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[aliceob]

Hi,

I'm hoping someone with a bit more experience can identify what is going on here? I want to get somed chickens of my own but I'm worried they will catch something from the neighbourhood!

 

 

My neighbour +1 recently got point of lay hens. He is not an experienced keeper. One died suddenly- he let it out for a run and found it dead later that morning, another one experienced paralysis & twitching of the legs before dying, and he's now lost a third (out of 6). They are normally fenced in, but he lets them roam freely a little each day. The land is not rotated. They are rhode island reds from a breeder. I do not know if they are vaccinated.

 

My nearest neighbour has been keeping a variety of hens of different ages (orpingtons, barnevelders & ducks, & a rhode island red rooster) for several years on one piece of land that is not rotated. They have been off lay the last few months, and one looks pale & scruffy. The cockerel is also missing some feathers. She hatched some chicks (kept seperately under a heat lamp) and a few of these died. One chick also lay twitching for a few days, refusing food & water until it was dispatched as an act of mercy. They were fed with an anti-coccidiostat so it was probably not coccidiosis. They were not vaccinated and the majority of the young hens lived and are now healthy, though not yet laying.

 

From what I've looked up, I think it might be algae poisoning, ergotism, poisoning by plants/mushrooms or botulism, or newcastle or Marek's disease for the pullets (I don't know for the chicks). Given that the deaths have been over a period of a few months could it be a contagious infection, or do the deaths sound like unrelated incidents/poisoning? We have shared some verm-X to combat parisites, and my nearest neighbour regularly dusts for mites. Can anyone give me any tips to help my neighbours, and do you think I should hold off getting hens of my own under the circumstances? We live in the UK

 

Thanks for your help chicken enthusiasts!

[Jools]

My neighbour +1 recently got point of lay hens. He is not an experienced keeper. One died suddenly- he let it out for a run and found it dead later that morning, another one experienced paralysis & twitching of the legs before dying, and he's now lost a third (out of 6). They are normally fenced in, but he lets them roam freely a little each day. The land is not rotated. They are rhode island reds from a breeder. I do not know if they are vaccinated.

 

If he recently got them at POL then not resting the ground yet is irrelevent. It could be any number of things and I'd advise your neighbour +1 to consult a vet. If it were me, I'd contact the breeder for some history and I'd have one of the dead birds pm'd. This has to be done fresh though.

 

My nearest neighbour has been keeping a variety of hens of different ages (orpingtons, barnevelders & ducks, & a rhode island red rooster) for several years on one piece of land that is not rotated. They have been off lay the last few months, and one looks pale & scruffy. The cockerel is also missing some feathers. She hatched some chicks (kept seperately under a heat lamp) and a few of these died. One chick also lay twitching for a few days, refusing food & water until it was dispatched as an act of mercy. They were fed with an anti-coccidiostat so it was probably not coccidiosis. They were not vaccinated and the majority of the young hens lived and are now healthy, though not yet laying.

 

Being off lay and losing feathers is quite normal at this time of year, so again that may be irrelevent. There are many different strains of cocci, so feeding medicated crumb does not mean it wasn't cocci. Again, I'd have consulted a vet and had a pm done if more than one bird died like that.

 

From what I've looked up, I think it might be algae poisoning, ergotism, poisoning by plants/mushrooms or botulism, or newcastle or Marek's disease for the pullets (I don't know for the chicks). Given that the deaths have been over a period of a few months could it be a contagious infection, or do the deaths sound like unrelated incidents/poisoning? We have shared some verm-X to combat parisites, and my nearest neighbour regularly dusts for mites. Can anyone give me any tips to help my neighbours, and do you think I should hold off getting hens of my own under the circumstances? We live in the UK

 

It could be contagious or it could be unrelated. The only way to find out is/was to go the pm route. If it was Newcastles, that's a notifiable disease anyway so your neighbour(s) should most certainly have spoken to their vet.

 

I presume that if you're planning to get a few chickens, you'll be keeping them in your own garden and not with your neighbour's birds. If that's the case, and you make sure you take proper care of their health, there's no reason for you hold off.

Edited November 12, 2009 by Guest

[aliceob]

Thanks for the response- unfortunately they are not my chickens so it is a bit out of my hands to get a vet or post mortem them! I believe he threw them in a bush, but I'm not sure? Though I would keep my hens properly contained, he lets his out to roam and I know they jump into next door's pen, so I was a little worried they might do the same with mine (although my fence will be higher). Any idea what a chicken post mortem would cost?

[Patricia W]

Bit worrying if he disposed of them in a bush!

 

If you don't get a vet to cremate them, you are supposed to double bag them and put them in the rubbish. Some people do bury them - at least 3ft deep so foxes don't dig them up. But if he just left them to decompose, goodness knows what diseases have been spread.

 

Tricia

[Jools]

Any idea what a chicken post mortem would cost?

 

Around the £50 mark, but tbh I can't remember. I've had two pm's done, the first on two live young pullets who had the same growth deformities and the second on two of last year's cockerels destined for the table who both suddenly keeled over with symptoms of botulism. Neither post mortem revealed any clues as to the causes, but at least I knew it wasn't anything I was/wasn't doing, or botulism.

 

HTH

[The Dogmother]

Without seeing the hens myself, I'd say that it sounds like Marek's.

 

My vet charges £25 for a PM.

[Jools]

If it is Mareks, then I'd advise you not to get chickens as it's contagious. A post mortem on a fresh dead bird, or one that needs to be culled, would be the way to have it diagnosed one way or another.

[Egluntyne]

£25 for a pm here too.

 

Trouble is, unless you retrieve one of the corpses from under the bush and have that PM'd, at your own expense, you won't find out as it doesn't sound as if your neighbour is that bothered, especially if a sick hen is left to twitch and starve for a few days.

 

I'd wait till Spring, and then hopefully, things will have improved with your neighbours hens.

[The Dogmother]

If you're buying hybrids, then they will have been vaccinated against Marek's, although there is some argument regarding it's effectiveness and whether or not they need to be re-vaccinated. Marek's will lie dormant in most flocks as a background virus; it's related to the herpes virus in humans, and like cold sores or shingles, will be dormant in the nerve endings and surface when a hen is poorly or having a bad moult.

 

It is entirely possible for one bird to have it and the other either show no, or mild symptoms; bit of alottery really

 

I had one of my pure breed girls die suddenly from it a couple of years back - she'd been through a vicious moult and came down with it really quickly. I despatched her as soon as I realised what was going on, and the vet did a PM. I cleaned and disinfected all the housing and feeders, fed the chooks up on tonic, garlic and citricidal in an effort to boost their immune systems. One looked a bit dodgy afterwards, but they all survived. You are very wise to be cautious - I'd watch the neighbour's hens very closely.

 

One good reason for feeding up your birds when they moult.

[Jools]

^^^^ took the words right out of my mouth re hybrids.

 

If you're hell bent on getting chickens, then commercial hybrids from a reputable seller would be my suggestion too.