Hello to all who read this! Need help (yet again). It seems I only come one here for that. Lately we've had terrible luck with our poor chickens. Our old flock of 11 who I've posted on here before about...sigh, one of our dogs about 3 weeks ago ripped through the bottom of the fence and massacred all of them. Didn't even eat them. Just killed 'em and moved on to the next. When I found their bodies, I cried (no mocking please, they were our pets & not just chickens to us). The freshly built new coop being empty was too much for my husband and, despite having just arrived new chicks in the brooder, so we got a few 1-3 month old of varying breed pullets plus 2 full grown Silkies. Well, one of the Silkies a few days ago I noticed had some bubbles in her eye so I have been putting saline in them. I wasn't too concerned because her temperament is completely normal and all poop in the coop is normal (considering its 105 degrees so they are drinking a lot of water). But today when I went out there the one eye was all cleared up from bubbles, but the other is swollen shut with no discharge. There is light mild not really cough-not sneeze-not rattle-not quite scoff kinda sound that'll occasionally sound off mildly from a chicken or two. Now here is the kicker, as big no-no as it is in the big book of chickens, these hens come from 3 different places (a chicken farm, a feed store, and a livestock market). We entrusted that all of these reputable places would be good, but now I am not so sure. I have put apple cider vinegar in their water as well as giving them Nutridrench. I also ordered Tylan (water mix-in powder). But it won't be here for a week or two. Now my concern is our mail-order chicks who are now 4 weeks old will be ready in several weeks to join the big girls, BUT with one of them being outright sick plus the possibility of the others maybe suddenly popping up with sickness I don't know what to do. We have them in the side by side mini chicken run for now (see each other but no touch), but it won't be long before they outgrow it. Is it fine to add them in there eventually then just treat them too if they get sick OR will all of them die from being so young plus sick inside there with them? I may be overreacting due to all the bad luck here lately (also 2 of the mail order chicks were sickly and refuse to grow), but I just want to handle this with the best foot forward. We love having chickens, but all this death plus illness is a bit overwhelming. We just feel so defeated. We do most of what is asked for us with the chickens (not giving quarantine time I know is terrible, but not resource to do it) and for these problems to still arise. Maybe we just suck at chickens. Maybe the food, the free ranging, the treats, the attention, the research, maybe it isn't enough. Maybe we don't have the knack...
P.S. If any of this seems silly to you, please don't post it. Roll your eyes and scroll on. I take all animals very seriously. A life is a life to me. So please for decency, don't mock. I've been laughed at by those close to me about crying about our flock's massacre. But when you've had them since they were a day old, you get attached. I may not have a knack for chickens, but I do care about ours.
P.S. If any of this seems silly to you, please don't post it. Roll your eyes and scroll on. I take all animals very seriously. A life is a life to me. So please for decency, don't mock. I've been laughed at by those close to me about crying about our flock's massacre. But when you've had them since they were a day old, you get attached. I may not have a knack for chickens, but I do care about ours.
