PoultryTalk.com

I wonder if any of our members could advise me. I have a small back garden flock of four hens. They have a large covered run enclosed on two sides and a poultry hut. We have a large garden mainly lawns and shrubs and the hens have the run of the garden most of the day.
A few months ago the light sussex cross 'went light' stopped eating and began losing her feathers (she had already moulted the previous months) she also had very bad diarheao. Her large red comb shrivelled and she looked very ill. I took her to the vet and he gave her an injection of antibiotics and some antibiotics to administer by mouth for five days. This did the trick and she recovered and began to lay again and put weight back on and looked in great condition.
Then the Bluebelle went down with the same symptoms. Another trip to the vet, anti biotics, which she didn't take to as well, and she also recovered eventually and is now laying well and in fine fettle. The other two hens showed no symptoms and are still fine.
Then last week the light sussex cross again went off her food. Is still not eating very well is losing her feathers at an alarming rate (especially worrying in this cold weather) and has gone light again. I am going to take her to the vets again but I am not sure the Vet has any idea what the problem is. I am worried that it may be contagious, although as I say the other two hens have not succumbed so far. I am worried that the bluebelle is going to come down with it again as she did last time the sussex got it. Those two are inseperable which makes me wonder if that is why they got it.
I keep the birds very clean, I remove the droppings daily from the roost, the bedding (ch0pped straw) is changed weekly, and the hut is sprayed against red mite regularly (although I have never seen any)
The large run is covered with wood chippings and they are changed every month (it's a huge run for four hens) so I don't think hygiene is the problem.
The birds are coming up to two years old. They are fed coarse layers mash which is available to them all the time. They have a small grain ration each day before they go to roost.
I add Orego stim to their drinking water daily (occasionally substituted with ACV and they are wormed every three months.
Has anyone else come across this problem?

Is it possible they could have eaten something as they free range the garden. Slug pellets, pesticide spray or similar. Try keeping them confined to their run for a while and see if you get a recurrence. If not, then its probably something they've ate in the garden.

Thank you for that Meg, I did wonder the same and have confined them to their run. This hasn't been too much of a discomfort to them as they do not like the snow and won't come out in it anyway.

Hi was curious what wood chippings you use as some not good for chickens ALso what wormer do you use as so many use rubbish ones which do very little. A bit like how you can buy frontline which not only kills all fleas on the animal will prevent them for a short time, where as the cheap ones dont kill the fleas that are on the animal - cleverly worded preventative. A bit like me lighting a citrous candle to help keep flies away which work to an extent but not fully compared to fly spray. Red x

Hi, i have only kept birds for 39 years, 3 years studying poultry and avian species at college 24 years in the poultry industry meat and egg management uk and canada. 10 years with HOMOEOPATHY and natural products. i make no medical claims. Always consult a vet. vets out of 7 years studying are lucky to do 6 weeks on birds, we use to get them through our college for 2 weeks. there are some great vets out there who specialise in avian species, power to their elbow. testimonies speak for themselves. happy to help. Keep it natural, always! www.allcreatureshealthcheck.com Colin. call anytime, i will call you back, save your phone bill!