Suggestions for cleaning/bedding of run and coop?

[mountainchickens]

Hi! I'm looking for any suggestions on cleaning our run and coop. We have 4 chickens currently, our run is around 10x13 and our coop is around 5x4, and we have recently had 3 die from unknown diseases, 2 chicks and one hen. The chicks had something very fast-acting and maybe respiratory - they were sneezing quite a bit. We have no idea what the hen had. The chick's friend, who is almost 2 months old, is still alive and a little sneezy. We may be getting companions for him around 9 weeks old soon, and before they come I'd like to clean out the coop and run so that they have less chance of getting sick. We are thinking we'll put the one remaining chick on vetrx.
Any idea what would be good as far as cleaning? What to scrub down, what to put in, etc? Our run is mostly bare, but there's a little mulch, a little sawdust and several huge piles of weeds right now. Our coop is floored with just sawdust, and we were thinking to switch to sand except it might be too cold for the winter. Any suggestions welcome. Thanks!

 

[Folly's place]

No cleaning will help if you have surviving sneezing chicken! Before adding more birds, find out what's going on! You can have testing done for Mycoplasma, at least. Check with your state veterinary lab, at the veterinary school.
Did your birds come from a hatchery as day olds, or from elsewhere?
Mary

 

[mountainchickens]

No cleaning will help if you have surviving sneezing chicken! Before adding more birds, find out what's going on! You can have testing done for Mycoplasma, at least. Check with your state veterinary lab, at the veterinary school.
Did your birds come from a hatchery as day olds, or from elsewhere?
Mary

Okay, thank you! Do you know if you send fecal samples, or something else?
Our three hens are from a local farm, and I'm not sure where our chick is from. We bought him off Craigslist. I'm guessing he was from a hatchery but really have no idea.

 

[annaBsChick]

I use wood pallets with rubber mats on top. It is easy to disinfect and keep clean. It will also help you in case there is any existing microorganisms present in your soil at the moment....with the set up I propose for flooring, it would eliminate this as any potential threat.

 

[mountainchickens]

I use wood pallets with rubber mats on top. It is easy to disinfect and keep clean. It will also help you in case there is any existing microorganisms present in your soil at the moment....with the set up I propose for flooring, it would eliminate this as any potential threat.

Thanks! That's a good idea. Do you put mulch or something similar atop the rubber mats? We don't free range them but will have a tractor later in the summertime/autumn so our run has to be something they can scratch around in.

 

[Folly's place]

There was a oral/ nasal swab for Mycoplasma, run at the vet diagnostic lab. Call them tomorrow! If you do have MG, or something similar, adding birds is a terrible idea!
Mary

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

Okay, thank you! Do you know if you send fecal samples, or something else?
Our three hens are from a local farm, and I'm not sure where our chick is from. We bought him off Craigslist. I'm guessing he was from a hatchery but really have no idea.

You can’t just throw chickens together willy nilly like that and not expect diseases. I would cull and start over. Chickens do not catch colds and whatever your hens have they will pass on to new chickens you bring in.

Good luck

Gary

 

[aart]

we have recently had 3 die from unknown diseases, 2 chicks and one hen. The chicks had something very fast-acting and maybe respiratory - they were sneezing quite a bit. We have no idea what the hen had.

How long had you had these birds?
Are these your first chickens or do you have others?

Vetrx is not going to do a thing to eliminate a disease organism,
tho it might relieve some symptoms(like vicks vaporub does).

Unless you know what disease you are dealing with,
can't really recommend a way to eliminate it.
Testing is difficult and could be expensive.

I use wood pallets with rubber mats on top. It is easy to disinfect and keep clean. It will also help you in case there is any existing microorganisms present in your soil at the moment....with the set up I propose for flooring, it would eliminate this as any potential threat.

I don't see the logic here.
Pallets have so many nooks and crannies to be a wonderful habitat for all kinds of things to grow in, from microscopic to 4 and 6 and 8 legged, especially if covered with rubber mats.

 

[Folly's place]

Testing is cheaper than having a sick/ dying flock!!!
If you do have MG or MS, depopulating, cleaning, and three weeks with no birds is recommended.
Find out what's wrong!
Mary

 

[mountainchickens]

How long had you had these birds?
Are these your first chickens or do you have others?

Vetrx is not going to do a thing to eliminate a disease organism,
tho it might relieve some symptoms(like vicks vaporub does).

Unless you know what disease you are dealing with,
can't really recommend a way to eliminate it.
Testing is difficult and could be expensive.

Thank you for replying! We've had our older hens since mid-November and our chicks since May, around the 15th. We've had chickens before these, and we've been through a few groups in the same coop and run.
The Vetrx helped one sick bird back in January, she was extremely sick for a day and got better (we had her inside). But I do agree that it doesn't eliminate the disease entirely - we also gave her Terramycin and vitamins, so that might have helped more.
We'll probably call tomorrow to check the fee of testing and the procedure, etc. If the fee isn't that bad then we might do that... I can't think of another way to diagnose properly as the only symptoms are sneezing, nasal discharge and death.

Testing is cheaper than having a sick/ dying flock!!!
If you do have MG or MS, depopulating, cleaning, and three weeks with no birds is recommended.
Find out what's wrong!
Mary

Okay! We will call the place tomorrow to see the procedure for testing. What do you mean by depopulating, cleaning and three weeks with no birds? Moving them into a different coop for three weeks and thoroughly cleaning the old one? It sounds like a good idea whatever disease we have, especially MS or MG. I'd like to cover the run with netting and a thick layer of woodchips atop that, as I've seen it here in people's runs and it seems much better than bare dirt, and do some improvement projects in general over the summer. We are going on vacation in two weeks however (we have somebody lined up to care for them) so we'd have to figure it out and start the procedure before then. Hopefully, we'll get good results from testing and the process won't be that difficult. Will call and ask though. Thank you!