Chicken bald back

[LolaLayla]

Having been left with one old girl Layla (who I thought had stopped laying but then found her own nest next to the wall with 9 eggs in it )I decided to get two new girls. I picked up an Isa and a Bluebelle, both youngsters. They are lovely healthy looking girls however I noticed the Bluebelle was making a strange noise and today see that she has a runny nose I reckon the noise must be sneezing. Her eyes look fine and she seems generally well. No wheezing.

The two new ones are separate from Layla at present and the Isa seems fine but I will need to see what happens.

Nothing is simple

Edited May 11, 2014 by Guest

[Chickabee]

When did you get them? I'd go back to your supplier, I'm sure they haven't knowingly sold you a poorly chook. However, at such an early stage she shouldn't be unwell

[LolaLayla]

Only got them on Thursday. I thought I would see how she gets on and if no improvement will need to take a brave pill and phone.

Edited April 26, 2014 by Guest

[coco]

I would get in touch with the person you got her from, I have had unwell new girls in the past, the first one had myco and cost me over £200.00 in vets fees and the loss of several of my hens, the second one was just the sniffles probably down to the stress and she is fine now. I did ring the man got her off who said he would take her back if she didn't get better. Hope your girl is ok.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Oh dear . Hope she's OK and you don't have to go back to the supplier .

[Beantree]

It is most likely a flare-up of the ILT or IB viruses they were immunised with LolaLayla. The stress of the move causes it. If your old girl is a hybrid she will have been immunised as well so there should be no long term issues. We did have a hybrid who never stopped sneezing and as a result her nasal vents were very enlarged. We also had a Bluebell. She was a real problem and never laid decent eggs. I'd take the opportunity to replace her with another Isa.

[LolaLayla]

Thanks for all the comments. She is a lovely girl but still sneezing away this morning. No other symptoms and eating well. I will need to phone the supplier tomorrow. I so hate these sort of things

[Chickabee]

Me too lolalayla. You'll have to take a brave pill

 

Love your name btw 2 of my favourite names put together

[LolaLayla]

 

Love your name btw 2 of my favourite names put together

Much more exotic than the real me Not very original as I just chose my two girls' names.

 

Update on the saga-She still is damp round the nostrils and shaking her head occasionally. I spoke to the supplier. He said it sounded like a head cold and that the stress of the move could have caused it. He said to keep an eye on her and that she may need terramycin. Does anyone know if I would need to go to the vet to get this or is there a good place to buy online? He said to treat them all including my old girl who is just seeing them through the wire run at the moment and there is no egg withdrawal period.

[Chickabee]

Looks like prescription only to me. Don't understand why he's making it your problem. Did he offer to take her back ?

[LolaLayla]

No he didn't. I suppose I could have been more assertive but I feel he should have offered. I am just going to see how things go. I don't want her to infect my old girl. However the other newbie who is with her seems fine so far.

Nothing is simple

[LolaLayla]

Update - Ended up speaking to the vet and was told a consultation would be £22 and she would probably be given Baytril.

I decided to call breeder again and told him about the cost etc He agreed to take my girl back, give her meds and let me have another one. So we now have another new girl. I so hope all will be ok this time I have put her in with my other newbie who appears healthy. I just hope she is not incubating whatever the returned hen had.

[Egluntyne]

Good result.

[redbug]

Sounds like problem sorted out well done.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

That's good. A shame you had to return her but it's hard enough introducing a new girl without worry and expense so early on.

 

Hope the new girl settles in OK .

[LolaLayla]

What a difference not even 24 hours makes

I let the girls out this morning to find my new Isa had a mucus covered beak. My newest girl emerged and I am sure had a bit of the head shake. This was the behaviour which led on to the runny nose in the returned girl

I could not believe it. In the week they were together the infected new girl must have given it to the Isa.

I was so fed up I phoned the supplier and told him what had happened and that I just wanted to bring them both back. As there was no point in taking the Isa back getting another and possibly being in the same position next week.

I would have taken them back with out refund but he said he would give me my money back which was really decent. I am going to clean out the eglu the newbies were in and then start again elsewhere. Thank goodness I kept the new ones away from Layla who is (keeping fingers crossed) healthy.

[Chickabee]

Oh you poor thing. Hope all goes well when you get your next new arrivals

[LolaLayla]

I hope so too Chickabee. I have pulled the eglu apart and scrubbed it all. So that any lurking infection will have gone. I imagine any respiratory infection would be airborne transmission but I have disinfected the whole set up incase. I have left the eglu cover off to allow the light and air about everything too. Layla my old girl is in her run getting wormed this week and looks healthy. My plan is to move the other eglu to new ground and possibly get two new girls towards the end of the week and start the process again. I have found someone with Rhode Rocks and White Sussex (hybrids) which I may go for. They also have black tails which I am told are similar to Isas, so decisions need to be made. I just hope I can get a couple of healthy hens

[Ain't Nobody Here]

What a nightmare . Hope you can get some healthy girls soon and just get on with enjoying them .

[LolaLayla]

Thanks ANH. It was a bit of a saga

[LolaLayla]

Cautiously optimistic here. Having scrubbed the eglu out and moved it to new ground incase of residual infection I purchased 2 new girls from a different supplier yesterday. I decided on a 21 week Columbian Blacktail and a Rhode Rock. I am really pleased with them. Not only do they seem healthy (so far ) they also each laid an egg today One of them laid quite a dark brown egg but I am not sure which one. They are in the run being wormed just now and Layla is free ranging about them. Really hoping all will be well with these new girls. I have still to name them so will need to get thinking.

[Chickabee]

Fingers crossed for you. Great to have eggs so soon

[redcharlie43]

At least the supplier took them back. I had a similar issue with some hybrids about 18 months ago. The new girls seemed healthy. About a week after I introduced them I noticed the older girls who I had had for just under a year had mucus around their eyes. One came down with serious mycoplasma and I had a costly visit to the vets, a very stressful week trying to drip feed it and all the girls had to be treated etc. When I mentioned it to the supplier they told me that all birds carry Mycoplasma, the vaccinations only last a year and that the stress of introducing the new girls was to blame. At the time I just accepted this but looking back it was not very helpful. I guess you live and learn. I now have got my 2 new girls from another supplier and they seem to be so much better.

[LolaLayla]

Everyone is still looking fine...hurrah! Layla is obviously trying to lord it over the newbies in the run by sitting on top of it directly above them

[Bramble]

Fingers crossed everything sorts itself out for you!

I picked up a couple of new girls ten days or so ago. One was (and remains) very happy (fingers crossed), but the other one seemed quite withdrawn from the start - didn't seem to eat (her crop was empty whenever I picked her up) and she was sleeping a lot - if not sleeping she'd be standing, tail down, in the run. Something wasn't right - I emailed the lovely supplier who offered to exchange her - I didn't like doing it, but there was no way that little one would have been able to cope with intros to the "big girls". Fingers crossed, since the exchange both newbies are happy and healthy, with their first supervised free range with the big girls yesterday - a bit of shouting and squabbling, but nothing too awful.