Sleeping Sickness

[stanley]

Hi, All three of our hens came down with a cold which lasted a couple of days, at the same time they all stopped laying, this has carried on for a week, one of them now seems very sleepy, it just stands still in the middle of the lawn, its breathing seems laboured, then she seems to recover, she is eating and drinking but very slowly, this also happened to the other hens, they seem to have recovered from it, does anyone know what this is?

 

[PoultryPedia]

Not sure at all--It can be extremely difficult to pin down an exact, correct diagnosis for a poultry disease, especially without vet help. It is optimal if you know exactly what you're dealing with, but often you can treat successfully without knowing for sure.
It can often help to just try some inexpensive antibiotics & see if they help whatever the problem is. Try one kind of antibiotics for 5+ days or however many are recommended in instructions. If no improvement, switch and try a med from another class of antibiotics.
I believe there are 3 general classes of antibiotics for chickens. 1 class includes Aeromycin, Terramycin, etc. 1 class includes sulfa-type meds. And I'm not sure about third.
Anyway, you can get a pouch of Aeromycin or Terramycin powder to add to water for about $4 at a feed store. I've seen a sulfa-type med at a pet store in the pet birds (parakeets, etc.) section before.
The Chinese herb Astragalus, which you can buy in capsules at some health food stores, is also supposed to be a good immunity booster.

 

[sammi]

there in the UK you most likely will have to see a vet for an antibiotic for respiratory illness.
it would be a good idea to have a fecal sample done also, to check for worms and cocci.

lease describe the droppings..color and consistency.
what are you feeding?

if they have firm normal droppings, you can give them some extra protein to help them get better..
cooked eggs, for example.
or a little canned cat food...

try and get some poultry or pigeon vitamins to mix in the drinking water.

try and keep them warm and dry and out of draft in a clean environment.
what are you using for bedding?
how has the weather been?

 

[stanley]

chuks are doing great thanks for the info , james,