did want the treat. Then she went and laid down under the coop as did a few of my other girls. She just seems to be a bit slower with growling breath.
We've had some crazy weather flucations for our area and a lot of wind the past few days. High of 77 and low of 30 with winds in excess of 10 mph.
Any advice would be appreciated!
More information:
1) What type of bird , age and weight - Wyandotte, 11 months and normal weight. No weight change.
2) What is the behavior, exactly. Lethargic, laying on ground, growling breath.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? Recent symptoms 2 days (stress trigger? Week ago)
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? Laying on ground - yes , lethargic - no, growling - no.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. No signs of trauma
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. (see above - moved coop, weather and potential access to compost pile).
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. I did see her eat laying pellets yesterday and today and couple pieces of apple today. They free range for an hour before bed in an area with bushes, centipede grass, fruit trees, and pine bark mulch (no fruit yet). Their playpen has fescue and dirt mostly and they are in there for about an hour in late morning (11-12 ish time frame).
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? Seems normal. I've had to clean her butt twice in the past two months. She doesn't crouch like the others when she poops so on occasion her back end gets dirty. Nothing is covering her vent, just her feathers.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? I have just been watching her closely and changed out their waterers to make sure there was not mold or algae. I give them fresh water in 4 different waterers each day but one of them gets a bit of sun so I wanted to make sure there wasn't anything bad in there. Nothing noticeable. I did move the electric fence farther from the compost pile.
10 ) 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 would prefer to treat myself, but will call my vet if need to. He's not cheap and money is an issue right now as I am not working, but I don't want her to suffer if that is what needs to happen.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help. - Nothing picture worthy at this point, just a chicken laying on the ground. Will try to get audio, but the growly breathing is quiet, not loud like a cat purr.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use. In the coop they have pine shavings on the floor, under the roosts and in the nesting boxes. In the run I bring in dried leaves. In the playpen it is just dirt ground and grass. There are a lot of leaves in their forage area. Could a moldy leaf be an issue? Should I remove the dry leaves?
Thanks!!!
Erica
