I am a first time chicken owner and things are not going well. I really need some guidance.
I lost one last week and am so scared I am going to lose another.
Last week we had 6 chickens in the brooder. Three 5 week olds and three 10 week olds. Same brooder (had a divider until 2 weeks ago). Everything was going great until I noticed last Tuesday that one of the 5 week olds wasn't running up to me when I brought their morning treat of oatmeal and meal worms. She just sort of hung back and looked kind of puffed up. She did not have any sneezing or other noticeable symptoms. Then when I took them outside for a little afternoon sun I noticed she wasn't foraging around with the others She pretty much hung back from them and didn't walk around a lot. They pretty much ignored her and went on without her. If I picked her up she would eat a few pieces of oatmeal but that was about it. She looked puffed up so I put her back in the brooder cause I thought she might be cold. The next day was the same.
The third day Thursday I noticed she was laying down a lot and when I picked her up I could hear a popping sound coming from her lungs as she breathed. I segregated her and immediately called the farm store where we got them. They told me she could have a respiratory virus and to treat with Duramycin. I started that right away for everyone, not just the sick one. She died that night. I was giving her the treated water with an eyedropper and she was even eating a little. For the 6 hours I had her in the house in the hospital set up I noticed she did not poop even once. She was very lethargic, puffed up, using her wings for balance, had the rattly popping sounding lungs which progressed to labored breathing with her mouth open. She did not have any nasal discharge, sneezing, or coughing and no foul odor. It ended with her having a seizure and just dying. My 10 year old and I saw it happen and it was pretty devastating for us both. She was my favorite peep out of all of them and is the little blue cochin in my profile pic.
I have continued to treat the water for the other birds as I thought it best to continue the course of Duramycin just in case.
Well this morning my son's favorite peep seems to be getting sick. This one is a 10 week old Rosecomb. As usual I went out to the brooder to visit them and give the morning treat. She didn't run up like the others did and just sat on the roost a little puffed up looking. I picked her up to see if I could see anything wrong and noticed a foul sour smell coming from her mouth. Kind of reminded me of a fermented wet grass smell. Her crop is not full and actually felt empty. She has no nasal discharge. She looked puffed up and just sort of depressed. I just went out to check on her again and she is now laying on the floor of the brooder with her wings held away from her body a little bit. Any ideas what I am dealing with? Should I continue the Duramycin or try to switch to something else? If so, what?
I'm not sure what other information might be helpful so I'll just put down what I can.
These are all un-medicated feed store chicks bought 2 days after hatching. They are on Nature Smart organic feed and get probiotics & vitamins in their water daily. They are in a large brooder made out of 2 stove boxes hooked together and mesh wire windows and doors. They are on sand for the substrate and have good ventilation. I am still using a heat lamp but it is raised up really high. Temp stays at 75 degrees. I have not put them outside in the coop yet because I was waiting until they could all go out together to hopefully minimize any problems with getting along. The big girls pecked at the babies at first which is why I had the divider in the brooder but that has been down for the past 2 weeks and everyone is getting along fine now so I planned to move them outside soon. We live in the Pacific Northwest and have been getting a lot of rain lately which is what held me up.
If you have questions for me that could help I'll be checking this thread often. Please, if you have any idea of what is going on or suggestions for me please let me know. Thank you!
I lost one last week and am so scared I am going to lose another.
Last week we had 6 chickens in the brooder. Three 5 week olds and three 10 week olds. Same brooder (had a divider until 2 weeks ago). Everything was going great until I noticed last Tuesday that one of the 5 week olds wasn't running up to me when I brought their morning treat of oatmeal and meal worms. She just sort of hung back and looked kind of puffed up. She did not have any sneezing or other noticeable symptoms. Then when I took them outside for a little afternoon sun I noticed she wasn't foraging around with the others She pretty much hung back from them and didn't walk around a lot. They pretty much ignored her and went on without her. If I picked her up she would eat a few pieces of oatmeal but that was about it. She looked puffed up so I put her back in the brooder cause I thought she might be cold. The next day was the same.
The third day Thursday I noticed she was laying down a lot and when I picked her up I could hear a popping sound coming from her lungs as she breathed. I segregated her and immediately called the farm store where we got them. They told me she could have a respiratory virus and to treat with Duramycin. I started that right away for everyone, not just the sick one. She died that night. I was giving her the treated water with an eyedropper and she was even eating a little. For the 6 hours I had her in the house in the hospital set up I noticed she did not poop even once. She was very lethargic, puffed up, using her wings for balance, had the rattly popping sounding lungs which progressed to labored breathing with her mouth open. She did not have any nasal discharge, sneezing, or coughing and no foul odor. It ended with her having a seizure and just dying. My 10 year old and I saw it happen and it was pretty devastating for us both. She was my favorite peep out of all of them and is the little blue cochin in my profile pic.
I have continued to treat the water for the other birds as I thought it best to continue the course of Duramycin just in case.
Well this morning my son's favorite peep seems to be getting sick. This one is a 10 week old Rosecomb. As usual I went out to the brooder to visit them and give the morning treat. She didn't run up like the others did and just sat on the roost a little puffed up looking. I picked her up to see if I could see anything wrong and noticed a foul sour smell coming from her mouth. Kind of reminded me of a fermented wet grass smell. Her crop is not full and actually felt empty. She has no nasal discharge. She looked puffed up and just sort of depressed. I just went out to check on her again and she is now laying on the floor of the brooder with her wings held away from her body a little bit. Any ideas what I am dealing with? Should I continue the Duramycin or try to switch to something else? If so, what?
I'm not sure what other information might be helpful so I'll just put down what I can.
These are all un-medicated feed store chicks bought 2 days after hatching. They are on Nature Smart organic feed and get probiotics & vitamins in their water daily. They are in a large brooder made out of 2 stove boxes hooked together and mesh wire windows and doors. They are on sand for the substrate and have good ventilation. I am still using a heat lamp but it is raised up really high. Temp stays at 75 degrees. I have not put them outside in the coop yet because I was waiting until they could all go out together to hopefully minimize any problems with getting along. The big girls pecked at the babies at first which is why I had the divider in the brooder but that has been down for the past 2 weeks and everyone is getting along fine now so I planned to move them outside soon. We live in the Pacific Northwest and have been getting a lot of rain lately which is what held me up.
If you have questions for me that could help I'll be checking this thread often. Please, if you have any idea of what is going on or suggestions for me please let me know. Thank you!
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