- Apr 8, 2012
- 66
- 0
- 39
Okay, so last year I got some chickens and a duck that weren't that well taken care of . One of my ducks got sick and I freaked out that I had brought something into the flock that had infected everyone. We ended up taking 5 birds to be culled/necropsied and they were all "fine". The sick duck had clostridium but that was within her own body and not something everyone was sharing, and one of the chickens had a fused ovum or something. All of the chickens had lice. But other than that, no respiratory diseases or anything contagious.
I only have 3 birds left that I got then, the rest were in the necropsy group. 2 Buckeye hens and one Buckeye rooster. We're still battling with lice, but other than that they seem fine. Except sometimes in the winter when it was super super cold the rooster would have bubbles in the corners of his eyes. I just saw this can be a sign of illness, not just their reaction to sub zero windchill like I thought then. And he and one of the hens always breathe slow and maybe labored after being picked up and especially after being dusted with wood ash. Is it possible that these are NOT signs of a disease? I mean, I went to the trouble of the necropsy to be SURE I didn't have something floating around!!! The ducks don't seem to be showing any signs of anything. AND I have two broody ducks, one of whom is scheduled to go to a new home with her babies after they hatch. I'm starting to get really worried again and I can't let myself do that. My son caught the rooster earlier today and was holding him at the front door when the rooster jumped out of his arms and ran into the living room. It took probably less than a minute to catch him again. I set him outside and he breathed slowly and sat down, unmoving. When I got too close he did pop up and run away. Could it just be stress from being handled? At their previous home they were kept in a big dog cage and never handled.
I just thought I was done worrying that I'd have to cull everyone and start over and now the worry is creeping back.
I only have 3 birds left that I got then, the rest were in the necropsy group. 2 Buckeye hens and one Buckeye rooster. We're still battling with lice, but other than that they seem fine. Except sometimes in the winter when it was super super cold the rooster would have bubbles in the corners of his eyes. I just saw this can be a sign of illness, not just their reaction to sub zero windchill like I thought then. And he and one of the hens always breathe slow and maybe labored after being picked up and especially after being dusted with wood ash. Is it possible that these are NOT signs of a disease? I mean, I went to the trouble of the necropsy to be SURE I didn't have something floating around!!! The ducks don't seem to be showing any signs of anything. AND I have two broody ducks, one of whom is scheduled to go to a new home with her babies after they hatch. I'm starting to get really worried again and I can't let myself do that. My son caught the rooster earlier today and was holding him at the front door when the rooster jumped out of his arms and ran into the living room. It took probably less than a minute to catch him again. I set him outside and he breathed slowly and sat down, unmoving. When I got too close he did pop up and run away. Could it just be stress from being handled? At their previous home they were kept in a big dog cage and never handled.
I just thought I was done worrying that I'd have to cull everyone and start over and now the worry is creeping back.
