AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

Hi All

Just after some general advice. I have some Isa Brown hens that I bought at auction several years ago - from what I could tell they were all varying ages, some a lot older than others

I am fairly new to poultry and learning the hard way on some things but I feel I am gaining some better knowledge which in turn is helping me look after my chooks better I had my boys doing the feeding etc due to time constraints however they are typical teenagers and things weren't being done properly and they just aren't very observant . I have now taken over checking my chooks twice a day etc!

This weekend, I noticed I had three hens with issues (we do have problems with rats and mice at the moment - we cannot use baits due to the other animals we have so rely on traps etc).

One hen was not eating or drinking, wheezing and looked like she was trying to 'talk' but nothing was coming out. I isolated her in a warm spot in a seperate pen well away fromt the others however she passed away that evening. The other hen that looked sick (dark, flopped over comb and sleeping in one spot, not eating etc) I also isolated and she has picked up - she did not have the wheezing of the other one. She is looking more back to normal however I am still keeping her isolated for now. I had another one with bumblefoot that we are treating (epsom salts, had to cut part of it away, dressed, and in a specially made cage with pine shavings and straw etc). She was doing okay when I left this morning.

The other mystery I have is another one of the hens has molted but her feathers have not grown back. She has a bald patch around her neck and around her tail area. There are no signs of mites etc and she is otherwise healthy, just looking really ragged! My husband thinks she is just old - is there anything else I should be looking out for?

At the moment the rest of the chooks are looking okay - we do have a lot of wild birds that enter the pen so I am worried they might have brought some disease in. I hope to get some bird netting over the top of the pens in the not too distant future!

Unfortunately our local vet does not have any experience with Poultry - I intend to join the local poultry club to see if I can learn more there.

Karen_H, check out Shenook's thread a couple of posts down (today), compare symptons. Might be something similar.

Thanks - yep, sounds like the same thing. The other chook in isolation has started sneezing today The one with the sore foot layed an egg this morning and is up and about so at least she appears to be making some recovery

I have several books at home on raising chickens and chicken health and I must admit I did think it sounded like CRD. I will contact the vet and see if I can get some Oxymav and try that!

Thanks for your help :-)

Just spoke to the vet - she is worried it may be Chlamydiosis. If the chook gets any worse I think we will have to put her down and send her off for a post mortem/testing. The main reason for this is there are several of us with health issues which means we are at higher risk of contracting this too (although I know it is not common).

Karen

Well, the chook appears to have made a full recovery so it may have just been a 'cold'. None of the others have shown any signs of illness nor have any of us humans (apart from the youngest who is 13 having a bad cold last week and he didn't go near the chooks - he literally picks up everything).

I still keep a close eye on all the chooks but so far so good!

The one with the bumblefoot is better too - the sore is less and she still wobbles a bit from time to time but can walk reasonably well again.

Cheers
Karen

That is good news Karen. Watch the bumblefoot doesn't come back again though.