The road less traveled...back to good health! They have lice, mites, scale mites, worms, anemia, gl

[Beekissed]

I'm currently having a possible cull issue as well and, since I've never had this problem, am considering all points and am mulling it over according to my standards of care. I have a Barred Rock that is wheezing at times and coughing/sneezing a little. She is eating well, drinking well and very active and foraging. She is moving well and seems bright of eye and action. She is laying fairly well, though not every day and she is approx. 2 yrs. old.

But...she is the one that has red, bare skin on her lower abdomen that has not regained feathering in the past 3 wks she has been here. All the other birds have regained feathering even though they are now actively molting. We have applied NuStock to her reddened skin on three occasions and it looks less red but it is not growing feathers. Of all the birds appearances, this is the one that is lagging behind in feathering and wt. gain.

Now,,,do I wait and see if this cold just wears itself out? Do I wait and see if she gets worse before I cull her? What if the other birds catch her cold? If so, do I trust that they will be able to fare well since they are living in healthy conditions and eating healthy foods now?

I don't have a way to isolate a bird here, nor do I think that is the answer. I think that immune systems need testing to see if they are strong...and this is a test. Is it just her immune system that is weak or are there others with the same problem? As they were out of my care for so long and were given such poor care and are only less than a month into recovery, should I be concerned about not culling sooner, in fear that their immune systems are still weakened and susceptible to invaders?

All of these questions are to be considered. For now I have given her honey and garlic as of last night to see if it would ease her congestion. Nothing really changed. She doesn't appear to be getting worse and this is the third day of symptoms. Colds are viral, so they usually run their course in 2 wks.

It's all a guessing game with these chickens and most of these problems are things of which I've never had to encounter.....I'll keep you all posted on her progress and my decisions about her care or her culling.


ETA: NOTE: Three days ago I had placed lavendar cuttings in the nest boxes and in the coop....it may be coincidence that this bird, one of the few that is laying almost daily, should experience allergy symptoms, but I removed them tonight and will see if this is indeed a factor in her symptoms.

 

[Missa Chickabee]

It definitely looks like gleet and she looks so tender from it...I can't wait to see what the NuStock will do for this chicken! I'd apply it to all areas of bare skin as well. I have no doubt at all that you will start to see some good results, particularly if you can get some of the NS inside the vent a little ways. Poor thing...can you imagine having a butt hole like that on yourself? That's all I could think of when I saw Ruby Crockett's butt for the first time...mine own drew up in sheer horror at how painful and uncomfortable it all looked.

I know. I know.......way behind in my reading.

 

[Missa Chickabee]

Gotta problem. The girls (18 of them, mostly Buff Orps) are going to hit their 25th week soon. Every one of them have been laying nice hard-shelled eggs for about a month now. They are on FF now (just 4 days, though) with Oyster shell on the side. But two 'unknowns' are pooping water balloons onto the poop board...still. I can't can't guess about this. Don't want to inadvertently lose two good laying hens by mistaking them for the culprits. Any ideas about how to identify these two. Never see them do it. The sneaks.

 

[Beekissed]

The only way is to take them off the roost at night and do a rectal exam to palpate the next day's egg...the ones in which you cannot feel the hard shell of the egg through the intestinal wall are your culprits. Do you really wanna know that bad?

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have to say that my lil hen that had and I use past tense is looking so much better, Being she is solid white she is really dirty from dust bathing and I told her tonight I'll have to do some serious cleaning before I show a pic of that butt again. I am so pleased with how well she is doing, Thank you Bee for all your advise and help.

I hope you can come to the best decision for your hen, some times it's just not cut and dried. ya know. I have a hen[game] that is 4yrs old and for about a month she has been making a sound like she has the hiccups just one hic though, no other symptoms other than she just came through a terrible molt. I thought for sure We would have put her down by now, but as long as she is still perky, eating and doing all things chicken and not showing any other symptoms I'll just keep her around. Hoping it all works out for your girl too, oh and mine doesn't lay anymore but she was my first chicken and a rescue plus a great broody and mama I figure all those things are in her favor.

 

[aggiemae]

Gotta problem. The girls (18 of them, mostly Buff Orps) are going to hit their 25th week soon. Every one of them have been laying nice hard-shelled eggs for about a month now. They are on FF now (just 4 days, though) with Oyster shell on the side. But two 'unknowns' are pooping water balloons onto the poop board...still. I can't can't guess about this. Don't want to inadvertently lose two good laying hens by mistaking them for the culprits. Any ideas about how to identify these two. Never see them do it. The sneaks.

Unless by "water balloons" you mean soft shelled eggs, I had a similar dilemma and even found one hen with a dirty vent but I never found a loose or nasty poop in the yard only in the coop so I decide. mainly due to optimistic thinking, that it wasn't diarrhea just the long drop from the roost flattening out looser stools.

I added hot pepper seeds (for peppers in my garden) and yogurt to their diet about a week ago and since then no splat poop (and over all lots less over night poop) in the coop but normal , giant, poops during the day when the hens are forging.

 

[cowcreekgeek]

I'm currently having a possible cull issue as well and, since I've never had this problem, am considering all points and am mulling it over according to my standards of care. I have a Barred Rock that is wheezing at times and coughing/sneezing a little. She is eating well, drinking well and very active and foraging. She is moving well and seems bright of eye and action. She is laying fairly well, though not every day and she is approx. 2 yrs. old.

But...she is the one that has red, bare skin on her lower abdomen that has not regained feathering in the past 3 wks she has been here. All the other birds have regained feathering even though they are now actively molting. We have applied NuStock to her reddened skin on three occasions and it looks less red but it is not growing feathers. Of all the birds appearances, this is the one that is lagging behind in feathering and wt. gain.

Now,,,do I wait and see if this cold just wears itself out? Do I wait and see if she gets worse before I cull her? What if the other birds catch her cold? If so, do I trust that they will be able to fare well since they are living in healthy conditions and eating healthy foods now?

I don't have a way to isolate a bird here, nor do I think that is the answer. I think that immune systems need testing to see if they are strong...and this is a test. Is it just her immune system that is weak or are there others with the same problem? As they were out of my care for so long and were given such poor care and are only less than a month into recovery, should I be concerned about not culling sooner, in fear that their immune systems are still weakened and susceptible to invaders?

All of these questions are to be considered. For now I have given her honey and garlic as of last night to see if it would ease her congestion. Nothing really changed. She doesn't appear to be getting worse and this is the third day of symptoms. Colds are viral, so they usually run their course in 2 wks.

It's all a guessing game with these chickens and most of these problems are things of which I've never had to encounter.....I'll keep you all posted on her progress and my decisions about her care or her culling.


ETA: NOTE: Three days ago I had placed lavendar cuttings in the nest boxes and in the coop....it may be coincidence that this bird, one of the few that is laying almost daily, should experience allergy symptoms, but I removed them tonight and will see if this is indeed a factor in her symptoms.

I've not the experience to draw from, but try 'n apply cold, simple logic where my own falls short ... worse case scenario? It's something severe enough to injure an entire flock. But, if it were? Several days of symptoms should be plenty for anything contagious to have already reached the others.

not all viruses are alike, but w/ the common cold in humans? Day one, whilst we're blissfully unaware of what is soon to come, our immune system is as well: The count skyrockets, and we spread it everywhere. Day two through four or five, the symptoms show themselves, but our immune system has (hopefully) kicked in, and makes hte virus as miserable as it's made us. We become less contagious, as we continue to overcome the infection.

With that in mind, and despite the weakened condition of those you've rescued, I would consider it an opportunity to improve their resistance, by the natural strengthening of immune systems that most infections ultimately provide (save for those that it kills in the process). This is the position I've adopted, in part due to your own good instruction, even in regard to Merek's ... my flock is not innoculated, and I've no desire to expose them, but if it happens? I'll continue with those that survive, and replace each that doesn't w/ two or three more, to build a flock of that naturally resistant 10-50%.

 

[Beekissed]

Yep! Antibodies are good, keeping survivors are great.

I think, due to the timing of the fresh lavender clippings in the nest boxes, this ol' gal just may have a simple case of asthma/allergies caused by the strong lavendar oil in the fresh clippings. Had a similar thing happen once to a donated red star chicken when first introduced to cedar chips...she wheezed and sneezed. Was the only chicken in the coop to react in that manner and so was given to someone who wanted a pet chicken. She eventually cleared up after being removed from the source of allergen.

 

[Beekissed]

Gnarly Bunch Update: As mentioned above, removed possible allergen from the coop and will wait and see if Katy AKA Monkey Butt gets herself straightened up. No eggs today...nada! The girls continue to look smooth and glossy as they travel through the land of molt...some look a little rag tag but Raggedy Ann, Bertha and Ruby Crockett are looking the most lovely of all.

Pics taken today yesterday:








GOOD: Stumpy's feet look great and she is smoothing out and moving better. Ruby, as you can see above, is looking great and her vent is looking better each day.

BAD: The NuStock only works on Jake's fleas as long as it is on his body...he keeps licking it off and the fleas repopulate.

Will make a spray of pine tar solution tomorrow to see if THAT works and if he will lick it off. Will place a little hot pepper juice in the mix to try and see if he will leave it alone. Desparate times calls for desparate measures. Today he got dusted with ashes but it only provided temporary relief and then I saw him out there digging again. Where will it all end????

 

[lalaland]

Originally Posted by Beekissed


I'm currently having a possible cull issue as well and, since I've never had this problem, am considering all points and am mulling it over according to my standards of care. I have a Barred Rock that is wheezing at times and coughing/sneezing a little.

I have a RIR that has been wheezing for more than a year - when she started I thought I would have to cull her, but she is still looking good and laying a year later. She especially wheezes when running - and sometimes I can hear her wheezing away on the roost. Not sure what the issue is, but as long as she is otherwise healthy in weight, has shiny feathers, red comb and is laying, well....I'm keeping her. I don't have roosters so breeding isn't an issue.

And aggiemae, I've never been lucky enough to have chicks hatched by my own hens - and the chicks I've gotten have for the most part learned to dust bathe and to eat oyster shell on their own, or perhaps from watching older hens? I do think hens teach each other - the way I will see a hen stretch out in the sun and a young pullet watching will sooner or later stretch out too!
Not saying chicks raised by a hen don't learn faster and learn more!