SilkieChickensLove
Chirping
- Dec 2, 2022
- 36
- 41
- 61
Hi there,
We have a flock of 21 silkies - 14 roos who run in a bachelor flock and hens who are in a separate run. They are mostly older silkies- around 3 years old and then some that hatched last year and are now 16 months old. Last week we noticed that one of the roosters who is 16 months old started to not be able to walk well. We figured maybe he tussled with another roo and had an injury. His feet are fine, legs move but he has a hard time walking or standing. He is eating and drinking and has weight on him- he just can't get around well.
We thought it was an isolated case but have since now had 3 more birds that are having trouble walking and standing- one of the 3 year old roosters and another of the 16 month old roosters and 1 hen that is 16 months old. Though the hen has since after a couple of days seemed to be walking around fine.
One of the roos who was getting around fine yesterday is standing ok this morning -but with his head tucked back into his feathers- he doesn't want to eat or anything. We have the two who are not doing well inside the house cozy by the fire this morning to warm up. (we are in California so it is not freezing cold but chilly)
We aren't sure if it is a disease, a vitamin deficiency, or what could be happening but it is getting scary that more keep being affected.
The only other back stories that might help:
Recently had a mite infestation which we treated- some birds were more affected than others but have since been fine. And some of the affected roos did not have noticeable mites when we treated even so.
We also treated for coccidiosis because we weren't sure what was going on and had 3 hens pass away in the past 2 months not knowing what it was from. One was an older hen & the other 2 were younger. This is after not having any losses or issues in over a year.
I know Mareks is a concern- are they too old to be affected by that? I don't know if the first generation silkies were vaccinated before we got them as 3 week old chicks- we did not vaccinate the ones that we hatched.
We have not added any new chickens and really nothing else has changed that we can think of.
Is there anything virus or anything else we should consider that could be affecting so many of them?
We have a lot of rats that are always in trying to get into the coop- and have had mite issues several times. We just cleaned out and replaced all bedding, etc. and added more diatomaceous earth again and sprayed the coop and birds again recently. Could some of them just be weak from that?
We also did have the bubbly eye respiratory issue come into the flock when we adopted older hens- but that was at least 2 1/2 years ago now and everyone has been fine- but I know that can crop up whenever they are stressed. There has maybe some stress with large cedar trees being cut down near the coop recently- could that have caused an issue?
We are stumped on what it could be and what to do- if anyone has any ideas or tips- would greatly appreciate them. Our birds are very much loved pets - I know folks here can relate. Thank you in advance for your help.
We have a flock of 21 silkies - 14 roos who run in a bachelor flock and hens who are in a separate run. They are mostly older silkies- around 3 years old and then some that hatched last year and are now 16 months old. Last week we noticed that one of the roosters who is 16 months old started to not be able to walk well. We figured maybe he tussled with another roo and had an injury. His feet are fine, legs move but he has a hard time walking or standing. He is eating and drinking and has weight on him- he just can't get around well.
We thought it was an isolated case but have since now had 3 more birds that are having trouble walking and standing- one of the 3 year old roosters and another of the 16 month old roosters and 1 hen that is 16 months old. Though the hen has since after a couple of days seemed to be walking around fine.
One of the roos who was getting around fine yesterday is standing ok this morning -but with his head tucked back into his feathers- he doesn't want to eat or anything. We have the two who are not doing well inside the house cozy by the fire this morning to warm up. (we are in California so it is not freezing cold but chilly)
We aren't sure if it is a disease, a vitamin deficiency, or what could be happening but it is getting scary that more keep being affected.
The only other back stories that might help:
Recently had a mite infestation which we treated- some birds were more affected than others but have since been fine. And some of the affected roos did not have noticeable mites when we treated even so.
We also treated for coccidiosis because we weren't sure what was going on and had 3 hens pass away in the past 2 months not knowing what it was from. One was an older hen & the other 2 were younger. This is after not having any losses or issues in over a year.
I know Mareks is a concern- are they too old to be affected by that? I don't know if the first generation silkies were vaccinated before we got them as 3 week old chicks- we did not vaccinate the ones that we hatched.
We have not added any new chickens and really nothing else has changed that we can think of.
Is there anything virus or anything else we should consider that could be affecting so many of them?
We have a lot of rats that are always in trying to get into the coop- and have had mite issues several times. We just cleaned out and replaced all bedding, etc. and added more diatomaceous earth again and sprayed the coop and birds again recently. Could some of them just be weak from that?
We also did have the bubbly eye respiratory issue come into the flock when we adopted older hens- but that was at least 2 1/2 years ago now and everyone has been fine- but I know that can crop up whenever they are stressed. There has maybe some stress with large cedar trees being cut down near the coop recently- could that have caused an issue?
We are stumped on what it could be and what to do- if anyone has any ideas or tips- would greatly appreciate them. Our birds are very much loved pets - I know folks here can relate. Thank you in advance for your help.
