Dorky chick and ISA Brown died overnight!

[weekendwellies]

Oh no. I am so sorry to hear that, I hope the rest of them are ok.

[CoraxAurata]

Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear that our Dorkings are our pride and joy too, we lost one cockerel a few weeks back with nothing that we could discern wrong he was fine one day, sluggish and off colour the next morning, perking up by evening(in large box in back kitchen) and dead by 1 am....

I had a quail dead the next day and was begining to fear something nasty, but fingers crossed all else ok...

[Snadger]

Aww snadger - noo thats not fair?

Is this the dorking that was in isolation?

I don;t know what to suggest I have never had a chook die from a cold, they usuallly seem to perk up after a day or two when medicated, but then never had one so young with it, my old cockeral had a cold and he was ok after a week and he is 6!

Best remedy for colds is respite - its garlic that this the active ingredient so garlic tablets are just as good - obvioulsy they are for humans so only a quarter of one. I use Dorwest herbs garlic and fenugreek tablets and use 1/2 tablet once a day always seemed to do the trick!

I wonder if there could be something else - any otehr symptoms snadger?

I've been reading up and they both had some of the symptoms of gapeworm? Just ordered some Flubenvet online to treat the rest. Funnily enough Dorky was very partial to earthworms,(I used to say she was a REAL chicken) and her being my pet I used to hand feed her them whilst turning over the allotment. Aparrently earthworms are the main cause of gape worms!

[RichmondHens]

Yes, earthworms carry several different types of parasitic worm and yes that it where your birds will pick them up from initially. But if wormed regularly, the burden will remain small (nobody is ever parasite free) and not trouble them. Earthworms are a valuable source of protein so you should not stop feeding them just because of the worm risk. Just keeping worming your birds regularly (at least 3 times a year).

[di]

I was reading also that snails act as host to several different worms.
Which leads me to the question...does moving them around onto fresh ground make that much difference?
One of the sites I looked at said that totally free ranging chooks are more prone to picking up parasites than those in runs with more limited snails & worms.

[Snadger]

I was reading also that snails act as host to several different worms.
Which leads me to the question...does moving them around onto fresh ground make that much difference?
One of the sites I looked at said that totally free ranging chooks are more prone to picking up parasites than those in runs with more limited snails & worms.

The converse to that though is that those in runs are more likely to pick up infection from fellow chooks faeces!

[HayleyB]

Aww sorry to hear your news Snadger shame about the ISA but more so for Dorky

[bluemoon]

I'm beginning to wonder if I've brought something in with the two Minorca's I bought from auction lately?
They have no symptoms but could be carriers I suppose?

It just seems coincidental that these troubles have just started since they arrived.

I have read that a disease which has existed at low, asymptomatic levels in one flock can decimate a second flock when birds from the first are introduced as they just don't have the resistance.

I was reading also that snails act as host to several different worms.
Which leads me to the question...does moving them around onto fresh ground make that much difference?
One of the sites I looked at said that totally free ranging chooks are more prone to picking up parasites than those in runs with more limited snails & worms.

It's difficult to know what to do for the best, isn't it? Mine love their free-ranging time so much that I would hate to stop them. But they do eat tons of slugs during that time. Sir Samuel ate two huge ones last night and finished off with a smaller one before bed. The only way to prevent it would be to keep them in their runs the whole time or try to eradicate the slugs.

[frias]

Were your chickens yawning a lot Snadger? Apparently that's the usual noticable symptom with gapeworm.

[Bramble-Poultry]

another thought that has crossed my mind for the future is salmonella. If you have a bird that has been vaccinated against it (as most ex-batts are) they will not succomb to it, but can shed the live virus for the rest of their lives. If they come into contact with a bird that isnt vaccinated then theoretically, given the right conditions (wet mud, faeces, close contact) then its possible for you unvacinated birds to get salmonella??

Just a thought for the future......

[frias]

OMG BP, just given me something else to worry about. One of my ex-batts is raising Welsummer chicks!

[Snadger]

Were your chickens yawning a lot Snadger? Apparently that's the usual noticable symptom with gapeworm.

Yeah I'd read that as well. Dorky chick wasn't .............just wheezing and sneezing! ISA had what I would call a 'hicky' cough! No discharge from the beak of either.

The good news is that the other ISA I feared for seems to have made a full recovery.
The sad thing about it is she was sitting next to the dead ISA in the nest box and it seemed as if she was trying to keep her warm. She didn't want to leave the nest and so I assumed she was unwell. I think the other ISA was her pal and she was simply wanting to be with her at the end.

PS My cockerels used to yawn a lot before they started crowing which lead me to believe I had cracked the cockerel crowing thing by breeding 'mute' cockerels............how wrong I was, you should hear them now! They will also be getting a dose of Flubenvet as a preventative measure just in case!!!!!!

[Bramble-Poultry]

Frias - nothing to worry about - I'll slap mike for you in a bit for making you worry!!!

Snadger - thats soo sweet and sad at the same time. I really feel sorry for you losing your birds especially when you do not know the cause, but it does sound like a sort of respiratory infection.

How are all of you others?

[Snadger]

Frias - nothing to worry about - I'll slap mike for you in a bit for making you worry!!!

Snadger - thats soo sweet and sad at the same time. I really feel sorry for you losing your birds especially when you do not know the cause, but it does sound like a sort of respiratory infection.

How are all of you others?

Others seem fine.....touch wood...............I even picked up the two newbies to try and get them used to handling and check them over. They really are feisty chooks these Minorca's and very muscular. The Light Sussex female which I hatched in Feb just let me pick her up and never said a dicky bird. She probably thinks that she'll regain favourite status now Dorky chic has gone...........she could be right!
The ISA browns are ........well...........ISA Browns......... they will eat ANYTHING ............as usual!

[Bramble-Poultry]

Thats good then, light sussex are quite dopey, I find then really placid actually, well the large fowl ones anyways - can't speak for the baties haven't got any of those.

Hopefully no one else is ill, perhaps if they start to sneeze it may be a trip to the vet to get antibiotics to go in the water.