Sick sussex

[Farmbois]

Hey Guys

I have 12 Sussex chooks all POL.

I have had 2 of them die in the last 2 weeks and now i have another sick.
She has a runny nose, She is limping (checked her feet, nothing wrong)
and she has a messy backside. anyone have any ideas what could be wrong?

cheers

Greg

 

[chookchick]

First of all, since they are POL, make sure they are on a good laying diet, with oyster shell and grit also available free choice. Make sure the coop is clean and odor free. Discharge from the nostril usually indicates that they have an infectious respiratory disease, I would isolate any with this symptom ASAP. You may want to go ahead and treat all of them with Tylan unless you can narrow it down more. If another one dies, try and refrigerate the body, and see if you can get a necropsy done (often done no charge at state agricultural extension agency). Post back here with ANY new symptoms--what does their droppings look like, do they smell? anything in eyes? etc...

This thread may be too much TMI, but info on "colds":
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=113931&p=3

 

[Farmbois]

Hey, thanks for the reply.

droppings are normal, they dont smell, they eat and drink normally.

we have lost 5 in the last week. wing drops, runny nostrils, they limp around and they are dead within a few hours. they r the only symptoms.

they coop in always cleaned and kept clean.

we have had an enormous amount of rain, so I can only think that they have some sort of fatal cold.

I my coop is massive. it is split/fenced into 2. one side I have rhode island reds, the other side are sussex. The sussex are the only ones dying.

 

[chookchick]

The droopy wing and limping sound more like Marek's--is it possible that these chicks were not vaccinated, and your RIR were vaccinated for Marek's? But the nostril discharge sounds more like a respiratory illness.
Info on Marek's:
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/90/mareks-disease
Are there any other symptoms? sneezing, swollen face, green diarrhea, eye changes, anything? I would highly recommend a necropsy. If this is a Marek's situation, you would want to make sure any new chickens are vaccinated.

 

[Farmbois]

Its a bizarre thing to figure out. its not effecting the roosters at all that are in with the hens. the rooster are from a different breeder than the hens. there are no other symptoms, just what i have stated. they look healthy, their weight is good, feathers and skin are good. normal colour in eyes, normal poo