NarrawalleeChickens
Chirping
Hiya all,
1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
Our lovely bearded silky ‘Nugget’ has recently felt slightly underweight (when compared to his hen sisters of a similar age). He is aprox 7 months old and we’ve recently noticed he seems to have scaly face and has been dropping Diarrhea and even completely liquid droppings.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
Liquid poos, dirty rear end, scaly face and slight lethargy (still eating and drinking consistently - still running over for porridge and treats). He has been visiting two Broodies/layers in the nesting boxes during the day for the last week nearly every day and kind of just standing next to them for a while - we thought he was just being social but it is a bit strange. He also doesn’t seem to be preening as much as normal.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
Aprox a week for the liquid poos/lethargy and potentially the same for scaly face (we notices yesterday)
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No (We have a flock of 10 silkies/Cochins/crosses of the above as well as 3 isa brown chicks which have recently been successfully integrated into the flock after being raised by their respective mommas)
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
No
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
Not sure, we stopped free ranging the birds about 3 weeks ago after they won the long battle against the garden. Their sizey coop is now situated on a dedicated chicken area which is fenced in (aprox 20m^2).
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
Eating - Mainly pullet grower over the last month with about a week on chick starter as our pullet grower got wet. We also use Ren Hen layer feed as a scratch mix. Daily afternoon Porridge (80%chick starter, 20%oats, 5-10 sultanas cut up between the flock of 10). Occasional treats of dried corn/mealworms/kitchen scraps (strawberry ends, celery, extra rocket etc)
Drinking - steady access to fresh water, one day in the last week on hydration solution, worming treatment 1 week ago (chickens only polished off half the drink unfortunately)
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Extremely runny, he may produce non runny poos but of the 5 I’ve seen in the drop out in the last week 100% have been basically liquid.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
See above
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?
Would prefer to treat him ourselves but if the situation does not improve in a week or two we would take young ‘Nugget’ to a vet.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
See attached
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
6 hens, 3 chicks (6 weeks) and 1 cockerel (Nugget) share an enclosed 1m^2 raised aluminium coop for sleeping. He roosts every night happily with the rest of the flock. Below the roosts is a metal grate which is currently covered by a metal sheet and layer of sugar cane mulch. We pick up droppings in the sleeping area daily and change the bedding completely weekly/bi-weekly.
Thank you for reading and for any insights into what issues Nugget might have and potential home treatments!
Cheers,
Riley
1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
Our lovely bearded silky ‘Nugget’ has recently felt slightly underweight (when compared to his hen sisters of a similar age). He is aprox 7 months old and we’ve recently noticed he seems to have scaly face and has been dropping Diarrhea and even completely liquid droppings.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
Liquid poos, dirty rear end, scaly face and slight lethargy (still eating and drinking consistently - still running over for porridge and treats). He has been visiting two Broodies/layers in the nesting boxes during the day for the last week nearly every day and kind of just standing next to them for a while - we thought he was just being social but it is a bit strange. He also doesn’t seem to be preening as much as normal.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
Aprox a week for the liquid poos/lethargy and potentially the same for scaly face (we notices yesterday)
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No (We have a flock of 10 silkies/Cochins/crosses of the above as well as 3 isa brown chicks which have recently been successfully integrated into the flock after being raised by their respective mommas)
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
No
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
Not sure, we stopped free ranging the birds about 3 weeks ago after they won the long battle against the garden. Their sizey coop is now situated on a dedicated chicken area which is fenced in (aprox 20m^2).
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
Eating - Mainly pullet grower over the last month with about a week on chick starter as our pullet grower got wet. We also use Ren Hen layer feed as a scratch mix. Daily afternoon Porridge (80%chick starter, 20%oats, 5-10 sultanas cut up between the flock of 10). Occasional treats of dried corn/mealworms/kitchen scraps (strawberry ends, celery, extra rocket etc)
Drinking - steady access to fresh water, one day in the last week on hydration solution, worming treatment 1 week ago (chickens only polished off half the drink unfortunately)
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Extremely runny, he may produce non runny poos but of the 5 I’ve seen in the drop out in the last week 100% have been basically liquid.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
See above
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?
Would prefer to treat him ourselves but if the situation does not improve in a week or two we would take young ‘Nugget’ to a vet.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
See attached
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
6 hens, 3 chicks (6 weeks) and 1 cockerel (Nugget) share an enclosed 1m^2 raised aluminium coop for sleeping. He roosts every night happily with the rest of the flock. Below the roosts is a metal grate which is currently covered by a metal sheet and layer of sugar cane mulch. We pick up droppings in the sleeping area daily and change the bedding completely weekly/bi-weekly.
Thank you for reading and for any insights into what issues Nugget might have and potential home treatments!
Cheers,
Riley
