170 Comments

  1. hi i have lost 2 chickens in 2 weeks, 1 was a year old and the other was roughly 17 weeks old. we are new to chiken keeping and rehomed 7 chickens, we then purchased 4 bantams, followed by 4 chickens, then we rescued 8 chickens and 1 bantam. when we first rescued the chickens we were concerned that 1 of them was sneezing and making a gurgling nooise, cider vineager was added to their water and all seemed fine, however since then i have had a rescued chicken die on me and today 1 of the 4 that we brought has also died, the last 1 to die did have a blue com over the last few days.i have been advised to get antibiotics for the remaining chickens, but im really worried the rest of my chicken family is going to perish! any ideas?

    • You should really take them to the vet and they will be able to check them over and prescribe antibiotics if necessary. Antibiotics will kill off any bacterial infection and secondary infection in the upper respiritory tract. Respiratory problems are quite common in chickens. It sounds very much like Mycoplasma Gallisepticum to me.

  2. Hi my two ex-bat hens have settled in well in the last four months but only had a few eggs, they are free-ranging which could account for this. Recently one has pruduced small nuggets about 2cm in size without a shell and looks off white and rubbery, any ideas? Is this normal!!

    • They can lay some odd eggs. Ex batts are particularly big egg layers and there can be more odd eggs than normal hens. Once they settle down, they should start laying in the spring and stop in the Autumn. At the moment, their egg laying cycle will be messed up, thanks to the forced lighting that keeps them laying for so long in their cages.

  3. Hi I am new to this, I have four chickens not sure of the breed but i have noticed light brown runny stools around the coop, I have recently treated the coop for red mite each bird seems fine all up and about scavaging around. What could be the cause of loose stools ? None of the hens are laying yet, but should start producing eggs shortly.

    • Mustard brown droppings passed every 24 – 36 hours are normal – these are Calcial droppings but if it’s diarrhea, then there could be other problems…

  4. Hi, I’m wondering if you have any advise for me. 6 weeks ago we had our first 6 chickens a mix one of which is a orpington/moran. She started closing both eyes and rocking her head to and fro about 9 days after we had her approx 14 week old. I was really worried as she seemed very unwell and was not eating. I used apple cider vinegar along with everything I read can help i.e garlic mixed with mashed layers pellets and porridge oats to make sure she had plenty to eat. She is much better now doubled in size eating well running around and looking healthy but her one eye stays closed almost all the time. I have been using salt water daily to bathe it but no change, it looks a little red and is sore to touch. No bubbling, fluid leaking runny nose etc. Would you be able to recommend anything for the eye. Sorry I know it must be difficult as you can’t see the chicken. Any suggestions much appreciated.
    Claire

    Just wanted to add we have also noticed under her wings are a small amount of matted feathers only visible when you lift her wing skin just in this area looks a little dry and flackey and it smells a little stale. No sign of mite at all. Would appreciate your thoughts. Oh and breath does not smell at all

  5. My chickens have all got fowl pox, i am new to keeping chickens and would like to know how can u tell when a chicken is no longer infected.I have 30 chickens ranging between 1 to 6months old and four mature hens and one mature rooster. Not all of them have the scabs but i would presume they are all infected. I have four roosters just about reaching maturity is it ok to eat their meat or would you recomend waiting. I only really want hens for the eggs and the males have started fighting.

    • There is some good information on poultrykeeper.com about fowl box in the diseases section, but I think for these sort of questions, you would need to ask a professional… Your vet would be a good starting point but if they don’t have the experience it would be worth paying for a (premium rate) call to the Chickenvet helpline as these guys are all poultry vets.

Leave a Reply to Keeping ChickensCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.