We apparently got a sick chicken...

[chickensarecoolsoye]

We will try that. Hopefully the lab testing isnt too pricey or time consuming. We'll keep yall updated. If you have any other advice we are all ears in the meantime.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Hoping for a good outcome!

 

[micstrachan]

Sorry you have a sick one right at the start. If they came from the same place, I would not separate them. The stress of the move will be hard, and having a companion, especially a familiar one, may help alleviate some of the stress.

 

[tdan]

I don't know what it is, but have some general info others may have offered. I am curious about it since you are local as well. I'd agree with other members that separating isn't necessary and they may get comfort from being together.

Keep it clean and warm. One of the long time people said sick hens like 85 degrees or so. Def electrolyte in water etc. Handle the bird, look for bulges or cuts etc. Clean the poop and all so you can see an monitor. Offer mashed up boiled or scrambled eggs to boost protein/healing. Moistened mash feed.

Moving is stressful for birds, esp ones that have been static with their flock for years. I would reach out to the seller and ask for ideas/input. Stress messes with their immune system directly and their intake of nutrition, which may exacerbate existing health issues.

 

[Shadrach]

So my wife and I decided to get each other chickens for valentines day. We've been researching how to care for chickens for some time now and decided to get some bluff rock chickens (I may have the breed name wrong as I get them mixed up all the time). However after getting them home and setting them up in the temporary coop we got for them while we finish building the main one, we noticed one of them is acting less than healthy (we didn't notice this before. (When we selected her she looked fine...).

Symptoms:
Lethargy
Lower posture and half closed eyes (no swelling or discoloration of the face)
Watery discharge coming from somewhere on the face.
Gurgling sound when she breathes.
Watery poo stuck to the butt.

We've separated her from the healthy one we have. We don't have a chicken vet near us, and the vet we normally use for our dogs will likely be unhelpful. My only idea is to use the VetRx from Tractor Supply as it's what I've seen folks do on YouTube. Wife and I knew the future possibility of sick chickens, but we weren't expecting out of the gate. Ideas? Advice? Are these illnesses something that they can fight off themselves? Should we be ready to lose a chicken? I have no idea how to cull or dispatch a chicken myself as we weren't planning on having this issue on day 1 of having chickens. We just have the 2 right now so it'd be annoying to lose 1 of the 2.

I can't help you with your current chickens. It sounds like a respiratory infection and the probability is both have it.
What I may be able to help you with is if you decide to get some more chickens in the future.
Take the time to find a breeder with a solid reputation, that will give you the history of the birds you buy, the details of how they were hatched and kept, any medical problems they have dealt with, any vaccinations given and the feed they are used to...........then think about it and check again.

 

[chickensarecoolsoye]

So. Woke up this morning and the sick one is worse. She will be culled. RIP Chicken

 

[Folly's place]

I'm so sorry for her, and that you are dealing with this.
Please get her necropsied!
Dip her body in cold water to chill fast, wrap her in plastic, and refrigerate, don't freeze. Call Monday about testing. She might have had an illness that will affect every new bird, or not.
Practice good biosecurity! The shoes and clothes and gloves worn at the coop and with the birds stay at home, and wear other things when going anywhere else.
Mary

 

[MGG]

So sorry for you and your hen, @chickensarecoolsoye

 

[Eggcessive]

Most chicken respiratory diseases make them and their flock carriers for life. One, infectious bronchitis makes them carriers for up to a year. Symptoms of a respiratory disease include rattly breathing, wheeze, sneeze or cough, and some just may cause watery eyes, bubbles in an eye and nasal drainage.

Occasionally a crop problem may cause gurgling, so check the crop to see if it is emptying overnight. It should gradually fill up with food and water over the day, and empty by early morning.

Respiratory diseases remain in a flock until the last bird is alive. To have a healthy flock, when all birds are gone, wait a couple of weeks to get healthy baby chicks from a hatchery or feed store. That would lessen the chance of bringing in some disease from someone’s flock. Just the transporting of chickens can stress them enough to bring about symptoms that may have been dormant. Here is some reading about common diseases including the respiratory diseases—mycoplasma (MG,) coryza, infectious bronchitis, ILT, and aspergillosis:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[Acre4Me]

Vinegar in her water might discourage drinking. Either leave it out, or add another waterer with just water.
Mary

@chickensarecoolsoye , good advice from @Folly's place. Whenever adding something to the water, always offer plain water too. So, electrolytes are a good addition, but have a second waterer with plain water too. Same goes for ACV in the water. Also, do not add ACV to a metal waterer, bc it lowers the acidity, can potentially increase degradation of the metal over time.

we had quail and added a small amount of ACV to their water, but they always drank more plain water than the water with ACV, so we switched to only offering plain water. We have never offered ACV water to our chickens, so I can’t say what their intake would be.