I have been gone on vacation for 8 days, my neighbor who was watching my chickens said 1 died. When I got home today I noticed they ALL seem sick and I found another hen dead and 1 almost dead (I don't think she's gonna make it throught the night) I am extremely upset and need to find out fast what's going on with my chickens. Here's what I know as I just got home and am trying to still figure it all out myself...
1) What type of bird , age and weight - black austro/rir hen 6 months-died, RIR hen 3 1/2 years -died, millie fleur 6 months very sick and prob will die also
2) What is the behavior, exactly. - Again I just got home but the reast of my chickens are sneezing, watery around their beaks, heavy breathing with a watery sound coming from inside....wheezing is a good description. The one that looks like it's going to die is very puffed up almost like when they're cold and her one eye is swollen shut and the other seems puffy. The best way to describe this is it's as if they have pneumonia or a very bad respritory cold.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? 1 week, they were fine before I left but I did notice one sneezing about 1 1/2 weeks ago but I thought she had just put her beak too far in the water.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? Yes, almost all of them from what I can tell
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. - no
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. - It's been very hot the last week and their water supply did not look good when I got home. There was water out in the run but the 5 gal one in the coop was full of shavings and empty.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.- Not sure, I just got home
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. - 1 of the hens has lots of poop stuck to her feathers and she was pooping a lot, diarrhea possibly the best way to describe it
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? I removed the Millie cause she looks like she's gonna die, she was laying on the floor when I found her
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? Not sure, I want to do what ever I can for them but I don't have a lot of money either
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help. - I will try to get a good one tomorrow but it's dark right now
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use- I use the "deep litter" method and just changed their pine shavings/bedding about 3 weeks ago and added to more shavings right before I left.
Pleas help me!!! I really have a bad feeling that all my chickens will die if I don't figure out what's wrong....I had chickens for 3 1/2 years and NEVER had any get sick and die...I'm extremely upset and my kids won't stop crying. We can't handle losing all our chickens, we're too attached to them. Any help anyone can offer will not be ignored!!!
1) What type of bird , age and weight - black austro/rir hen 6 months-died, RIR hen 3 1/2 years -died, millie fleur 6 months very sick and prob will die also
2) What is the behavior, exactly. - Again I just got home but the reast of my chickens are sneezing, watery around their beaks, heavy breathing with a watery sound coming from inside....wheezing is a good description. The one that looks like it's going to die is very puffed up almost like when they're cold and her one eye is swollen shut and the other seems puffy. The best way to describe this is it's as if they have pneumonia or a very bad respritory cold.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? 1 week, they were fine before I left but I did notice one sneezing about 1 1/2 weeks ago but I thought she had just put her beak too far in the water.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? Yes, almost all of them from what I can tell
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. - no
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. - It's been very hot the last week and their water supply did not look good when I got home. There was water out in the run but the 5 gal one in the coop was full of shavings and empty.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.- Not sure, I just got home
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. - 1 of the hens has lots of poop stuck to her feathers and she was pooping a lot, diarrhea possibly the best way to describe it
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? I removed the Millie cause she looks like she's gonna die, she was laying on the floor when I found her
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? Not sure, I want to do what ever I can for them but I don't have a lot of money either
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help. - I will try to get a good one tomorrow but it's dark right now
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use- I use the "deep litter" method and just changed their pine shavings/bedding about 3 weeks ago and added to more shavings right before I left.
Pleas help me!!! I really have a bad feeling that all my chickens will die if I don't figure out what's wrong....I had chickens for 3 1/2 years and NEVER had any get sick and die...I'm extremely upset and my kids won't stop crying. We can't handle losing all our chickens, we're too attached to them. Any help anyone can offer will not be ignored!!!