What is going wrong with my flock? UPDATE: It's CORYZA !!!!

[elmo]

Quote:
Feed stores often buy their chicks/chickens from commercial hatcheries which tend to breed for quantity rather than quality.

I got our original bantams from a backyard breeder who breeds carefully and takes excellent care of his birds. Other than fowl pox last fall, our chickens have been healthy. It's partly luck, I guess, but I also suspect it has something to do with the genetic quality of the birds to begin with.

 

[JulieZ]

I know I should not ask this of anyone but I don't know what to do. I'm devastated & need someone to tell me ... what would YOU do in my case?

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Wow, sorry to hear about your babies. That it is not right for them to be sick so often. It seems like they had something already when you bought them.

As hard as it would be I think at this point I would;

1. Find out what is wrong, necropsy or other.
2. Probably cull all of them and start over with healthy chicks from a VERY reputable and clean source.

As sad as that is to say, and I would hate doing it, but at this point they have CONSTANTLY been sick. Even if they do get over it, (depending on what it is) they will probably be carriers and could infect any new birds you bring in.

3. After it it done make sure you bleach the heck out of EVERYTHING. Get one of those miracle grow sprayers and put bleach inside instead of fertilizer, and set it for the dosing on the back of the bleach bottle. Then hit everything a chicken has ever come in contact with.

4. Wait a couple months and get new babies from a reputable clean certified source.


With that being said, that is just my opinion, what I would do, I don't expect everyone would agree with me.


I have been fortunate enough so far to not have ANYTHING wrong with my chickens. I've never lost one.

 

[itsmyobsession]

Julie,
I had something similiar happen to me and everyone told me to cull. I then had a local chicken "expert" come out to my home to see if he could help me. He has 1,000's of chickens and has been raising them for 38 years. In fact he named off names of alot of people on this site that have gotten chickens from him. Anyway, he had me give duramyacin to my chickens in their water and a few other basic simple things and all my chickens cleared right up and have been fine ever since. He said alot of people will tell you to cull and it can't be curied but he disagrees and says in fact it can be. I am so glad I asked for "in person" help instead of having others guess through the computer what might be wrong. All 52 of my chickens are alive and healthy and no residual signs of any problems. I think it is a personl preference and the decision in the end has to be yours. If you decide to keep them you can PM me and we can "chat" about some of things I did and continue to do to keep my flock healthy at his advice.

 

[Elite Silkies]

Quote:
I know this isn't really what you want to hear, but I am going to tell you what I would do if I were in your Situation. I would cull the entire flock. I might even put a coop in a different location. But, if you have to, scrub your coop down really well. Walls, floor, etc. Take out the roost and rebuild a new one. Dig the ground up and spread lime throughout it. There may be something better you could do to the soil. Oxine is really good. Someone else might have something that they recommend for cleaning also.

 

[dawg53]

I would try misting your chickens with oxine prior to culling. If they dont improve within 2 weeks, cull. You can use the rest of the oxine to sanitize the coop etc...in preparation for newbies.

 

[RedfogsFlock]

If it were my flock what I would do....


First off my girls occasionally sneeze after rain, or wind. I let them be unless I see drippings. I have duramycin? I believe it's called & would only put it in the water if there were drippings from noses or eyes etc.

I would however put them in a warm draft free area while treating. When we moved into our place we lost a few chickens from disease that we were unaware of in the soil. It does however sound as if you are not getting good stock to start with. I would go elsewhere for my next chicks.

If after a week if they are not improving then I would cull. BUT I would give them all a fair fight. In our coops we use dirt, not sand or anything else.

I rake up poo every few days, but don't move to much. Once a month I totally soak my coop & rake it out, then replace fresh hay in their nesting areas.
I did find that using certain types of wood chips will kill your chickens. I got some at the petstore for my chicks one time & they started sneezing. Within a few days they were all dead. I decided then to use regular dirt or sand from the creek bed in my brooder.

Now I see you are in Florida, what about plants? Do your girls have access to plants? Some are deadly to them & silly birds will still eat them.

Good Luck!

 

[Beekissed]

I just read Speckledhen's Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management ... #8 says birds do not get colds, they carry diseases & are like that for the rest of their life. The way to handle this is to cull them. Seriously? Could this be the issue to my birds? But if so, what would make the next new batch any different ??

First, stop giving meds. You are trying to crutch up poor immune systems. I'm guessing you started with medicated feeds? Vaccines?

Second, if you have birds that rarely or never show any symptoms of illness, mark these. Keep an eye on them and see if they continue to stay relatively healthy. Sniffles and such are not a major problem. Weak, listless, chronic diarrhea and parasites are signs of a weak immune system...these are the birds to cull.

Keep all the healthy birds, kill the rest. Don't start over....stick in for the long haul. Breeding for health, hardiness and other traits you want takes some time.

Using deep litter in your coop and keeping it turned and dry will help keep your birds healthy. They need to have a certain exposure to a natural environment to develop a good immune system. I throw black oil sunflower seeds in my deep litter and let the birds keep it fluffed for me. I only clean out my coop twice a year...there is never any smell and I never have had a sick bird.

Use a little unpastuerized apple cider vinegar in their water~not in a metal waterer~ at all times. This is a natural immune booster and can help with digestion of nutrients.

If you are presently disinfecting everything, stop doing so. Your chickens need to live in their environment...their natural, chickeny environment. If they cannot live in this, they can't live anywhere. This is where you live, this is the building, run, nests in which they must reside. They either get tough and live, or they get sick and must be culled. The tough ones are the ones you keep and breed to produce more tough ones.

If you truly want healthy chickens, you must stop supporting and medicating birds with sick immune systems and keep only the birds who developed an adequate one. Then help them do so even more.

Good luck with your flock!

 

[5acrehome]

Did you or someone else keep any other animals in the area before the chickens were placed there. Just wondering if rabbits were near to them.

 

[JulieZ]

Without a doubt ... I'm sure my chickens have Coryza. What do I do ?? How does one kill off an entire flock that loves & trusts you with all they have ??

No rabbits were around