meeptastic
In the Brooder
Hello! I'm new to the forum and being a chicken mom, so my inexperience is causing me a lot of distress with my first two feathered children! I have two silver sebright sisters (about 1lb, 9 months old). I'm not even sure where to start with my problems... one bird, Beep, started limping a few months ago and we figured she injured herself because their roost was a bit too high, so I isolated her in a dog crate for 2 weeks and she seemed to recover. Both birds seemed to have bumblefoot but there is no redness or swelling, and when soaking/scab pulling, etc., there was nothing and it was very shallow, so I figured I was just crazy.
Fast forward about two months, and I noticed Beep had a very faint wheeze/gasping/rattling noise, like some kind of upper respiratory infection. I waited a few weeks and when it didn't get better, took her to a vet that sees exotics. He said the chickens don't have bumblefoot, and went with a Baytril dose, 0.1mL 1x day for 7 days. No change. He wants to charge $50 for each visit and $150 for a lab fee to see if it's viral, which I understand there's no treatment for anyway. So it's been almost 2 weeks and she still gasps when she's bent over eating, but they both act completely fine otherwise - good poops, eat like pigs, active, no discharge from eyes/nostrils. After browsing this site for even more hours, I started them both on Safeguard yesterday in case it's some kind of worm.
Both birds are very skinny even though only one has any sort of sick symptom - I'm at such a loss for what to do next! Is Beep's injury related to her wheeze? Why are both so skinny? Any advice would be much appreciated. If extra info is needed - they eat Dumor layer crumble, sometimes organic, sometimes the regular one. Their bedding is pine shavings, and they free range in the small yard a few hours a day. Also, the vet won't prescribe Ivermectin because the fecal float came back fine, even though that only detects parasites in the G.I. tract, right? Should I see a different vet? AH! I can't even narrow down if this is a virus, fungus, bacteria, parasite, or unicorn!!
(the bird with no symptoms is the one I'm holding upside down to show the prominent keel)
Fast forward about two months, and I noticed Beep had a very faint wheeze/gasping/rattling noise, like some kind of upper respiratory infection. I waited a few weeks and when it didn't get better, took her to a vet that sees exotics. He said the chickens don't have bumblefoot, and went with a Baytril dose, 0.1mL 1x day for 7 days. No change. He wants to charge $50 for each visit and $150 for a lab fee to see if it's viral, which I understand there's no treatment for anyway. So it's been almost 2 weeks and she still gasps when she's bent over eating, but they both act completely fine otherwise - good poops, eat like pigs, active, no discharge from eyes/nostrils. After browsing this site for even more hours, I started them both on Safeguard yesterday in case it's some kind of worm.
Both birds are very skinny even though only one has any sort of sick symptom - I'm at such a loss for what to do next! Is Beep's injury related to her wheeze? Why are both so skinny? Any advice would be much appreciated. If extra info is needed - they eat Dumor layer crumble, sometimes organic, sometimes the regular one. Their bedding is pine shavings, and they free range in the small yard a few hours a day. Also, the vet won't prescribe Ivermectin because the fecal float came back fine, even though that only detects parasites in the G.I. tract, right? Should I see a different vet? AH! I can't even narrow down if this is a virus, fungus, bacteria, parasite, or unicorn!!
(the bird with no symptoms is the one I'm holding upside down to show the prominent keel)
