My husband picked up a Bluebell hen last weekend from a breeder. We were told it was
fully vaccinated and would be fine to put in with our existing flock of ex batts, pure breeds and hybrids. We only put the hen in with our others for 2 nights but kept her separate in the day with 2 other hens we had bought from the same place. However by Monday it was obvious the Bluebell hen was sick as it had nasal discharge, was all fluffed up and just not well at all.
My husband took the hen back the next day and also returned the 2 other hens we had bought from the same place as we were worried they could all have something wrong with them. We had hoped we had returned them before our own hens could have caught anything, however 3 of our pure breeds have now got sick and our vet seems to think it's not Myco as we first suspected but something called Fowl Coryza.
We are very concerned at how this is going to affect our flock as one of girls is very ill. Also very unsure what to do about the place we bought the hen from as she was just pulled out of a pen of about 30 other Bluebells and when we returned the 3 girls it was made clear that they would be treated, but it seems this is not a condition that is easily treated. So in theory this place could be selling hens to people who think they are getting healthy hens and could be bringing a nasty illness into their flocks and losing girls.
I might add that we didn't even get all the money back that we paid for the hens and despite emailing them I have heard nothing. When my husband did manage to speak to someone there they said the hen we returned was treated with Baytril and is now fine and they have never heard of Coryza and they have basically washed their hands of it.
I know it's possible for stress to bring out illnesses in existing flocks, but this is not the first time we have bought new hens and we have never had a problem with any of our hens getting sick before this, so I don't think it's from some underlying problem that they had.
I am just very upset and wish there was something I could do to make my girls well
Modified by moderator to remove breeder and location - Casey76