semi-ot.. but need help... with chickens

[Soundguy]

This is a project on our hobby farm.. we are raising some livestock, including chickens and poultry.. etc ( and yes... the tractors do the discing, plowing, and mowing, etc.. so it isn't -completely ot )

Anyway.. have noticed one of my chickens with .. well.. face is crusty.. like a scab. Not sure if this is a disease.. or cannabalism... as in pecked up by the other chickens.

I visited a couple university websites, and looked over thier list of chicken diseases.. and couldn't find anything remotly similar.

This prro hen has her eyes closed.. and faces is.. well.. scabbed over... not sure if she is blind now or what.

I don't know if she got into some plat or what.

I seperated her into her own pen, as when i went to check for eggs today, she was standing on the waterer.. as I guess that was the only way she new to get water was stay there.

I now have here in a different seperate pen with water and feed in bowls, and I've 'shown' them to her by gently bowing her face to them. She did drink and peck some scratch.

I've got a decent supply of vet materials because of fthe livestock, including broad spectrum antibiotics for poultry.. of which i have treated her water.

I also had a nitrofurazone puffer powder that said was for infections on the head/in around eyes.. etc. puffed some of that on her.

And also added a bit of scarlet oil prep with a swab to areas on her face/ remnants of comb.. but not directly ont he closed eyes.

I know it is just a chicken.. dime a dozen.. etc.. but these are the wifes pets too...

Any ideas? She looked normal yesterday.. and as of 5pm today i found her like this.

I have other chicken pens.. and other than the occasional death.. nothing like this.. and also turkeys havn't shown any signs either.. nor have any of the other chickens.

Thanks

also, here is my email, as that will be the easiest way to get me.

c.britton@worldnet.att.net

again.. thanks

 

[chim]

The In-laws have chickens (although they didn't name them all - there are around 50,000 per house). Wifey said she has seen chickens with various ailments, but it sounds like your hen was in a fight with something. You don't have any cats sitting there waiting for the hens to poke their heads out of the pen do you?..........................chim

 

[40Kchicks]

50,000 chickens per barn; now that’s a large barn. My biggest barn only holds 28,000, it is 60’X320’. I do have a friend that has a 60X600 that holds 40,000 but that’s the biggest one around our parts that I know of.

About the scabs I would agree with Chim that it could have been something trying to get it through the fence. I just can’t remember seeing anything like that. When we were new chicken farmers and didn’t know what we were doing our ventilation wasn’t as good as it should have been and some chickens got eye irritations and would scratch themselves and cause facial scratches but that can’t be your problem. On our farm if the chicken isn’t just perfect we get rid of it asap. We certainly don’t want a disease going through the flock. It could cost us $10,000 by the time we got back to growing chickens.

I admire the care you obviously have for your animals. I also work hard to make the best environment possible for our animals. Anybody can raise chickens but it takes hark work to raise them right. Keep up with the good work.

 

[Soundguy]

Thanks for the follow-ups guys.

i was leaning towards cannabilism.. and that sort of thing.. like fighting, as I had looked over my books, and stuff online, and really didn't think it was a parasite/infection.

Now I'm pretty sure it was a fighting issue.

After removing that chicken and keeping it in the barn
(Chicken ICU /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif ).. I moved a road isle' red large hen out of the pen that the 'attack' occoured.. as I figured it was her.. I've seen her be agressive before. I added her to another pen, and saw a few little chicken fights. I went off to mow for about 5 hours.. an the chickens in the 2nd pen beat up the big red.. so she must have been the disagreeable one... now she is also in chicken ICU in another cage.... oh well...

thanks a bundle guys...

Soundguy

 

[Hoeman00]

My 10yr old daughter was at a birthday party at her cousins' house last Sunday.
When I get home that nite there is a big red rooster standing guard by my garage.
My daughter got the rooster at the birthday party because they had a couple of them and kept fighting and when they mentioned eating him my daughter asked if she could have it.
So now we have a rooster. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif