Hi everyone!
I’m very new to all of this. My father in law had chickens for a year or two so he is the only other source of info I have... he lives on our property and is always available.
We just got a flock of 26 birds- 22 hens, 1 rooster, and 3 ducks (1 drake). We bought them from friends of ours that are moving across the country, and they got them from a friend about a year ago. They told us they are all approximately 3-4 years old.
I have no idea what the conditions were like before we received them as I wasn’t there to bring them home, so I can’t say they had the best care or the worst.
My hubby, father in law, and I were sitting out by the chicken run/coop just watching the birds and I noticed one hen was just curled up in one of the nesting boxes. I thought it was strange but again, I’m new to this, and thought maybe she was just trying to work on laying an egg. A while later the thunder cracks and she starts squawking for 3-4 minutes and gets the rooster worked up. After her squawking episode she started coughing and it sounded very raspy. We were all concerned and we’re just watching to see if she was just having a moment or if it was serious. Then she suddenly coughed up blood, and what I though was a large blood clot (looked like a string). I was trying to get into the caged run area when another hen ate the string part. I have no idea if it was a worm, tissue, or something else.
She was very clearly deteriorating fast and stopped breathing quickly after. It was so sudden and I have no idea what happened. Is this something that can be contagious? We are currently 1 week into raising 11 baby chicks to have some younger birds in the mix. They are 100% separated and inside our home for now.
I really don’t want to lose this entire flock but there aren’t really any chicken vets in my area, and I really don’t want to lose the baby chicks if the coop area is contaminated. Do you guys have any ideas as to what this could be? What I can do?
Please be nice, I have no idea what to do!
I’m very new to all of this. My father in law had chickens for a year or two so he is the only other source of info I have... he lives on our property and is always available.
We just got a flock of 26 birds- 22 hens, 1 rooster, and 3 ducks (1 drake). We bought them from friends of ours that are moving across the country, and they got them from a friend about a year ago. They told us they are all approximately 3-4 years old.
I have no idea what the conditions were like before we received them as I wasn’t there to bring them home, so I can’t say they had the best care or the worst.
My hubby, father in law, and I were sitting out by the chicken run/coop just watching the birds and I noticed one hen was just curled up in one of the nesting boxes. I thought it was strange but again, I’m new to this, and thought maybe she was just trying to work on laying an egg. A while later the thunder cracks and she starts squawking for 3-4 minutes and gets the rooster worked up. After her squawking episode she started coughing and it sounded very raspy. We were all concerned and we’re just watching to see if she was just having a moment or if it was serious. Then she suddenly coughed up blood, and what I though was a large blood clot (looked like a string). I was trying to get into the caged run area when another hen ate the string part. I have no idea if it was a worm, tissue, or something else.
She was very clearly deteriorating fast and stopped breathing quickly after. It was so sudden and I have no idea what happened. Is this something that can be contagious? We are currently 1 week into raising 11 baby chicks to have some younger birds in the mix. They are 100% separated and inside our home for now.
I really don’t want to lose this entire flock but there aren’t really any chicken vets in my area, and I really don’t want to lose the baby chicks if the coop area is contaminated. Do you guys have any ideas as to what this could be? What I can do?
Please be nice, I have no idea what to do!
