Hello all,
Long time lurker, first time poster. Last year I brought in 3 chickens from another flock. The 3 chickens came down with what I thought was Coryza (swollen faces, sneezing, wheezing, eyes pasted shut, awful smell, runny stool, lethargy, loss of appetite). I isolated them form the rest of my flock and they recovered, so I returned them to my flock. None of my other 6 hens have ever become ill. But those 3 hens are always sneezing. Yesterday, I installed a new watering system and while I made sure that all the hens had figured out how the nipples worked, I noticed one of the red stars was wheezing. It sounds like someone with asthma, it's just awful. None of the other symptoms I saw initially I thought was Coryza. She looks fine otherwise, just wheezing. I've put her in her own cage on the other side of my property. She doesn't have any desire to eat or drink, she just sits on the ground (wont' perch either) and wheezes. It's so sad.
I decided last year not to cull my flock because I am the only person in my area with chickens and once recovered, the hens seemed fine. I just found out yesterday my neighbor purchased some hens because some of them came over my fence and roosted in my tree near the coop. I let her know and told her she must clip their wings and keep them out of my yard since mine have been sick. They're very pretty birds, I'd really hate to see them get sick.
So now I fear the time has come to cull them. Considering all this, what do you think the best course of action would be? I tried looking for a vet that saw chickens last year and didn't have any luck. We culled a rooster by means of an axe and that was just a horrible thing. Is there any other way to put them down that doesn't involve chopping and spraying blood? I hate to kill birds that aren't showing any sign of illness and are laying like champions.
Any help is appreciated.
Long time lurker, first time poster. Last year I brought in 3 chickens from another flock. The 3 chickens came down with what I thought was Coryza (swollen faces, sneezing, wheezing, eyes pasted shut, awful smell, runny stool, lethargy, loss of appetite). I isolated them form the rest of my flock and they recovered, so I returned them to my flock. None of my other 6 hens have ever become ill. But those 3 hens are always sneezing. Yesterday, I installed a new watering system and while I made sure that all the hens had figured out how the nipples worked, I noticed one of the red stars was wheezing. It sounds like someone with asthma, it's just awful. None of the other symptoms I saw initially I thought was Coryza. She looks fine otherwise, just wheezing. I've put her in her own cage on the other side of my property. She doesn't have any desire to eat or drink, she just sits on the ground (wont' perch either) and wheezes. It's so sad.
I decided last year not to cull my flock because I am the only person in my area with chickens and once recovered, the hens seemed fine. I just found out yesterday my neighbor purchased some hens because some of them came over my fence and roosted in my tree near the coop. I let her know and told her she must clip their wings and keep them out of my yard since mine have been sick. They're very pretty birds, I'd really hate to see them get sick.
So now I fear the time has come to cull them. Considering all this, what do you think the best course of action would be? I tried looking for a vet that saw chickens last year and didn't have any luck. We culled a rooster by means of an axe and that was just a horrible thing. Is there any other way to put them down that doesn't involve chopping and spraying blood? I hate to kill birds that aren't showing any sign of illness and are laying like champions.
Any help is appreciated.
