Hello
Perhaps someone can help me understand what is going on..
background
I have an Amish Shed coop, that we fully insulated. It has no additional heat (other than heated water stand). It is draft free. I have 17 standard size chickens ranging in age from mature laying hens to about 15 weeks old. I have 8 bantam chickens in the same age range.
They are not free roaming
There have been no chicken additions to our coop since October of 2008. At that time I aquired 3 EE chickens (1 mature hen and 3, 8 weekers and 1 mature bantam fuzzy hen). Of this batch, the male became ill shortly after we arrived home (raspy breathing, watery nose, bubbling eyes) and he was immediatly culled.
Since, everyone has been healthy with no signs of disease. Egg production is about 1/2 dozen a day (I have about 10 laying hens) and I do not put a light on at night.
The weather has been COLD recently.. below zero at night, 20's during the day..
I check the chickens several times a day, everyone is active and no one seems overly cold. At night, they all cuddle along the bars.
Incident:
I went into the coop yesterday to say good morning. I was changing water, checking feed and offering cabbage treats. One EE pullet, I thought was "talking" to me. She was making what was like a hen noise but then I realized it was on every intake and exhale.. so I thought.. OH NO, she is sick. I immediatly isolated her inside in a cage in our garage. She has a heat lamp and her cage is covered in a warm blanket for additional warmth and draft prevention. She immediatly ate and drank and had a poop (which was well formed, good color). I left her alone. A few checks during the day and she still sounded just awful. She had no discharge from nose or mouth, no swelling, no coughing, no sneezing that I can tell.. She is eating and drinking normally, walking about..
I check this am and she is silent, breathing normally. I cant' hear any of the noise I heard yesterday... still no other signs of illness
Is she sick or isn't she sick? I can keep her in isolation for a while in the garage in her current setup.. but when do I decide to put her back or cull her?
Perhaps someone can help me understand what is going on..
background
I have an Amish Shed coop, that we fully insulated. It has no additional heat (other than heated water stand). It is draft free. I have 17 standard size chickens ranging in age from mature laying hens to about 15 weeks old. I have 8 bantam chickens in the same age range.
They are not free roaming
There have been no chicken additions to our coop since October of 2008. At that time I aquired 3 EE chickens (1 mature hen and 3, 8 weekers and 1 mature bantam fuzzy hen). Of this batch, the male became ill shortly after we arrived home (raspy breathing, watery nose, bubbling eyes) and he was immediatly culled.
Since, everyone has been healthy with no signs of disease. Egg production is about 1/2 dozen a day (I have about 10 laying hens) and I do not put a light on at night.
The weather has been COLD recently.. below zero at night, 20's during the day..
I check the chickens several times a day, everyone is active and no one seems overly cold. At night, they all cuddle along the bars.
Incident:
I went into the coop yesterday to say good morning. I was changing water, checking feed and offering cabbage treats. One EE pullet, I thought was "talking" to me. She was making what was like a hen noise but then I realized it was on every intake and exhale.. so I thought.. OH NO, she is sick. I immediatly isolated her inside in a cage in our garage. She has a heat lamp and her cage is covered in a warm blanket for additional warmth and draft prevention. She immediatly ate and drank and had a poop (which was well formed, good color). I left her alone. A few checks during the day and she still sounded just awful. She had no discharge from nose or mouth, no swelling, no coughing, no sneezing that I can tell.. She is eating and drinking normally, walking about..
I check this am and she is silent, breathing normally. I cant' hear any of the noise I heard yesterday... still no other signs of illness
Is she sick or isn't she sick? I can keep her in isolation for a while in the garage in her current setup.. but when do I decide to put her back or cull her?
