01/12/2024
Let me tell you about this egg āŗļø
This egg symbolizes life, a new year, a fresh start, and healthy chickens, and also a promise for our future. ā¤ļø
Back in May I brought home about 16 chicks and a couple of pullets (hens) from a local auction and gift from a family member . Little did I know the severity of this decision. I had never been to an auction before, so I thought this would be a fun experience and also great opportunity to support other local farmers.
Unfortunately though May through November, I lost 14 of those chicks, one of the pullets and a couple birds from our personal flock. I was devastated and driving myself crazy trying to figure out what was going on.
The symptoms: lethargy, then death
These were not great indicators to pinpoint what the heck was going on in their little bodies. I never saw their feathers looking ruffled and bad. They looked healthy. They acted healthy. So I started going down the list of what questions you should ask in this kind of scenario. My first question was ā are they inbred?ā
ā they didnāt look in bread, but that doesnāt mean itās not possible, genetics A huge role in the health of humans and animals. Then I questioned if the food was poisoned, but the rest of the flock that was separated from these chicks (because I had not integrated them yet they were fine.) I dewormed them just in case. I added electrolytes to their water and gave them more healthy snacks. I checked all of the birds to see if they had lice or mites. I did find some on one or two birds, but they werenāt even in the same coop as the chicks. So I treated the whole flock and the new chicks regardless because thatās a whole other nightmare that you donāt want to deal with if it gets out of hand. I never saw diarrhea or blood and stools. They always had a clean coop. They always had clean food and water. Our ducks were fine as well. And yet only these new chicks were dying left and right. I checked for mold in the food I checked for heavy metals in the water and yet I was still coming up with nothing. I also do not give them treats or food that has ever been sprayed with pesticides. So you could imagine my confusion and frustration.
Iāve always taken a lot of pride in the fact that I have not lost many chickens over the years. I could literally count them on one hand . Sadly, I canāt say that anymore, but I can say that through this experience, I have gained so much more knowledge, and this scenario will not be happening again.
I have been raising chicks for almost 4 years and Iām one of those people who obsessively research the project that I want to do before nose diving into it. Of course naturally you canāt learn absolutely everything immediately but you can try! Especially at the very least learn all the signs of inbreeding, parasites or illness or poisoning etc..
Itās almost embarrassing to even admit that it took so long to figure out what it was. But their symptoms were just not matching up. Chickens are really great at masking any type of illness until they actually are to that point where they just donāt and canāt hide it.
Fun fact they do this intentionally because if the other chickens can tell that they are ill, those chickens will then kill that chicken to save the rest of the flock itās ruthless, but also fascinating.
I communicated with all of the online Facebook groups and YouTubed like crazy, I contacted vets, and other farmers and after a long time of trial and error I was referred to the pathology lab and Stillwater at the OSU campus and had necropsy done on them.
( if I wouldāve known that this option was available I wouldāve done this sooner)
If you didnāt know, that this option was available now you do, and they will do a complete autopsy of your birds and any other animals as well. It just depends on what your scenario is and what youāre willing to pay for of course. Quoted $125 and that this would cover up to three chickens I brought in two.
What they do first is test for avian flu, which was my biggest fear, but there were no signs of avian flu so I had high hopes. If they wouldāve tested positive for avian flu, I wouldāve had to cull my whole flock. Upon testing if that comes back positive they will not test for anything else.
When our test results came back, they tested positive for āCoccidiosisā I couldnāt even believe it. I had educated myself on this and knew the symptoms for this and yet somehow I still miss this because sadly the symptoms for this if they just even have one symptom it doesnāt mean that they have this.
For those of you who donāt know what this is , it is a protozoa in the soil that can go dormant in the winter and then once everything warms up, it can survive up to a year without a host. So essentially, itās a parasite. What happens is it lodges itself in your chickens intestinal track, causes anemia and slowly kills them. They can literally look fine one day, and then drop dead the next. When baby chicks hatch they can be very susceptible to anything that is bad in their environment , and the proper care is not then they can become ill . When theyāre integrated with the rest of the flock, or even with their mother hen, if that mother is infected, then her dander will fall on those chicks, and can cause them to be infected immediatly. Or theyāll be pecking at the soil and the contract it that way. Typically it is a foot to mouth type of contraction . Either way, something had to previously be infected to cause this to happen. It could be as simple as a wild bird as well. Got into your coop or was in the run or if theyāre free ranging, you know theyāre just out there and they can cross paths and it is what it is.
The typical signs of this infection, though are :
- pale comb
-Ruffled feathers
- Diarrhea or blood in their stools, whitish mucus around vent
- Loss of appetite
-Lethargy
- droopiness or depression
- Death
The great news is once youāve identified what the issue is itās extremely easy to treat and very affordable. You can go to Tractor Supply or Southern agriculture, or Atwoods, or order from Amazon and get this liquid called āCoridā (Amprolium) $30 , there is also a powder form as well and you can put it in their water. The exact measurements will just determine how large your watering bucket or hanging water is. I just googled it whenever I treated them to find the exact measurements.
Although I am devastated that this happened I am thankful for the education I gained from this experience. I also very excited for the future and what this year holds for our little farm.
I believe in complete transparency, especially when it comes to the care for our animals as well as the food we provide for your consumption. I think factory farming as well as lab grown meat is absolutely disgusting and atrocious, and these animals are not given the proper care that they really need to provide you with a quality meat/eggs. Like I said, my goal is complete transparency and I hope that youāll remember this in the future when you think of purchasing anything from us.
And yes, you better believe your sweet cheeks we will be getting more chickens , ducks, (hopefullyturkeys, guineas, quail, geese) and if everything goes according to plan then maybe Iāll get a mini cow or two also šš¤š½
I donāt know weāll see. š¤·š½āāļøš
I hope that this post can help someone who might be struggling with this as much as I was. So much of caring for animals is trial and error Iām just thankful that we didnāt lose too many hens and now that the days are starting to get longer, our production is picking up again, and we will be fulfilling future orders ā¤ļø ļæ¼
