Hello to all,
This is my first post here but I have been reading the forum for a few months already, mainly topics related with advice for new chicken owners like me.
so, I am in trouble to post here.
I have bought 3 black australorp hens maybe 2 months ago, they were about 5 months old, they were not laying eggs when I got them. maybe one month later, only 2 of them started laying eggs. From 2 weeks ago only 1 chicken is laying eggs.
I had them sleeping in a small coop I got from amazon until yesterday (explanation ahead), made of PVC and wood and I think it works fine. since we have no predators here, the coop door is always open, even at night and they are free ranging in my backyard as they see fit. the backyard is like a little jungle, full of weeds, some dry some still green, flowers, trees, you name it. Some places the weeds are high that I cannot see the chickens but they seem to like it like that.
since first day, one of the hens (her name is Susete) showed signs of not being so active as the others (Lurdete and Lisete) and one eye was partially closed all the time, at some instances I even thought she was blind from that eye. from reading here, I washed her eye and I think it improved a lot. She was always scratching her neck but I never saw parasites there, and I looked a lot of times. This constant scratching eventually did not happened so often I thought it was from the feathers growing or something.
so, eventually they were all happy scratching and eating bugs and I was relieved even though Susete always showed signs of not being as active but I thought it was normal, thought it was her personality, when she see me she is always the first one to come running to me (maybe because I always bring some vegetables leftovers and things like that and they love it).
I also noticed that they are taking there dust baths since the backyard is full of little holes in the middle of the straw (dry weeds) that are on the ground.
3 days ago, I saw Susete barely standing, inflated feathers like a little ballon, moving like she was drunk or something, no strength, sleeping in the sun (and it was hot). sometimes she puts the wings to the ground to gain some balance, and then falls down. this was not normal so I gave her a quick inspection and some food and water (her crop was empty at the end of the day and I do not know why). When I held her I also noticed she is very skinny.
first reaction next day was to give bird vitamins in their water which they all had access, all drinked from that but Susete did not improve.
Was getting worried so then I talked with the person who I bought the birds from asking for advice and she said it was probably cocci so I kept going with the vitamins and added terramycin (not know better word in english for it), all in the same water, all of 3 chickens were drinking from that water.
but yesterday I was not happy with the results and was always hanging around the coop until dark to monitor her, that is when I saw the coop had lots of these little crawlers, I think they are lice? (see attachment)
So, yesterday night I pulverized all chickens with some powder specific for those but it was dark and did not put it around the vent or between the legs. this morning I grabbed Susete to see if there are eggs and skin inflamation but I did not see any signs of lice or mites or whatever. the skin is free of irritation, very pale skin.
This evening I talked with a veterinary who said that my chicken probably has Marek's disease because the symptoms, according to his diagnostic (made by phone, he did not saw the chicken but I went to him to bring the medicine for Marek and a treatment for the lice). This guy was helpful I think, did not laugh when I asked help with the chicken and pointed immediately to that disease. Saw some videos on youtube and it makes sense, almost guaranteed it is Marek.
Susete is isolated from the others since today evening so now she has vitamins, terramycin and the medicine for Marek disease. I also noticed she had diarrhea in the evening, maybe transparent yellow. Barely eaten all day, barely drank.
Both Lisete and Lurdete are sleeping outside the coop now since even today, after spraying it with a specific poison for these things, I still see them running around. the coop was pulverized twice.
I also made a tremendous first time owner mistake, the dropings from the coop I was throwing in the backyard so now I have the lice all over the place right? and the egg layer basket I was using the dry straw from the same backyard. another big mistake no?
after all this ends, the birds will all receive treatment for the lice/mites, I have it in a serynge already that the veterinary gave me, this will be mixed with water.
but I am so devastated, I needed to come here and talk to someone. I am Portuguese and over here chickens are not taken with too much care, it is like an animal that does not have the same rights as other pets and no one knows what to tell me everytime I ask questions. some even think I am joking when I show my preoccupation with my chickens..
I need some guidance as to what to do to prevent this from happening, I like the chickens so much but if I do not have the ideal conditions I even consider give them away to a good home. it really hurts me seeing one of my little queens dying slowly and maybe the others to follow.
I am worried what I do to make Susete eat and drink, Lisete maybe lost some weight (and stopped with the eggs), what do I do? Lurdete seems to be doing fine, layed one more egg today (it always gave me one egg since the first one, great chicken, she is also the leader of the flock).
Also important is that now both Lurdete and Lisete also scratch their head/neck.
What do I do to my backyard? try to remove all the dry weeds? Will this make a difference? What about the still alive lice in the coop? When can I open the door again. Both Lisete and Lurdete are sleeping in the middle of the weeds at the moment but maybe this is safer than inside the coop?
This is my first post here but I have been reading the forum for a few months already, mainly topics related with advice for new chicken owners like me.
so, I am in trouble to post here.
I have bought 3 black australorp hens maybe 2 months ago, they were about 5 months old, they were not laying eggs when I got them. maybe one month later, only 2 of them started laying eggs. From 2 weeks ago only 1 chicken is laying eggs.
I had them sleeping in a small coop I got from amazon until yesterday (explanation ahead), made of PVC and wood and I think it works fine. since we have no predators here, the coop door is always open, even at night and they are free ranging in my backyard as they see fit. the backyard is like a little jungle, full of weeds, some dry some still green, flowers, trees, you name it. Some places the weeds are high that I cannot see the chickens but they seem to like it like that.
since first day, one of the hens (her name is Susete) showed signs of not being so active as the others (Lurdete and Lisete) and one eye was partially closed all the time, at some instances I even thought she was blind from that eye. from reading here, I washed her eye and I think it improved a lot. She was always scratching her neck but I never saw parasites there, and I looked a lot of times. This constant scratching eventually did not happened so often I thought it was from the feathers growing or something.
so, eventually they were all happy scratching and eating bugs and I was relieved even though Susete always showed signs of not being as active but I thought it was normal, thought it was her personality, when she see me she is always the first one to come running to me (maybe because I always bring some vegetables leftovers and things like that and they love it).
I also noticed that they are taking there dust baths since the backyard is full of little holes in the middle of the straw (dry weeds) that are on the ground.
3 days ago, I saw Susete barely standing, inflated feathers like a little ballon, moving like she was drunk or something, no strength, sleeping in the sun (and it was hot). sometimes she puts the wings to the ground to gain some balance, and then falls down. this was not normal so I gave her a quick inspection and some food and water (her crop was empty at the end of the day and I do not know why). When I held her I also noticed she is very skinny.
first reaction next day was to give bird vitamins in their water which they all had access, all drinked from that but Susete did not improve.
Was getting worried so then I talked with the person who I bought the birds from asking for advice and she said it was probably cocci so I kept going with the vitamins and added terramycin (not know better word in english for it), all in the same water, all of 3 chickens were drinking from that water.
but yesterday I was not happy with the results and was always hanging around the coop until dark to monitor her, that is when I saw the coop had lots of these little crawlers, I think they are lice? (see attachment)
So, yesterday night I pulverized all chickens with some powder specific for those but it was dark and did not put it around the vent or between the legs. this morning I grabbed Susete to see if there are eggs and skin inflamation but I did not see any signs of lice or mites or whatever. the skin is free of irritation, very pale skin.
This evening I talked with a veterinary who said that my chicken probably has Marek's disease because the symptoms, according to his diagnostic (made by phone, he did not saw the chicken but I went to him to bring the medicine for Marek and a treatment for the lice). This guy was helpful I think, did not laugh when I asked help with the chicken and pointed immediately to that disease. Saw some videos on youtube and it makes sense, almost guaranteed it is Marek.
Susete is isolated from the others since today evening so now she has vitamins, terramycin and the medicine for Marek disease. I also noticed she had diarrhea in the evening, maybe transparent yellow. Barely eaten all day, barely drank.
Both Lisete and Lurdete are sleeping outside the coop now since even today, after spraying it with a specific poison for these things, I still see them running around. the coop was pulverized twice.
I also made a tremendous first time owner mistake, the dropings from the coop I was throwing in the backyard so now I have the lice all over the place right? and the egg layer basket I was using the dry straw from the same backyard. another big mistake no?
after all this ends, the birds will all receive treatment for the lice/mites, I have it in a serynge already that the veterinary gave me, this will be mixed with water.
but I am so devastated, I needed to come here and talk to someone. I am Portuguese and over here chickens are not taken with too much care, it is like an animal that does not have the same rights as other pets and no one knows what to tell me everytime I ask questions. some even think I am joking when I show my preoccupation with my chickens..
I need some guidance as to what to do to prevent this from happening, I like the chickens so much but if I do not have the ideal conditions I even consider give them away to a good home. it really hurts me seeing one of my little queens dying slowly and maybe the others to follow.
I am worried what I do to make Susete eat and drink, Lisete maybe lost some weight (and stopped with the eggs), what do I do? Lurdete seems to be doing fine, layed one more egg today (it always gave me one egg since the first one, great chicken, she is also the leader of the flock).
Also important is that now both Lurdete and Lisete also scratch their head/neck.
What do I do to my backyard? try to remove all the dry weeds? Will this make a difference? What about the still alive lice in the coop? When can I open the door again. Both Lisete and Lurdete are sleeping in the middle of the weeds at the moment but maybe this is safer than inside the coop?
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