Hi there, I am keeping six broilers in my yard, who are about a month old. Yesterday one of them started having very strained breathing (pump handle). I quarantined her and gave her water with electrolytes and a little apple cider vinegar, but did not think she would make it through the night. Today she is is still alive but breathing with difficultly and after I picked her up there were small bright green bugs on my hand. Could these be mites? Some stats: breed-cornish cross age-5 weeks housing- box coop with straw bedding and free range in 10x8 yard space feed- modesto milling organic layer pellets (it's what I could find out here) They have free access to food and water, although I've started them on a 12 on 12 off in the past day (not the sick chicken though). The sick bird's poop looks fine, not runny or watery, no blood. Eyes are clear, no other signs of infection or disease. Any suggestions about the bird? Thanks!
I've had great luck with duramycin 10 for respatory problems and keep it on hand in my fridge. I just responded to another person in here who had problems with sneezing chicks which I had as well... 2 of them were literally gasping for air it was so bad and had started out with a little sneeze. Anyhoos... the antibiotic completely cleared it up. I would also try keeping it in a warm quiet space so that it's not being stressed additionally. Small green bugs? I've never had that problem before. I've seen little red bugs but not green. You can try to give them a sevin dust type thing if you think it is causing an issue... normally you can see when their skin has been irritated by something that is munchin on them. But like I said... I've no experience with small green buggies. Good luck!
I'm sorry about your girl. I am not sure about the breathing thing but I don't think the green bugs are mites. From my experience mites are white or greyish in color. Hopefully someone else has advise on the respiratory issue.
Yeah, the bugs looked a lot like aphids but I don't know why those would be on the chicken. I checked her again for mites and didn't really see anything but I'm not 100% confident in my spotting abilities. This morning she is pretty much the same, a little more energy but still having breathing trouble. Is gapeworm a possibility? She does the head/neck twitching thing, and sneezes/hiccups a bit.
