There is always something wrong

[SarahGfa]

A lot of time, it is in your outlook. I keep a flock. And I want to keep a healthy flock. The individual birds, whom I enjoy, come into my flock and leave, but the flock goes on. I have kept a flock for years, and I have had disasters, with predators and other calamities.

I love to watch my chickens, but I don't pick them up. In the beginning, I worked with them until they would get up on my lap, but I found I really didn't like it. Again, to each his own. I watch the flock and how they all interact, and I will solve for peace in the flock.

The thing is, if I do have to handle my birds, that is very stressful for them. So I don't. I don't tube feed them, I don't give them calcium pills, I don't treat them for being egg bound, which I a pretty sure I have never had. However, my chickens have a huge run with a lot of clutter, and I think move and fly, jump quite a bit, and I think that helps with egg laying.

This is just my opinion, my own way of doing things, but when you treat sick birds, you expose the rest of your flock to that illness. This causes stress in your flock. In a natural setting, they would leave the sick, most flock and herd animals do so. It is for the protection of many over the value of one.

In my world, if you would treat the bird, I would cull. That IS the right decision for me. I would cull and replace with a chick. It keeps the flock young and strong. It is an old fashioned, but in my opinion, a realistic animal husbandry. Nothing is going to live for ever, even me.

I don't feel guilty, I feel matter of fact. I don't like doing it, but I don't like washing the floor either, it just has to be done. It is done quickly and with respect, and I enjoy the flock again. I think that might be part of treating everything until the bitter end that you might not realize, is that you don't enjoy being with your flock because something is always wrong.

Mrs K

Thinking back, last year I had some chicks get sick with cocci. would you cull those instead of treating?
The one with tapeworm (never figured out who it was, but I treated everybody for worms) -- should have just ignored it, I think
The bumblefoot chicken -- I know I should have culled that one.
Wet fowlpox hens... probably cull?

You are right... it is not fun... tho I also wonder if I'm doing something wrong with sanitation? or maybe my flock has a weaker immune system because I never vaccinate? It just feels like other flocks don't have hardly any of these issues to begin with.

 

[ChasingChooks]

Sorry to hear that you have been dealing with a lot of sick birds. That's frustrating.

I think maybe something to consider... do you isolate a sick hen? Perhaps they are getting other birds sick, if it is a spreadable disease.

 

[No Coop No Problem]

You are right... it is not fun... tho I also wonder if I'm doing something wrong with sanitation? or maybe my flock has a weaker immune system because I never vaccinate? It just feels like other flocks don't have hardly any of these issues to begin with.

I never vaccinate or medically treat my chickens and I haven't seen a sick chicken in years. In nature predators cull the sickly. When a farmer removes predation, they must then assume the role of predator for the flock

 

[ChasingChooks]

Good point about becoming the predator.

Do you use any natural things, like ACV, garlic, or herbs to help them?

 

[No Coop No Problem]

Good point about becoming the predator.

Do you use any natural things, like ACV, garlic, or herbs to help them?

No. My flock is mostly a mix of game and feral breeds. They're tough as nails and frankly I wish my health was half as good as theirs

 

[SarahGfa]

I never vaccinate or medically treat my chickens and I haven't seen a sick chicken in years. In nature predators cull the sickly. When a farmer removes predation, they must then assume the role of predator for the flock

How do you cull the sickly if you haven't seen a sick chicken in years?

Sorry to hear that you have been dealing with a lot of sick birds. That's frustrating.

I think maybe something to consider... do you isolate a sick hen? Perhaps they are getting other birds sick, if it is a spreadable disease.

I have been isolating the fowlpox hens. for stuff like worms or cocci i just treat the whole flock at once.

No. My flock is mostly a mix of game and feral breeds. They're tough as nails and frankly I wish my health was half as good as theirs

that is funny... the hens that got wet fowlpox worst are my game hens! they are the oldest though...

 

[Shadrach]

If you had 15 of any creature I suspect it would be the same. It's not so much that chickens are sickly fragile creatures, it's we tend to have a lot of chickens compared to the more usual household kept creatures.
Then one has to account for the keeper who often sees problems that they believe need intevention which in all probability don't, even with the seriously sick.
Sometimes one does get a chicken that catches everything much like some children. I think one of the skills one learns through experience is knowing when and what one is prepared to treat and what one isn't.
The forum boards on chicken sites are full off sick chicken posts. The problem is often that the poster is advised to treat when experience and reasearch shows even with the best care the chicken is going to die. One might hold death back a few months, but at what cost to the stress of chicken and keeper.
Some prefer to let nature take it's course, others kill the bird when it's apparent that they won't survive without assistance.
There is a very long list of chicken health problems and an equally long list of medications and treatments. Research the more common diseases and problems and make a decision on which you are prepared and capable of treating and which you're not you may find helps.

 

[No Coop No Problem]

How do you cull the sickly if you haven't seen a sick chicken in years?

I haven't had to cull a sick bird now in a very long time. There's a fox den in the forest next door and they prowl around here occasionally. Last year I had a total of 5 chickens go missing, which is anywhere from 5-10% of my chicken population on average

Natural selection seems to be keeping the flock in vigorous shape. Despite the foxes my population is about to more than double in size

that is funny... the hens that got wet fowlpox worst are my game hens! they are the oldest though...

To this day I have never lost an American Game hen to disease or predation. Yours must be a different breed or strain. I think mine are mutts of different strains. Mutts in general are much healthier because they don't suffer from inbreeding depression

 

[SarahGfa]

To this day I have never lost an American Game hen to disease or predation. Yours must be a different breed or strain. I think mine are mutts of different strains. Mutts in general are much healthier because they don't suffer from inbreeding depression

Game hens don't live forever. You will lose every one to disease or predation if you have them long enough. My game hens are hardy compared to the laying breeds that I used to have.

 

[Acre4Me]

We cycle through our chickens -new chicks, get rid of old quite a bit. Kid is in 4-H and shows chickens, so that is part of the reason. However, we have 3 chickens from original flock that are now 6yo.

With all these chickens (and chicks) and roosters too, we’ve seen a variety of problems. We’ve doctored a few right back to good health (after prolonged treatment), and euthanized others bc of suffering. We once got an order of chicks, picked up in person, reputable hatchery, but one breed started having problems after a few months. The first one was pretty bad off, and getting worse, so we euthanized. Another two were going down hill too, but we read up on new info, treated those and they recovered. We feel bad that we didn’t know this for the first one, and we probably could’ve saved it. Thankfully, the exception.

It can be hard to know when to euthanize or not. I remind myself that chickens are prey animals, and hide their illness. Therefore, when you see it, it’s pretty bad. Somethings can be treated, others are a struggle, and only you can know what you can deal with.