rir hens, sick....

[hart2c]

I have 2 rir hens that are showing signs of being sick.. I have had them for a bout a week and the guy I bought them from said they were about a year old.. Well one has swollen eyes and looks snotty, the other is wheezing and sounds just terrible... Help!! This all new to me and have no idea where to start to help them... They also have a red bottom.. Looks like a sack...

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. Did you buy other birds from him, and do you already have other birds? Those sick chickens have signs of a respiratory disease, and they should not be near your chickens. Do you notice a bad odor from their faces?They could have MG or coryza which are chronic respiratory diseases that will make your flock carriers for life. The birds should be put down or returned to the seller. You should always quarantine any new birds for 30-45 days just to watch them for signs of illness, so it's not spread. Here is a good link to read on respiratory diseases: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[hart2c]

I got 5 and 2 of the 5 are sick.. I havent smelled anything out of the ordinary.. But Iam sure it is some kind of respiratory disease.. They are in a pim close to the other hen and babbies that I have.. I have purchased an antibiotic and started all of them on it.. I have taken the 2 sick chickens out and have them in a different location away from the others.. Still sick but hanging in there.. Should I put them down?

 

[Eggcessive]

I would get them all away from your hen and her babies since they are all exposed to some disease. You can spend a lot of time and money on treating the sick ones, but they will always be carriers of MG or whatever disease they have. Their symptoms can come back whenever they are stressed, and these birds may never live up to their potential for gaining weight or laying eggs.

 

[hart2c]

Thank you very much... My husband is going to go ahead and put them down.... and we are treating everyone else with antibiotics...just to be on the safe side..

 

[hart2c]

After reading the quarintine piece on here.... iam wondering if I should go ahead and treat all the birds with antibiotics or wate for symptoms??

 

[Eggcessive]

I usually feel that it is best to save antibiotics until you see symptoms. If the remaining birds had any contact with the others or the same soil, then I would watch carefully. Sorry about your birds, and having to deal with all this. Many people learn what can go wrong when they read threads like this. Buying birds from other people is always risky because some either try to take advantage for a profit, or are too ignorant to know that their sick birds will carry illnesses into someone else's flock, potentially wiping them out.

 

[hart2c]

We r going to do a total cleaning today.. Wash out and clean up everything and add new bedding.. So far no one else is showing any symptoms.. I hope that I found the sick birds in time to keep the rest of them from coming contact ... Thanks for all the help...