Solitary chicken - need advice

[EmuCat]

This is going to be a long story, just warning!

 

I've had chickens since my 18th birthday (I'm now 20).

 

My first hens were Lady (a ginger warren) and Lacy (a maran/RIR cross- "blue haze"), which both came from a garden centre nearby.

I then got Liberty (an ex-commercial black rock) and Lucky (an ex-battery ginger warren) from a rescue.

Liberty arrived sick, with a respiratory infection that made her "gape". We then had to medicate all four hens! Liberty lived for a few weeks before having to be put to sleep.

Lucky lived a few months and even produced a few eggs before she also got sick and died.

My parents then said "no more ex-batts- too much sadness and vets bills!" Fair enough.

 

We then got Bjork (a daisy-belle) and Meep (a columbine) from the garden centre again.

Bjork always had a funny "John Wayne" cowboyish walk, but seemed healthy enough. Meep was little and quick, so was named after the roadrunner's noise!

 

They were fine for a year or so, but then Bjork started walking strangely, and "tripping". I made a makeshift sling for her out of a washing basket, an old tea towel with holes for legs and food and water in front of her. She kept eating, drinking and pooping normally, but couldn't walk.

When we took her to the vet, he said it looked like Marak's, which was one of the many diseases that the garden centre hens were vaccinated against, so it could have been a different strain of Marak's, or a similar neurological problem. She sadly had to be put to sleep, even though she was "normal", as it wasn't fair for her to be unable to walk.

 

One day, I found a roundworm while cleaning out the eglu, so I wormed them immediately. Lacy then became sick and lethargic, and ended up dying at home before we could get to the vets. We think worms had perforated her internally and caused peritonitis, a blockage or similar.

 

We got Myrtle as a successor, named "Moaning Myrtle" for her constant complaining! Myrtle is a chocolate coloured pekin bantam.

 

Late last year, just before Christmas (they always choose holidays to get sick in!!) we noticed Meep was acting strangely. She was withdrawn and quiet, as supposed to her normal, friendly, cheeky self. Her comb shrank and became pale. When we took her to the vets, she had dropped all of her weight and was no longer able to stand- literally skin and bones, just within a few days. We tried to treat her, but she as well had to be put to sleep, we think it was some kind of internal problem, possibly even a tumour or cancer.

 

 

Two weeks ago, I noticed Myrtle had a "throaty" voice when I went out, and was sneezing, another respiratory infection! So I instantly took her away from Lady and gave her some leftover "Baytril" from Meep that we had kept in the fridge. It was late, so we made an appointment the next day. The next morning, her "voice" was noticeably clearer and she was no longer sneezing or coughing. The vet gave her a 48 hour injection, which we had to get another of two days later, and he said she was fine to go back with Lady. Myrtle was grumpy, but her respitory infection cleared up, and she was fine.

(note- Myrtle is only about two, but has currently not laid an egg for two months. She is prone to being broody, but she isn't showing signs of broodiness, and has stopped since a "secret nest" was discovered in the garden by mum, containing two Lady eggs and two Myrtle eggs!)

 

 

A week ago, we got two new hens from the garden centre, who I quarantined (being very paranoid now!), to my parents slight displeasure. We put them in a run in the front garden and we would put them in cat baskets for the night. These hens are Minnie (a pheasant coloured silkie/bantam cross) and Big Bertha, a black-tailed columbine.

 

The very next day, Lady, our first hen , then became sick very suddenly. I was in college, and my mum sent me a message saying that Lady was acting strangely, and she thought she could be egg-bound, so I came home to check on her.

Lady had always laid large eggs, and over time, they had developed quite a lot of blood spots, then became larger and strange shapes, so I thought she could be egg bound.

We gave her a warm bath, (which she enjoyed!) to see if that could "loosen" her up. After examining her, I found it wasn't a stuck egg, but she was swollen, and her comb was purple at the ends, and she was lethargic. We made a vet appointment, with now a very sick Lady.

The vet confirmed my suspicions that it was egg peritonitis, which he called "a chicken death sentence", and she too had to be put to sleep as she was in obvious discomfort after rapidly declining over a matter of hours.

 

 

So now I have Myrtle, Bertha, Minnie and a new hen we got after Lady, called Pearl (a coral Nick). All three pullets have produced eggs.

We put the new girls in with Myrtle, as leaving her alone was crueler that the risk of infection from the new birds (who all come from the same place)

 

Now Minnie has what seems to be the same respitory infection Myrtle had! I gave her baytril last night when I heard the "throaty" voice, and we'll take her into the vet in a few hours, but why is this happening?

 

Am I doing something wrong?

I clean out the hens every weekend, worm them once a month (first of each month usually, but I wormed them early this month because of the new hens).

The vet says we're "just unlucky" and that we're "going through the chicken illness handbook"!

All the birds they have died have died of different causes, and none of them seem to have been contagious to the other birds.

I don't think the respitory infection is fungal (someone suggested to my mum that it could be spores in the bedding material), but the material is clean and dry in the garage, we have the same big bag of straw (we only use it in the nestbox), but the sawdust comes in small bags which are used up regularly.

Also, baytril works on bacterial infections, so this suggests that the infection is bacterial rather than anything else.

 

Am I just really unlucky? It's starting to get me (and my parents) down

 

Thanks for anyone who actually managed to read all this! Xx

[Olly]

Firstly welcome to the forum. I think you have been really unlucky - as you say, the causes are all different.

 

Ex-battery hens can be prone to illness so I think you could probably write those two off to the risks of taking on ex-commercial hens. Also, after two years I'm afraid it is not unusual for a standard hybrid to develop peritonitis or similar, so I think Lady's demise is also something to be expected.

 

That leaves the question of the respiratory infection - afraid I have no ideas on this one, but perhaps if you take those first three hens out of the equation then perhaps your experience doesn't look quite as bad as it feels. Have you considered moving the hen-house to a different location in the garden, if that is possible - that might not have anything to do with it but it may be worth a try just in case the spot they are in is somehow unsuitable.

 

Sorry I can't suggest much more, there are others on here with more experience around infections/respiratory disease who may have other ideas, but I do think some of this is just unfortunate coincidence - no comfort to you, but I don't think you have done anything wrong in fact you have probably gone a lot further in terms of vet care than many chicken-owners would do.

[EmuCat]

Yes, I did feel that the ex-batts were slightly "expected", as we rescued them knowing that they would probably have a greatly reduced life span, but since then, our oldest hen has been Lady, who almost got to 3 years old.

 

Over time I had noticed Lady's eggs getting strange, and was wondering to myself if there was something wrong with the "works" so to speak, but it still felt unfair for such a young healthy hen to be taken by such a "random" ailment.

 

I move the eglu into a different spot in the garden every week to let the grass grow- usually I just move it a few inches to the side, but occasionally of an area starts looking "barren", I move the eglu to the other side of the garden where the grass is fresh.

 

 

Thank you so much though, it does help clear my mind a bit, as I was starting to wonder "is this unusual and I'm a bad owner, or is it expected and hens just die often?!", I don't think I could keep going if I was told "oh that's normal, expect loads of deaths!", as it always hurts to lose one.

 

I may be slightly paranoid with them, as I did animal care at college, so I tend to err on the side of caution and call the vets if I notice anything unusual, but the problem with chooks is that if they're showing symptoms, they're probably very sick! Silly birds hiding their discomfort!

 

Thanks for your reply, Olly

[Grandmashazzie]

Sorry to hear of your run of bad luck.No experience with respiratory illness but just a thought are you worming too much.I do once every 3 months and I know some do twice yearly.I presume it is like a poison ( to kill the worms) and it may be once a month is too much.

[EmuCat]

Sorry to hear of your run of bad luck.No experience with respiratory illness but just a thought are you worming too much.I do once every 3 months and I know some do twice yearly.I presume it is like a poison ( to kill the worms) and it may be once a month is too much.

 

 

You have a good point- after some research, I've found most people worm every three months or so. I think I've been paranoid since Lacy's death! I may have got into the the monthly habit because that's the recommended way to get rid of worms when there's a problem, and I never stopped!

 

I took Minnie to the vet, and she's been given a shot of the same anti-biotic Myrtle got (it appears to be the same illness, or similar), Tyrosine, or tyrimine or something? It was an intramuscular injection, the leg to be precise (not much muscle in a bantam!)

 

The vet recommended that we seperate the ones who have had the respiratory infection for two or three weeks (she seems to think Minnie caught it off of Myrtle, personally we think the timing's off and Minnie arrived with it, but oh well!) from the other two, so now we have bantams in the front garden run, and the other two in the back garden with the Eglu.

 

I then poured the old bedding into the compost bin and scrubbed the eglu with Virenza, then cleaned out the food and water. That should shift any pathogens!

 

I'll ask the vet about worming when I take Minnie for her second injection on Friday.

 

Long day, overall!

[mimi5]

I totally know how you feel.....really look at my signature and you will see all the hens and 2 cockerels I've lost. I've been keeping chickens for 3 &1/2 years. I asked myself the same question as you.....what am I doing wrong? But I have learned a lot and get a feel when one of the chickens is off colour. I'm well known at my vets They are great and very supportive. I also have a few things in my medicine cupboard Chickens are a prey animal and hide illness until they can't, by which time it is often difficult to help them.

 

So some of my problems were due to my originals not being healthy (long story!!!!) I have had suspected Marek's, impacted crop and possible myco, sour crop and some mystery illness. Some of my pekins (I only keep pekins ) have had to be PTS and some have just popped off in the night. Either way and every time it is very sad But I try now just to enjoy them while I have them. There are some definite stress points for chickens in the year. Moulting is one, coming back in to lay is another and Stress of any kind especially introductions of new members to the flock.

 

My current 2 girls are 3 and I hatched them with a broody hen 100% hatched rate They have been the most healthy and long lived In fact one of them has just hatched 8 chicks So I am hoping to have a few more girls to add to Mr Max and his 2 ladies.

 

Enjoy your hens You will always find helpful, knowledgeable support and advice here.

[mollyripkim]

Oh dear, poor you. I agree with othe posts, think you have just had really bad luck and ex bats are always an extra worry. I only worm every three months as well, am assuming you are using Flubernet? I lost a dear little Peking last week, she was fine in the morning but found her collapsed in the run literally a couple of hours later, no symptoms at all but she was just about passing in my arms as we drove to th vet. It's so upsetting as there was no obvious reason and without a postmortem the vet didn't know either. So I guess it happens and you have just been really unlucky. You obviously care for them very much so hope you continue to enjoy.

 

The only other thought I had was that I have heard straw is not a good idea as it can harbour mites and fungi spores.

[Blackrocksrock]

You have been very unlucky - the ex batts yes you would expect short life span but the others is sad - maybe you could look to get girls from another source rather than the garden centre and see if that was better as you have had such back luck.

[Alis girls]

I am not expert but I too have lost my orignal 3 girls Omlet ones and I find its a learning curve. I have also lost 2 others and have another sickie at present in the old rabbit hutch. Hens are fragile (rabbits are too but ours were 10 and 11 when they passed on ) and I have a 5 yr old hen whos a minx who is still going strong. My problem is I tend to lose when they moult. They get run down and before I know it they are unwell. I am now at the stage where if this girl dies I might cut my losses re home the old bird if I can and restock totally as introductions are hard work when space is a problem. A friend of mine despatches at the first sign of illness. Wish I could be so hard but I cant. They are fragile but dont blame yourself. Good luck. Ali x

[Alis girls]

Sorry i forgot to add my old chuck eats eggs and can be a bully so you can see theres a problem.

[EmuCat]

Minnie has been to the vets again and had her second jab. Her "frothy" sounding breathing had gone from whenever I picked her up, to only when she was stressed, and now today I haven't heard a single bubble!

The vet suspects they could have Mycoplamosis, and said it was a good idea to separate the two who had caught it (the bantams) from the other two, until Minnie is better.

 

Hopefully once Minnie is better, the other two shouldn't be too much at risk to catching it, having settled in their new home, and we can put them back together!

 

I'n still wondering why Myrtle hasn't laid an egg in about 2 months- she's not even 2 years old yet, her comb is still red, she's not acting broody (though she still seems a little "sad" about losing Lady and having to put up with new hens) and she's not ill or hiding eggs. She seems a little young to be going into "chicken menopause"!