Sick Chickens

[minuteschics]

I have 23 chickens. 2 White Leghorn roosters. 1 White Leghorn hen, 2 Black Aussie hens, 1 mixed breed rooster and 19 Production Reds. These chickens have been outstanding all winter here in eastern Oklahoma. I have been getting 15 to 21 eggs each day all winter long. They are allowed free range during the day and have an enclosed coop to go into each night. My concern is on 1-28-2014 I found the White Leghorn hen lying almost frozen on the chicken coop floor. It was 5 degrees here that morning. After I brought her into the house she warmed up within a couple of hours but has never recovered enough to put her back with the flock. She eats and drinks well, has normal droppings but seems to suffer from vertigo. This morning (1-31-2014) one of the White Leghorn roosters was also having symptoms of vertigo. He was stumbling so much that he was easy for me to catch. I brought him into the house and put him into the cage with the white hen. He too eats and drinks well but is staggering around as if he is very dizzy. All the other chickens seem well at this moment. What do you think?

 

[boskelli1571]

Hello there,
You don't say how old the birds are, also ,did you get them vaccinated against Mareks disease? Any other symptoms? Sue

 

[seminolewind]

Could they have eaten anything moldy or bad?
How old are they?
Did you get new chickens recently?

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry to hear about your 2 chickens. Two diseases come to mind with leg weakness or loss of balance--Mareks (more likely) and botulism (less likely), which comes from eating rotted remains of an animal/fish carcass, maggots, or rotted vegetation such as in a compost bed. Here is some info on each: http://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/Resource000791_Rep813.pdf
http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/avian-atlas/search/disease/502
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/19/botulism

 

[minuteschics]

These chickens were hatched in the summer of 2013. They came from Tractor Supply. I don't know if they were vaccinated or not, but I assume they were since they were sold commercially. They have fully recovered now. After reading your post, I suspect that they may have been victims of compost scratching. I'll have to do better about keeping my compost pile secure. Thanks for your concern. BYC rocks. I love it. Minute

 

[Eggcessive]

I am glad to hear that they are doing better.Yes compost beds are not good with chickens. Some people have them and their chickens never get sick, but I have heard of small dead animals being in them, and botulism kills easily.