Speckledhen's Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management

blueoval1 said:

Are leg mites considered an infection

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No. They can be treated. Ivermectin and you can Vaseline their legs to suffocate the mites.

Hermits Garden said:

I have a neighbor who provides me an excellent demonstration of how NOT to keep chickens. Filthy conditions, filthy waterer & feed, not predator safe, and very little attention (zero health checks, etc.). Somehow a couple of her birds survived into very old age, almost in spite of their living conditions, but now there is only one left.

I'd adopt that single girl--an Easter egger who is at least 10 yrs old--but I'm due to get my "first time ever" chicks in late April, and I'd worry if this old gal could bring disease or infestation with her to my new coop and run.

But she's soooo lonely by herself over there.

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She needs a companion.

juliamichell said:

She needs a companion.

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I went over yesterday (neighbor said I could give her a few mealworms once in a while). Poor thing just hunkers down in the coop, won't come out past the sill of the pop door. This is the same bird that, six months ago, would run to me as fast as she could, and run up and down the fence until I got close enough to give her a couple worms, talking to me the whole time. I don't think she's going to last long--she's got some kind of respiratory problem, with bubbly eyes, beard and muff all matted.

Poor girl with an irresponsible owner. Stay away from her or you could carry stuff back to your flock. I hate that she is probably dying and dying alone. Bless her heart. Makes me so angry when people abuse or neglect their animals.

speckledhen said:

Poor girl with an irresponsible owner. Stay away from her or you could carry stuff back to your flock. I hate that she is probably dying and dying alone. Bless her heart. Makes me so angry when people abuse or neglect their animals.

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I know. I didn't go in the run, just sat outside the fence where I used to sit to feed them worms. She saw me drop them into the run, but just sat in the pop door, making a weird noise.

There's nothing I can do for her--the owner claims she is too soft-hearted to cull them, but she'll let them live in misery and not give them any treatment when they're sick. I don't mean a vet--there are no avian vets in our tiny town--but she's "ready to be done with chickens" and is hoping this one will die. I can't go over there anymore. It breaks my heart.

I've had my heart broken a few times just hearing the stories of how chickens are treated. It's awful. I'm sorry you're having to endure that torture. I say "torture" because that's what it is to me, to see animals suffer and be helpless. I hope that poor hen passes on quickly.

If you had a couple of chickens with poopy butt.. white gunk in the vent feathers, would you cull em?

Pickensandchigs said:

If you had a couple of chickens with poopy butt.. white gunk in the vent feathers, would you cull em?

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Why would you cull them simply because of that? No, I'd try to figure out the cause of it. Poop can change depending on what they're eating or if they are ailing, have worms or something else. Culling without trying to figure out what is wrong is the lazy way out. Once I heard of a man who culled his hens because they were losing copious amounts of feathers....they were molting, a natural process, and didn't need to die, could have had more years of production. He was just ignorant of the animal he was raising, sadly. So, no, that is not enough reason to just cull a bird. White gunk could mean vent gleet, a fungal infection, and is curable.

speckledhen said:

Why would you cull them simply because of that? No, I'd try to figure out the cause of it. Poop can change depending on what they're eating or if they are ailing, have worms or something else. Culling without trying to figure out what is wrong is the lazy way out. Once I heard of a man who culled his hens because they were losing copious amounts of feathers....they were molting, a natural process, and didn't need to die, could have had more years of production. He was just ignorant of the animal he was raising, sadly. So, no, that is not enough reason to just cull a bird. White gunk could mean vent gleet, a fungal infection, and is curable.

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They haven't responded to ointments and baths.. I was under the impression that this could be caused by some underlying virus or bacteria. I've hung with them for over a month now. There was an article on this site that said cull them in 7 days if symptoms dont improve. so Idk.. That's why I asked.

Pickensandchigs said:

They haven't responded to ointments and baths.. I was under the impression that this could be caused by some underlying virus or bacteria. I've hung with them for over a month now. There was an article on this site that said cull them in 7 days if symptoms dont improve. so Idk.. That's why I asked.

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Not sure what the article is, but people may have different ideas. Some do just cull any bird they have that is not 100%, but I don't care for that approach unless you know it's contagious. I would definitely cull for contagious respiratory illness, but that symptom is not indicative of respiratory anything that I'm aware of. The only way to know is to do a culture and test the poop, I'd think. Ailing birds often have heavy urates in their poop, but ailing can mean internal reproductive issues, not contagious stuff. There is no way for me to know what you're dealing with and I can't say cull a bird with a mystery illness that is not respiratory. I have never had any contagious respiratory illness in my flocks but when I had more hatchery stock, I did encounter a lot of reproductive malfunctions and white and green poop with birds that were ill and/or dying from those.
@1muttsfan any ideas or input here, if you have time?