Two of our hens developed a mysterious illness while I went on vacation. Our 11 month old RI Red and black Australops started losing feathers and stopped laying which I attributed to molting. However, things went from bad to worse. Mrs. Butler, the RI Red, became so ill she failed to come into the hen house at night as usual. She was so thin that a raccoon yanked her through the chain link one night and ate her. Very distressing!

Nippy, the black Australops, lost the use of her left leg and was unable move without assistance. She also seemed like she was having difficulty swallowing (bobbing head up and down while eating), and was vomiting, etc. A local chicken friend described her illness as a kind of chicken "cholera" (!) and suggested we put her and the remaining 2 birds in our little flock on a 14 day treatment of terramycin, which I assume is an antibiotic, in their water. Nippy was hand-fed the antibiotic.

Monday I came back from vacation and examined her. While her breast feathers are growing back, she is still lame. It appears as if there is a problem with the whole left side of her body. As I was manipulating her leg to ascertain what the problem was, her head flopped over and she vomited all over me. There are no outward signs of physical trauma such as scratches or bruises around the foot or leg, but there are red streaks (like welts but not raised) on the chest.

I stopped the antibiotics as the other 2 birds appear to be completely healthy and they have all been on them for 14 days.

The only two books I have are RAISING POULRTY SUCCESSFULLY and RAISING CHICKENS IN YOUR BACKYARD but there's no mention of anything resembling this disease! Help! Is there another good reference books for a non expert (novice) like me with a small--and getting smaller (now down to 3 birds)--flock? Does anyone know what this is?

I appreciate any and all advice.

mthannigan@earthlink.net

Hi MT, I received a wonderful birthday present from a friend. It's a book by Gail Damerow called The Chicken Health Handbook. I wish I had this 6 years ago when I first started raising poultry, especially show birds. This book has everything you could possibly want for the proper care of your chickens. It covers every type of parasite, infectious diseases, health & nutrition. It even has suppliers, state pathology labs and more recommended reading. If you can't find it let me know and I can give you a couple of places to check. Good Luck.

I had a mystery disease with my very first set of yard chickens. Some died immediately and others were convulsing, vomiting or just scooting around half paralized. Turns out I had not even considered the fact that Amdro fire ant killer would be appealing to chickens as food. They ingested it out of the yard and nearly wiped out all my chickens before I put 2&2 together.

I just wanted y'all to reconsider before putting out fertilizer, weed killer, or pesticides in your yard.

Mordacai, our rooster, is sick.
We do not know what is wrong.
He will not walk, just sits still and does not move.
When we pick him up, he just droops his head over.
I have no clue as to where to begin.
The other 70 chickens are all fine, active, and healthy.
Please help, if you can.
My children are devastated(so am I) over Mordacai's poor health.
Samantha
texasgringo@itexas.net

two mornings ago i found one of my chicks (4 months old)just laying on its side, could not walk. i picked it up and started exercising its legs and separated it from the rest. i exercised its legs several times during the day and it seems to be helping but it still looks week.; yesterday morning i found another chick, same age, dead. what should i be watching out for? could there possibly be an epidemic or contagious disease that could kill the whole flock.

Looking for some help my 8mos old silkie rooster just came down sick he is lathargic which I thought was do to the weather getting extremly cold quick. I brought him into the house and got him to eat and drink but tonight I noticed he has bloody stool any suggestions as to what to do. No local vets will have anything to do with poultry so I am on my own. He was purchased as a breeding bird and I would hate to loose him. HELP PLEASE
Beth

Dear Coop Readers,
We have a chicken that has been fine until this
afternoon where we found her wedged in a corner of the
henhouse. She's laying on her side, uncoordinated,
can't walk. I called the 4H guy and he said to give her
lots of water, but she won't drink. What did you do???
She's a 7 month old RIR.
HELP!!!!

TM, It is never encouraging when a bird "goes down", but above all don't force feed or water!! Separate her from your other birds and keep her from chilling, and with food and water available, if she wants it. Has she been laying? Is she egg-bound, that is, can you carefully feel an egg that can't be layed? Handle her carefully, as an egg which breaks inside will cause her death. There have been some posts which tell how to possibly help a hen get an egg out. Then they are fine again. If it is a soft shelled egg, she must just suffer until it finally slides out, then she will be okay again. Good luck, CJR

TM, It is never encouraging when a bird "goes down", but above all don't force feed or water!! Separate her from your other birds and keep her from chilling, and with food and water available, if she wants it. Has she been laying? Is she egg-bound, that is, can you carefully feel an egg that can't be layed? Handle her carefully, as an egg which breaks inside will cause her death. There have been some posts which tell how to possibly help a hen get an egg out. Then they are fine again. If it is a soft shelled egg, she must just suffer until it finally slides out, then she will be okay again. Good luck, CJR

Hello is there any one out there that can help me out,
I have 28 hens and they are laying real good,we gather
the eggs every day,and somtimes when we breake the eggs
open there is a little red stuff on the yolk,we have
eaten some of them and never got sick but some people
say that the red stuff on the egg is that the egg is
going bad,its very little and so i really dont no
if the the eggs are good are bad,they do not smell
are taste bad,so if some one knows please let me no.



Thank You Very Much
Lisa

Lisa, I to have hadd eggs with alittle blood spot on them , some hens do this, Now I forgot exactly what it is called. If I remeber right this blood spot only effects the hatchability, Going to get my book out, let you know in a minute what I find. Mama Gozzard

Blood spots occur in pullets, but mostly older hens trigged by to little Vitamin A. It is a samll bit of the hens tissue released from the ovary. Sounds like human hemmoroids to me. Meat spots less seldom same as blood spots turned color from chemical so it says here in this book from Gail Damerow. Hope this helps

Help I have a hen that lost her chest feathers
an sits in her nest box most of the time.
she still lays eggs and eats. Whats up???

please help me I have a hen who is always panting. Breathing fast. She always seem to be tired. I think her nose is stopped up and she sneezes at time. Does any one have any ideas as to what might be cuasing this. please write back soon.

Any kind of sneezing always suggests either a respiratory infection or something lodged in the nasal area. Look her over carefully, using a magnifying glass if needed, to make sure she doesn't have anything obvious lodged up front. Respiratory infections usually respond to the right kind of antibiotic. Isolate her and try something like lincomyicin. Your vet or feed store may have suggestions for what works well in your area. Look to your conditions to help explain why this happened. When I have dealt with these the underlying cause has almost always been a management failure on my part, usually concerning bedding and air quality. Hope this helps.

i have 16 hens and one rooster and the hens are not laying what to do?

HELP, i just lost a breeder rooster to a skin disease that suddenly included watery loose stools and no eating.
my vet tried to save him but it was too late, now my other rooster has the same disease(red, raw skin without feathers on chest and thighs, scabs and enlarged feather folicles.What does Maks"s disease,the skin form look like?

Sonja, I am so sorry. I have never seen the feather follicle form of Marek's, but don't know of anything else that would look similar. There is no treatment, the vet could not have saved him. You can consider that all your birds are exposed, but not all will ever show symptoms or die. But I have lost birds to the form causing paralysis and tumors, so, as it is a long lived virus, I know that all my old birds have been exposed, and now I vaccinate all my chicks at hatch. But I understand may protect only for the paralysis or tumor form. CJR

Your discription reminded me of ringworm (I've contracted this from my cow and it's identified by a patch, usually circular, of red, dry, scaly skin that expiriences hair loss on the afected parts. Where the hair used to be formed little bumps on me.) I don't think if chickens can get this, and it's definately not life-threatening, but it's just a thought. About marek's disease. I did a little research on it and found this at: http://www.msstate.edu/dept/poultry/disviral.htm

Skin leukosis produces the most severe losses in broilers. The losses result from high condemnations at the processing plant. Enlargement of the feather follicles due to accumulations of lymphocytes is the typical lesion. This is the most infective virus since it is produced in the regions of the feather follicles and is shed with the skin dander.

I could find no other disease that was close to your discription, so this sounds likely. I am so sorry, but like CJR said, there is no cure and exposed birds become carriers.

Oatman

CJR, Oatman, Thanks for the info,
Is it possible to vaccinate the others(4-5 years old)
for Marek's disease? Also, can I vaccinate them for pox if they have been exposed to Marek's virus or leukosis? One of my favorite roosters is giong light and has had loose stools and whole pieces of feed in his stool for over a year. The only thing that seems to help is probiotic. He seemed "cold" all and sat by the heater he seems a bit better now that it is 90 degrees outside.
sonja