Katieskerlong
Chirping
- Mar 8, 2025
- 58
- 50
- 61
Feeling pretty down about my situation with my chickens.
I’ve owned chickens for years but several months ago got into the idea of breeding and selling. I went about this in a poor way tho and got the first few off craigslist. Afterwards I learned the difference between that and buying them from breeders who are NPIP certified + the many different diseases chickens can contract that I had no idea about.
So I started buying some from reputable breeders in my area and building up my flock over time. I’m at 30 birds now and two weeks ago noticed one of my chickens had a swollen eye. I separated them, took them to the vet, and was told it was just an eye injury so I started treating for that. A week later another shows up with a swollen eye. Separated them too. And now I have 3 with swollen eyes. The first of these three is also looking much worse. Gasping and discharge. I’m so heartbroken because I know this is a bad sign. I’ll be having testing done hopefully in the next week to know for certain and then we’ll go from there.
I’m just not sure what I will do then. Cull the worst? I love each one of my birds and had a few given to me by relatives who are breeders. I’ve also hatched several as well and raised them. But I’m not sure I can handle having seriously sick chickens either. Theres also been so much time and money put into my chickens to build toward my goals and I feel so heartbroken. I could keep them as pets but I know how easy these diseases spread and I’m thinking about quality of life too. It’s incredibly disappointing and I’m kicking myself for being so stupid. Not to mention I have a couple ducks and quail.
I’ve had goats for years and always thought they were hard. I had no idea how complicated chickens truly could be.
Anyone who’s dealt with this or has a kind opinion, please share some feedback.
I’ve owned chickens for years but several months ago got into the idea of breeding and selling. I went about this in a poor way tho and got the first few off craigslist. Afterwards I learned the difference between that and buying them from breeders who are NPIP certified + the many different diseases chickens can contract that I had no idea about.
So I started buying some from reputable breeders in my area and building up my flock over time. I’m at 30 birds now and two weeks ago noticed one of my chickens had a swollen eye. I separated them, took them to the vet, and was told it was just an eye injury so I started treating for that. A week later another shows up with a swollen eye. Separated them too. And now I have 3 with swollen eyes. The first of these three is also looking much worse. Gasping and discharge. I’m so heartbroken because I know this is a bad sign. I’ll be having testing done hopefully in the next week to know for certain and then we’ll go from there.
I’m just not sure what I will do then. Cull the worst? I love each one of my birds and had a few given to me by relatives who are breeders. I’ve also hatched several as well and raised them. But I’m not sure I can handle having seriously sick chickens either. Theres also been so much time and money put into my chickens to build toward my goals and I feel so heartbroken. I could keep them as pets but I know how easy these diseases spread and I’m thinking about quality of life too. It’s incredibly disappointing and I’m kicking myself for being so stupid. Not to mention I have a couple ducks and quail.
I’ve had goats for years and always thought they were hard. I had no idea how complicated chickens truly could be.
Anyone who’s dealt with this or has a kind opinion, please share some feedback.
