Hey there, I'm wondering if anyone can help with some info?
I had 8 chickens yesterday. Now sadly I have 4. Another might also die soon.
The first one died last night, the next 3 today.
I purchased them about 5 days ago and I think they were under 1 week old. So they'd be max 2 weeks now.
I first noticed some gloopy red droppings 2-3 days ago. Didn't think much of it for some reason at first. Then yesterday morning I noticed bright red, watery droppings.
Yesterday afternoon the first chick started acting lethargic, having trouble walking, legs seemed like they weren't working properly. It was just sleeping & sitting down a lot. Eventually it couldn't walk or use it's legs properly at all & then within a few hours sadly died. The next started showing the same symptoms last night, and I found it dead in the morning. Then next one died two hours later. Another died this afternoon.
I spent all of today ringing around trying to find somewhere that has coccidiosis treatment, as that was what I thought it was. After calling literally 12 different places (vets/petshops/stockfeeds) I finally found someone with ONE bottle left in stock. I rushed there, bought it and the remaining 4 chicks were given their first doses asap (about 4 hours ago).
Thing is, the guy at the stockfeed place who sold me the treatment, mentioned he thought it sounded more like Salmonella than coccidiosis. But he said to give the treatment a go anyway. He asked if there had been mice around the chickens, and I mentioned we have actually had trouble lately with mice in the house.
So that's what I'm wondering. Could the chicks have caught salmonella from mouse droppings?
Extra note, I thought we were feeding them medicated starter feed, but it turns out it wasn't. So I also grabbed some medicated feed from the stockfeed shop and have now changed it to that.
Sorry if what I've written sounds confusing, I'm just a bit desperate
. Happy to re-write & clarify anything if needed. Hopefully someone could help shed some light on what might be happening with them?
Any help is appreciated thank you!
I had 8 chickens yesterday. Now sadly I have 4. Another might also die soon.
The first one died last night, the next 3 today.
I purchased them about 5 days ago and I think they were under 1 week old. So they'd be max 2 weeks now.
I first noticed some gloopy red droppings 2-3 days ago. Didn't think much of it for some reason at first. Then yesterday morning I noticed bright red, watery droppings.
Yesterday afternoon the first chick started acting lethargic, having trouble walking, legs seemed like they weren't working properly. It was just sleeping & sitting down a lot. Eventually it couldn't walk or use it's legs properly at all & then within a few hours sadly died. The next started showing the same symptoms last night, and I found it dead in the morning. Then next one died two hours later. Another died this afternoon.
I spent all of today ringing around trying to find somewhere that has coccidiosis treatment, as that was what I thought it was. After calling literally 12 different places (vets/petshops/stockfeeds) I finally found someone with ONE bottle left in stock. I rushed there, bought it and the remaining 4 chicks were given their first doses asap (about 4 hours ago).
Thing is, the guy at the stockfeed place who sold me the treatment, mentioned he thought it sounded more like Salmonella than coccidiosis. But he said to give the treatment a go anyway. He asked if there had been mice around the chickens, and I mentioned we have actually had trouble lately with mice in the house.
So that's what I'm wondering. Could the chicks have caught salmonella from mouse droppings?
Extra note, I thought we were feeding them medicated starter feed, but it turns out it wasn't. So I also grabbed some medicated feed from the stockfeed shop and have now changed it to that.
Sorry if what I've written sounds confusing, I'm just a bit desperate
. Happy to re-write & clarify anything if needed. Hopefully someone could help shed some light on what might be happening with them?Any help is appreciated thank you!
