what to do?

[11langenkamp_w]

I been haveing some chickens die from some diease have benn giving them medicine to but hasnt been working if i take bleach and spray every thing down and kept them out of there shelter for a day would that help. How long would oyu leave them out of the building would you water the bleach down?

 

[purpletree23]

Can you explain the disease? Maybe it has nothing to do with their surroundings. Yes I would water down the bleach but lets first try to figure out what we have here.

 

[Andora]

Even if you disinfect their area, if the birds are sick they'll just come back in with the same germs they walked out with!

I know how upsetting it is to have sick birds. What are their symptoms? Where did you get the chickens from?

 

[threehorses]

I'm with purpletree and andora on this one.

To help us all, could you answer some questions from the second sticky post of this forum ... only answer them into this thread? That will be the beginning of writing up a 'flock history' for them, which is essential in trying to make any diagnosis on a bird - especially if there's been a semi-long term problem which an antibiotic isn't correcting.

Respiratory illnesses could be caused by a number of things, and the more information we have, the better and more accurately we can help you.

here's the thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3569

If you give us that info and anything else at all concerning your birds, we can do a better job on our end.

Also please let us know how many birds you have in what sized coop, how much ventilation the coop has, if you have multiple ages of birds together, etc.

Thanks! We'll do our best!

 

[11langenkamp_w]

its better now i thought it just might help. How long would you keep them out and how much bleach would you mix with the water?

 

[muell112]

Usually the bottle should have a ratio of bleach to water - usually pretty small. Use cold water. Follow the directions as far as how long to let it sit. I would assume you'll rinse it after - I would keep the chickens out until it doesn't smell like bleach anymore.

 

[miss_jayne]

you should probably do this early in the morning. rinse it very well with clear water and let it dry adequately. ventilate very well. do NOT clean with another substance afterward, including dish soap.

bleach does not kill all germs. some things require ammonia. DO NOT, use both of these in succession in any way.

also, clean out all bedding and dig up loose soil.

 

[threehorses]

For future use, consider buying Oxine or Trifectant. Bleach actually loses efficacy as a disinfectant when it touches dirt. It's better than nothing for sure, and degrades down! But Oxine (the better of the two choices above) is safe enough to where they can actually be nebulized with it. So it's pretty safe for your barns.

Trifectant is only for poultry house use and airing, not safe enough to nebulize, but has activity even in the presence of dirt.