This is probably going to be a fairly long post, so sorry. I'm going to provide a history of my birds as I had purchased them as young adults.
I have a total of 34 birds currently in two seperate flocks. The history on my new flock:
13 birds total in this flock and all are 2 yo Production Reds, 12 hens and 1 rooster. Just acquired them this past Sunday from a grower. Although I haven't inspected them in detail yet but there are no obvious signs of leg mites, shiny healthy looking feathers, clear wide open alert eyes, etc. They are robust looking birds with good weight on them. All of these birds came from one location, a man that is experienced in birds and sells eggs & meat birds as his profession. He didn't mention, and I never thought to ask (until I read the forums here) if he vaccinated his birds.
21 birds total in my older flock. They all appear to be young adults and a few are laying eggs though I don't know which ones. I have one silkie hen (possitive she's laying because the eggs are vastly different/smaller), one silkie rooster, another rooster that is still a juvenile (don't know breed) and the remaining 18 hens are various breeds. I can make out a couple Plymouth rock, some cochins, and a few RIR, but others I'm not so sure about other than they are all similar in size and probably mixed breeds.
All but two of this original flock came from one place.... a lazy, uneducated owner new to birds. I say lazy because 19 birds were stuffed in a tiny make shift "cage" with no boxes or shelter from wind/cold. The small patch of ground under them had no signs of plant life, it was muddy and at least an inch thick with wet bird poo, a mouse trap INSIDE the cage as well as a dead bird when I arrived to pick them up. The only signs of illness at this time was leg mites which they have since been cured of.
I have had my original flock for about a month without any signs of illness before acquiring the new flock three days ago. The new flock has been completely seperate (other side of yard) from my old flock as a precautionary measure. I intended to keep them seperate for two weeks before I combined them.
I have a large hen house and joined fenced in run for my original flock. I let them out of the hen house every morning about 6:30am and feed them laying crumbles. They go in the hen house on their own every night after sunset at which time I walk out to close the door and feed them a little corn scratch in addition to whatever I've gathered for them during the day such as bread crust, vegetable parts/scraps, egg shells, fruit scraps, left over cereal, pop tarts, etc. They drink plenty of water from various water sources through out the run because I usually have to re-fill them daily.
Yesterday morning I found sick bird #1 (from the original flock). Our luck would have it that she's our favorite and the one that eagerly greets us to be petted every day. She was standing off away from the birds and not eating during the morning feed at 6:30am. I picked her up and noticed clear discharge coming from her nostrils and she was craning her neck out with her mouth open to breathe. She was wheazing. I immediately seperated her and checked both flocks with no signs of any more sick birds at 7am.
Sick bird #1 did not show any desire for food during the second feeding at sunset last night but her condition remained the same. All other birds were in the hen house at which time I checked and found sick bird #2 & #3 both from my original flock. Their symptoms are not as severe, they occassional breathe with their mouths open, one has a tiny bit of clear discharge coming from it's nostrils, and they both have occassional slight wheazing.
Still no illness in the new flock.
This morning at 6:30am I checked on sick birds and immediately noticed that bird #1 now has one eye that is crusted over and closed. The other eye is still wide open and alert although none of the birds showed any interest in food again this morning. Bird #1 has about the same difficulty breathing as before. Birds #2 & #3 got a little worse but are not quite as bad as bird #1 and neither have any obvious eye issues.
After checking the sick birds this morning I let the others out of their hen house and began checking them one by one. Found bird #4 & #5 with some wheazing, breathing with their mouth open, and have seperated them as well. These are also from my original flock.... still no illness in my new flock.
Previously we have been sanitising our hands between feeding the two seperate flocks when we acquired the new one. Just as a precaution, however, I have young children and it could be possible that they may have handled the new birds or forgotten to sanitize their hands despite my constant drilling in their heads.
If the new birds WERE vaccinated (waiting on answer to my email) then could it be possible that some sort of live vaccine has contaminated my original flock which is high unlikely to be vaccinated ? (she never answered any email questions in the past after I acquired the birds from her and from the condition of the birds when I acquired them, I'd say they probably were never vaccinated or wormed)
Now, I had been debating the idea of worming any of my birds because I'm concerned about the effects on the eggs we eat and give to friends. I have noticed a small amount of runny poo in the hen house, but for the most part it is solid.
There are no local vets that will treat birds. The nearest bird vet is about 2 hours away. I went to a local feed store this morning and they had no clue what I should do, but I purchased the following items: Antibiotic (Agrimycin powder), VetRx (which says it is effective relief and prevention of colds, roup, scaly legs, & eye worm), and Wazine. However, I have not treated anyone as of yet because I'm not sure if these items should/could be combined and I had some questions:
1.) Any ideas or suggstions on what this could be? I read the boards here and thought possibly Mycoplasma of some sort?? What do you think?
2.) Can all of these medicines be combined? Bird supplies are limited around here, and this is what was offered at one local feed store. I could check another if you think I should get something else?
3.) How should I proceed with additional eggs? Will any or all of these medications affect eating them.... if so.... are they harmful to boil & feed back to the birds? Should I be concerned about keeping the eggs secure from other animals/spreading the desease, etc?
Your help is most appreciated!
I have a total of 34 birds currently in two seperate flocks. The history on my new flock:
13 birds total in this flock and all are 2 yo Production Reds, 12 hens and 1 rooster. Just acquired them this past Sunday from a grower. Although I haven't inspected them in detail yet but there are no obvious signs of leg mites, shiny healthy looking feathers, clear wide open alert eyes, etc. They are robust looking birds with good weight on them. All of these birds came from one location, a man that is experienced in birds and sells eggs & meat birds as his profession. He didn't mention, and I never thought to ask (until I read the forums here) if he vaccinated his birds.
21 birds total in my older flock. They all appear to be young adults and a few are laying eggs though I don't know which ones. I have one silkie hen (possitive she's laying because the eggs are vastly different/smaller), one silkie rooster, another rooster that is still a juvenile (don't know breed) and the remaining 18 hens are various breeds. I can make out a couple Plymouth rock, some cochins, and a few RIR, but others I'm not so sure about other than they are all similar in size and probably mixed breeds.
All but two of this original flock came from one place.... a lazy, uneducated owner new to birds. I say lazy because 19 birds were stuffed in a tiny make shift "cage" with no boxes or shelter from wind/cold. The small patch of ground under them had no signs of plant life, it was muddy and at least an inch thick with wet bird poo, a mouse trap INSIDE the cage as well as a dead bird when I arrived to pick them up. The only signs of illness at this time was leg mites which they have since been cured of.
I have had my original flock for about a month without any signs of illness before acquiring the new flock three days ago. The new flock has been completely seperate (other side of yard) from my old flock as a precautionary measure. I intended to keep them seperate for two weeks before I combined them.
I have a large hen house and joined fenced in run for my original flock. I let them out of the hen house every morning about 6:30am and feed them laying crumbles. They go in the hen house on their own every night after sunset at which time I walk out to close the door and feed them a little corn scratch in addition to whatever I've gathered for them during the day such as bread crust, vegetable parts/scraps, egg shells, fruit scraps, left over cereal, pop tarts, etc. They drink plenty of water from various water sources through out the run because I usually have to re-fill them daily.
Yesterday morning I found sick bird #1 (from the original flock). Our luck would have it that she's our favorite and the one that eagerly greets us to be petted every day. She was standing off away from the birds and not eating during the morning feed at 6:30am. I picked her up and noticed clear discharge coming from her nostrils and she was craning her neck out with her mouth open to breathe. She was wheazing. I immediately seperated her and checked both flocks with no signs of any more sick birds at 7am.
Sick bird #1 did not show any desire for food during the second feeding at sunset last night but her condition remained the same. All other birds were in the hen house at which time I checked and found sick bird #2 & #3 both from my original flock. Their symptoms are not as severe, they occassional breathe with their mouths open, one has a tiny bit of clear discharge coming from it's nostrils, and they both have occassional slight wheazing.
Still no illness in the new flock.
This morning at 6:30am I checked on sick birds and immediately noticed that bird #1 now has one eye that is crusted over and closed. The other eye is still wide open and alert although none of the birds showed any interest in food again this morning. Bird #1 has about the same difficulty breathing as before. Birds #2 & #3 got a little worse but are not quite as bad as bird #1 and neither have any obvious eye issues.
After checking the sick birds this morning I let the others out of their hen house and began checking them one by one. Found bird #4 & #5 with some wheazing, breathing with their mouth open, and have seperated them as well. These are also from my original flock.... still no illness in my new flock.
Previously we have been sanitising our hands between feeding the two seperate flocks when we acquired the new one. Just as a precaution, however, I have young children and it could be possible that they may have handled the new birds or forgotten to sanitize their hands despite my constant drilling in their heads.
Now, I had been debating the idea of worming any of my birds because I'm concerned about the effects on the eggs we eat and give to friends. I have noticed a small amount of runny poo in the hen house, but for the most part it is solid.
There are no local vets that will treat birds. The nearest bird vet is about 2 hours away. I went to a local feed store this morning and they had no clue what I should do, but I purchased the following items: Antibiotic (Agrimycin powder), VetRx (which says it is effective relief and prevention of colds, roup, scaly legs, & eye worm), and Wazine. However, I have not treated anyone as of yet because I'm not sure if these items should/could be combined and I had some questions:
1.) Any ideas or suggstions on what this could be? I read the boards here and thought possibly Mycoplasma of some sort?? What do you think?
2.) Can all of these medicines be combined? Bird supplies are limited around here, and this is what was offered at one local feed store. I could check another if you think I should get something else?
3.) How should I proceed with additional eggs? Will any or all of these medications affect eating them.... if so.... are they harmful to boil & feed back to the birds? Should I be concerned about keeping the eggs secure from other animals/spreading the desease, etc?
Your help is most appreciated!
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