Is my pekin bantam male or female?

[Hippie Chick]

I didn't manage to get very far before I have a possible problem!

 

I'm new to chicken keeping, had the chickens about 3 weeks now and two of them are showing signs of a possible respiratory problem.

 

The hybrids seems OK for the moment, I noticed that the Speckled Sussex was making a little sneezing noise a few days ago, I checked her and nothing else seemed amiss. This morning I noticed the Lavender Araucana had joined in.

 

The Speckled Sussex seems to be scratching her head frequently and preening herself a lot. Both pullets are around 20 weeks old. Both are flicking their heads frequently.

 

Both seem well in themselves (I know as a prey animal they can seem well when they aren't), both are eating well, very alert and run up to me to see if I have treats, they are as lively as the others - in fact the Sussex is a pig to catch! Eyes and nostrils are totally clear on both. I've held both of them for several minutes (without any sneezes) and listened to their breathing for at least a minute (the araucana loved the experience and settled against my ear, the Sussex evidently thought I was slightly insane) their breathing was totally free of any sound at all. No signs of parasites.

 

Inside the coop I have Aubiose as bedding. Now I was surprised when I first tried this as it was horribly dusty and made me choke lifting it out of the sack, I expected it to be much less dusty or dust extracted. Apparently not. The aracauna wasn't sneezing yesterday but I did put some fresh Aubiose in yesterday afternoon. I'm not sure if it's a coincidence and wishful thinking that it may be a dust related issue. They are in a walk-in run with hardwood chippings, although not a very deep layer at the moment.

 

Neither of the chickens has come into lay yet, they're still quite young so I'm not concerned about that.

 

Obviously I'm worried and have spent hours trawling the internet for clues. I already have some Citricidal (Grapefruid Seed Extract) on the way which hopefully should be with me tomorrow. I just missed out on getting VetRx from a UK seller, I've had to order some from the USA so that's going to be a minimum of a week getting to me. I have ACV + Garlic and have put that in their water today at the increased dosage, they get it two/three times a week usually.

 

My initial thought - apart from carting one off to the vet - is the sensible course of action would be to try different bedding. Does anyone have a recommendation on something I can use that wouldn't have the same dust issues?

 

All the chickens (even the purebreeds) have been vaccinated against the common chicken illnesses (typically I can't find my list of what the vacc's were right now), but again I'm aware that vaccinations aren't always 100% effective.

 

Lastly, I say the chickens are 'sneezing' as this is what I thought originally - I've since seen a chicken on YouTube sneezing and it was a very loud and drawn out sneeze with a high pitched noise - mine is much more low key, like a 'choo' or maybe it could be a cough - which then makes me worry about gape worm instead... they were wormed at the farm in June before I got them. I'm tempted to worm again just in case but a large part of my brain suspects I'm worrying far too much about far too many possibilities at once.

 

Any thoughts or advice? I keep finding threads on similar issues but I haven't seen one where someone has come back and said what the problem eventually was. I will update this one with the outcome when I know something.

 

Until then, any input would be welcomed

 

*Updated to add - just checked and Aubiose says it's dust-free... confusing as it chokes me

Edited September 10, 2015 by Guest

[mollyripkim]

Sorry to hear you are having problems. I have used aubiose for several years with no problems. From what I understand the stress of moving can bring out sniffles but sounds like you are doing all you can. Hopefully someone with more experience will be along soon.

[Hippie Chick]

Thank you - maybe it's just me being sensitive to the Aubiose - no one else seems to report anything other than good things.

[Beantree]

We used to find Aubiose far too dry and dusty to use in Summer. OK for Winter but in Summer we switched back to wood shavings which stopped their sneezing. These were pedigrees, so no stress induced immunisation flare-up possible. We don't use it at all now, just newspaper on the floor in Summer.

[Hippie Chick]

All chickens appear to be pretty much the same today.

 

The sneezing/coughing Sussex and Araucana both seem lively and inquisitive, the Sussex is showing signs of approaching laying eggs and seems to be thriving despite whatever is wrong with her. Both chickens voraciously helped to demolish a dandelion this afternoon.

 

Today I read a similar account from someone who found it was lice causing the problem, so the Sussex was duly caught and I peered down the poor thing's ears, checked for lice and other bugs under her wings, vent area, eyes and so on. Didn't find a thing. I checked a few of the others as well and nothing. Couldn't find anything in the coop either, but gave it a thorough spray of Smite.

 

The Citricidal arrived today so that's in their water now at 5 drops/litre dosage.

 

Covering all areas, I've ordered a small bag of Marriage's treated with Flubenvet as gapeworm is still a possibility (in my mind, anyway).

 

I haven't changed the bedding from Aubiose as yet - the other half objected, saying I'd never be able to work out what made the situation better if I did everything at once.

 

Everyone trooped off to bed happily at dusk...

 

Fingers crossed tomorrow shows some improvement!

[Hippie Chick]

Oh dear, the little Araucana, Clara, has developed a rattle when she's breathing.

 

Today I treated them all with VetRx and that did reduce her breathing sounds quickly. They are still all very lively and as soon as they were treated one-by-one they attacked some cabbage leaves voraciously and I also saw Clara chasing and jumping after a fly that she wanted to eat.

 

All their eyes and nostrils are still clear.

 

I'm not sure what to do next.

[The Dogmother]

Excuse the fact that I haven't read all through this thread - in a bit of a dash!

 

Check the breathing on each of your birds; listen to their back between their wings, and you should hear clear breaths. Any crackling, bubbling or wheezing, and they need to get to the vet pronto for antibiotics. Hopefully it is just a cold or allergy.

[Hippie Chick]

Thank you Dogmother

 

Today seems to have brought an improvement.

 

Clara the Araucana doesn't seem to be rattling anymore, I've spent over an hour with them today watching them. She's still coughing but not as much. Agatha the Speckled Sussex also seems to be coughing less frequently. It would be difficult to spot there's a problem now if you didn't know. Eyes and nose still clear and all chickens hell bent on mischief as I cleaned them out and put extra chippings in the run.

 

For the moment I'm going to observe them and any relapses will result in a vet trip.

 

Prior to the improvement I have:

 

Treated for a mild respiratory illness by using Citricidal in their water and Apple Cider Vinegar with Garlic.

Given them my Schwartz dried oregano herb. At least they enjoyed scratching around for it! This was before the VetRx arrived.

Used VetRx on their heads, throats, under wings, around nostrils and beaks.

 

Treated for gapeworm with Heygate's pellets ready-mixed with Flubenvet (although the only started this yesterday morning and I'm not sure it would have shown a positive effect so soon?)

 

Today I have cleaned out the coop, put down wood shavings (dust extracted and antibacterial) instead of Aubiose. Checked for evidence of mites - no sign.

 

Kept up the dosing of Citricidal etc., as above.

 

Keep your fingers crossed for me please! I'm far more hopeful than yesterday

[The Dogmother]

Just one comment; have they been diagnosed as having gapeworm? If so, then Flubenvet at the normal dosage won't get rid of them - you need to take a hen to a chicken-savvy vet if they do have gapeworms, and they will prescribe either the correct dosage of Flubemnvet, or a more appropriate wormer.

 

As I said, I haven't read the whole thread, it is unlikely that they do have this.

 

You can dampen Aubiose down (see recommendations on packing) by spraying with water containing few drops of citronella and eucalyptus oils.

[Hippie Chick]

Thank you to everyone who replied and gave me things to think about!

 

I said I'd update this thread when I had some answers as it may help others. Sadly answers are a little lacking but here goes...

 

It turns out that only 2 chickens in the end were affected. Both are 'pure breeds' - a Lavender Araucana and a Speckled Sussex. Both were vaccinated by the breeder as were the hybrids. Neither bird showed any problems around their eyes or nostrils, they did not 'look' ill and were lively and naughty throughout.

 

The symptoms abated very slowly. The Sussex seems free of everything now, the Araucana is a little further behind but is recovering.

 

Unfortunately I don't know what the remedy was that helped them, perhaps it was nothing in particular and I just supported their immune system while they recovered on their own.

 

They had Apple Cider Vinegar + Garlic (a ready mixed liquid) in their water before I knew they were ill. I increased the dose of this as per the instructions on the bottle when I knew there was a problem.

 

I next added Citricidal to their water (5 drops per litre as per the instructions).

 

A few days later I obtained some VetRx Poultry. This gave immediate relief when applied to their nostrils and eased the sneeze/cough and the Araucana stopped 'ruttling' when breathing all the time. I did this daily until 2 days ago. I also put drops under their chin and under their wings so they breathed it in when roosting. They seemed to enjoy the experience overall.

 

I changed the coop bedding from Aubiose to an anti bacterial wood shaving one from Pets at Home. I'm convinced this didn't make a difference and the Aubiose is fine.

 

I then (perhaps mistakenly) wormed them in case it was gapeworm. It seems unlikely but did them no harm. I used Heygates pellets ready mixed with Flubenvet.

 

At this stage things started to improve.

 

I then bought some Battles Poultry Spice and mixed that in with afternoon treats for them so I could supervise and make sure the poorly birds ate a good amount.

 

I then bought some Manuka Honey 15+, mixed it in with their water with the ACV and Citricidal (must have been like the drinks my Grandmother used to give me for colds!). I also put a little blob of the honey inside the two affected bird's beaks. Either a coincidence or a breakthrough as next day the Araucana's breathing was completely clear all day.

 

Continued with the cough mixture mix (they're still having it now) but I haven't applied the VetRx for the last couple of days.

 

All seems to be going well, recovery seems to be on course now and I'm very hopeful to see a full recovery from both birds, although I accept they may be prone to relapses in times of stress. Neither bird has started laying yet although both have started to squat and their combs are reddening.

 

That's about it!

Keep your fingers crossed for me.