New hen Wheezing and Chirping

[Welsummer]

Hello all, this is the situation......
Last Friday I bought 3 hens from a sanctury, they are ex-battery, I am not sure how long they have been at the sanctury and if I had to guess I would say, one has been there less than a month (she has feathers missing, and is looking a little moth eaten) the other 2 have been there a while, they have super coats and look very healthy......altneratively that could be the other way around.......anyway, I noticed that one was chirping and didn't think anything of it. Then last night I let them out of their pen to have a wander before bedtime - first time they have been out of their run - at this point I should add that my flock are free farm/village/field range so that will be the plan for these new guys, to begin with I leave them out late for the last 20 - 30 minutes before they roost so they get used to going back to their coop, without straying too far and finding a bunk in a barn, dog shed, stable or tree. This chirpening bird I noticed was wheezing, and quiet. I caught her and put her back in, listening to her chest as I did so, which sounds rattley......since then I have been on the net and read about Gape worms, is this what she has? She is one of the healthy looking hens, all my other birds are wormed, should I worm them all again for gape? or just her coop (the 3)
I feel a bit stupid as I would do it automatically with new horses, dogs, cows, sheep and just didn't think about my little chickens.
Also, one of them has started to lay, today I cracked the egg open, the yolk was a pale yellow, the white cloudy with bits in it and the whole appearance unappetizing, I should add I am used to bright yellow/orange yolks and clear whites, I have taken a photo of the new egg compared to my free rangers. Question is, could this be another sign of an ill chook, or just a poor diet from before? All three are eating and drinking well. I have left a message at my vets, but thought other opinions may shed more light on the situation.
Many thanks.

 

[chrismahon]

Hi Welsummer. Ex-bats are very unlikely to have gapeworm. They would pick it up from free-ranging and I have never encountered a confirmed case yet. Most probable is the beginning of a respiratory infection. Could simply be dust in the coop bedding -we've had this, a clean out and fresh wood shavings and they are fine. It is also the first sign of the onset of a viral infection -IB or Myco, but that's unlikely as they haven't been exposed to other hens yet.

The yolk colour results from the diet. All but a few layers pellets colour the yolk with 3 permitted dyes. Naturally the colour can be obtained from grass, green veg or sweetcorn (maize). It takes 5 days or so of a new diet to affect the yolk colour. The cloudy white is most likely a product of battery intensive production on the hen's system-don't know if it will resolve. Until they have all settled down over the next month or so you won't know how they will be long term.

Hope this helps.

 

[Welsummer]

Thank you for your reply, yes it certainly does help!

I've never heard of the diseases or worms, never really given much thought to chickens before, just kept them clean, given fresh water/feed and got on with my life really. I've lost 4 in 4 years, and they've either died from what I have assumed have been natural causes, (in their sleep, found them dead the next morning, no signs of being ill previously) and some were over 5 years old, or the fox has had them because they have chosen to sit in a hedge overnight (this is not a good way to die, or acceptable, but it happens)......So this wheezing has been a little bit of a shock and its the fact that it could be something contagious.
Thanks for your comments on the battery/gape, my own birds are wormed, but I shall be looking into the art of keeping chickens (I have no idea how often to worm them etc). I should add at this point, that I am a professional horse trainer and also train and compete sheepdogs, its not like I am clueless person with regard to animals or their care, but boy do I feel it with chickens!
I've heard back from the vets and they are leaving me wormer and anti-biotics for the 3 new ones, where I had them from wasn't the cleanest of places, and they were locked in pretty much all day, I just feel a bit silly and sorry for this little hen, I hate anything being unwell, poor little thing. The coop is cleaned and shavings down daily, their is straw in the nesting boxes, it is ok for ventilation, but it is a small coop and so I open the back lid and place a mesh over the top for more air flow, whilst still keeping the chickens safe. She has been chirping since she arrived, I assume that stress can affect the respiritory system the same as any other animal?
Well, the health pills the vets prescribed should sort out this lady. I look forward to seeing her egg colour change over the next few weeks aswell.
Many thanks.

 

[chrismahon]

Can see you are well on top of it Welsummer. Flubenvet every 6 months but difficult to administer for free ranging as it has to be mixed into their only foodstuff to ensure they get a full dose. Forget Vermex -its just a herbal discouragement and ACV in the water effectively does nothing except stop them drinking. If the vet has something easier I'd use that.

 

[Chuck]

Chris is right, ex battery hens are unlikely to pick up gapeworm in their cages and in general they are not common in chicken anyway.

If you have successfully kept hens in a simple way and it has been successful, I would advise you to keep doing what you're doing. A little tweaking round the edges won't hurt but get too technical and even the enjoyment of keeping them goes out the window. The internet is a minefield and can be very misleading, especially in regard to illness.

 

[podstable]

----Flubenvet is also available already mixed into layers pellets ---MUCH easier to use and considerably cheaper too!

 

[Marigold]

Yes but only if you have enough hens to use up a large 10 or20 kilo sack in one go, as otherwise it will go out of date before the next time 6 months later.
In small quantities for a few hens it's really very easy to just mix what the hens will eat and then there's no waste and the birds don't have to adapt to a change of diet if you usually feed a different brand than Marriages.

 

[Welsummer]

With regard to the flubenvet every six months, is that over a period of days or just the one day? If it was for a period of days then I think that the in-feed option may work (I have 30 hens), do I need to waste the eggs over this time, or are they safe to eat?
Many thanks for all the advice
I'll update on the hens progress when the course of anti-bots is over, she seems brighter and not as much wheezing already, so fingers crossed.

 

[Chuck]

The is no withdrawal period with Flubenvet so you can eat the eggs.

 

[Marigold]

And they have to eat only treated pellets, no other goodies, for seven consecutive days, ideally in restricted conditions ie shut in a run so they don't fill up on stuff they have foraged rather than on pellets.
Yes if you have 30 hens a bag of treated pellets is the way to go. My 4 hens eat 500 grams of feed a day, so I prepare 4 kilos for them over 7 days as they eat more pellets than usual if they have nothing else. So for 30 hens you might need 2 X 20 kilo bags and might use about 30 kilos. If you check the dates carefully the remainder should still be in date in 6 months time.

 

[Marigold]

And they have to eat only treated pellets, no other goodies, for seven consecutive days, ideally in restricted conditions ie shut in a run so they don't fill up on stuff they have foraged rather than on pellets.
Yes if you have 30 hens a bag of treated pellets is the way to go. My 4 hens eat 500 grams of feed a day, ie, about 125 grams each per day) so I prepare 4 kilos for them over 7 days as they eat more pellets than usual if they have nothing else. So for 30 hens you might need 2 X 20 kilo bags and might use about 30 kilos. If you check the dates carefully the remainder should still be in date in 6 months time.