[Silkychicks]

Hello everone,

Surfing the net because of one of my chickens I found this site: great!! So much scharing and information!

(btw: English is not my first language so if I am saying things te wrong way so you don't understand, please let me know and I will do my best to rephrase).

I have a question: One of my silkie's (4 or 5 months old) seems to have a breating problem.
One can only see it when she lies down: her whole body goes in and out, like she is working really hard.
Her beak is never opened to support her breathing.
Beside that: all over the run (outside pen?) there are small white feathers, which are her's because the other silky is black.

She is a very active, curious chicken with a good appetite and she drinks her water through the day. Allthough her behaviour seems a bit peculiar once every while, (she runs trough the run, challenges the other chicken te same way a puppy-dog does, she doesn't understand how to 'scrape te soil' and does not seem to know what she is pecking at in the soil  ) she seems very happy.

Still, things added up, I do worry a bit 

Today I changed the 'layer in the pen' where they sleep from straw with woodchips for small animals to 'hemp-bits'.
(they refuse to sleep on a stick (roost?))

I really hope someone can shine a light on what is going on 

Thank you very much!
Esther

[ANHBUC]

Hi Esther and welcome to the site.  Sorry one of your hens is showing signs of being unwell.

You have said you have been using straw which could have caused a respiratory infection.  The straw can get mould spores on it which is not good.  There are several different respiratory infections and there is some information on this site for you to read -

http://www.barnyardhealth.com/resinindompo.html

Her other behaviour is probably her playing, my young birds like to challenge each other.  If she was hatched in an incubator sometimes they don't learn things like scratching and what they are pecking at like they would from a broody hen.  She will probably learn from your other hens.  Feather loss when they are young is common, as they mature they lose and replace feathers quite a lot.

Your English is very good.   

Other members might have further information for you especially if they keep silkies.   

[joyfull]

yes the feathers will be because she is going through a partial moult so don't worry about that.
See if her breathing improves now that you are changing her bedding, if not then you need to see what is causing her to breath heavily.
Does your chicken coop have adequate ventilation?
Has she been wormed recently? If so what with? Most of us on here use Flubenvet as it works on all types of worms and you can buy it in powder that you mix with their food or buy layers pellets with the flubenvet already in it.
Does her chest sound rattly when she breaths? If so she will need to visit a vet for some antibiotics.

Welcome by the way and yes your English is very good 

[Silkychicks]

Thank you so much for your replies and the link: very interesting to read. And Scary!! 

I am not sure they have been wormed: I bought them from a breeder 3 or 4 weeks ago and assumed he would have taken care of this. I will contact him.
Her breating doesn't sound rattling from nearby when I am in the run, but I will pick her up and hold my ear against her chest. That will probably tell me more.
About the ventilation: When I bought the pen I thought the 'nightbit' was to open for the weather: the place they came from was very 'sheltered', but with me they are in the garden. The day I got them we started to have wind chill's -10 degrees Celcius so I hung a teatowel in front of their entrance. Maybe I should remove this? There is a little door on the side: when it gets warmer, do you think I should open this for some extra fresh air?
I will try to attach a foto so you can see the pen. (the blankets are because the wind chill, which is over now so they are gone).

I am glad to hear she is playing it does look like it but I have never seen this before with chickens. She makes me laugh all the time.
As soon as I open the back door she rUns towards me, tripping over everything she should have noticed being there but didn't and this includes the other chicken! 
When I get into the run at 'bedtime' she hops on top of my shoes and sits there all cosy and comfortable
Because she is so active I put things in the run for her to jump on top and peck at so she doesn't get bored.

I would hate it when things would go wrong just because I didn't do the right thing. I grew very attached to her over te past few weeks 

What if I lift it over the weekend and if things don't improve I can take her to the vet, or should I give her a week's time to recover?

(My attachment is too (to?) large: I tried to make it smaler, but this wasn't enough..)

[Sassy]

It may be that she is breathing heavily when lying relaxed. I have seen my hens do this and at first thought there was a problem when in fact there wasn't and it is normal behaviour. However, you cannot assume this is the answer and need to remain watchful.

It would help if you could post a picture of their coop. A well designed coop should have enough ventilation if it is not over crowded even when it is all shut up.

Good luck

[Silkychicks]

Thank you Sassy,

I listened to her breathing yesterday and heard nothing. I hope it is nothing but will keep my attention to her.

Unfortunately I found something else: Every moning after feeding I pick the poo out of their pen, where they sleep and found poo with some red 'threads' through it. It looked like blood.

They will both be visiting te vet on monday. I have been sitting at the run for about an hour to see who's it was (can you both please poo?  ) but the poo's looked fine allthough Truus's (the white one) bum looks a bit poo-ie. Still it seems safer to me to take them both. I spoke to the breeder (is it breeder or is that just for plants?) they wheren't vaccinated or wormed.

Because of the heavy rains the last few days they both look a bit muddy and messy.. It was very dry here and because the soil is heavy clay, when it rains hard the water just 'wanders' to other places so the bottom of their run is wet and sticky.
For some reason it doesn't give a healthy impression like it would do with a muddy kid

This is a link to a Belgian gardening-site where I am active and there are some foto's of the pen and the hens. My picktures are to big for this website.
http://www.mijntuin.org/garden/18978/albums/2331

[ANHBUC]

Chickens shed parts of their intestinal lining which is quite normal.  Have a look at some of the pictures on here
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=17568.0 
it will help you to identify the difference between intestinal lining and worms.

Over here we use Stalosan F on soil in chicken run, here is some info
"Broad spectrum hygiene powder, destroys worm eggs, coccidial oocysts, fly eggs and larvae. Anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral. Highly absorbent and will help to reduce the ammonia smell created by the chicken's droppings."

For worming we use Flubenvet powder to add to feed or feed that already has it added.  Info
"Flubenvet Medicated Premixture is effective against gapeworm, large roundworm, caecal worm, hairworm, and gizzard worm in chickens, turkeys, and geese. Activity includes adult worms, larvae and eggs."

You will be able to check with your vet to see what is available and licensed in your Country for poultry.

Prom your photo the coop looks like one I used before.  The ventilation was not good on it so I used to leave the coop door that leads into the secure run open at night.  I know it is much colder over there but they do have a feather duvet to keep them warm.  We have had -10 degrees this winter and have bantams that roost in the rafters of our covered walk in run. 

I hope the information helps Ester.   

[Silkychicks]

Thank you ANHBUC,

I thought I posted a reply yesterday but I must have done something wrong.

Very usefull information, especially the broad spectrum soil. I will get in touch with my vet: he actually a 'farm-animal vet' who does small pets on the side (like my cat).

I did compare the poos but could not really find a picture that looked like the poo I found in the pen. Today all poos where fine..
The sun was shining from midday and they look much better without the mud 

The first day I got an answer to my post I removed the teatowel from the entrance and the pen does smell better: it doesn't smell anymore  so I think I closed it down too much.

Learning every day 

As soon as they go in I will drag a big peace of whire fence under their pen: a neighbour spotted a fox! So tomorrow I can burry this and they will be safe tonight..

[ANHBUC]

Make sure the fencing is welded mesh which is stronger than chicken wire which a fox can chew through.

Good luck at the vets.

[Silkychicks]

.. Yes I will have to find something we call 'concrete wire' but with small holes: otherwise the marten will be able to get through.

I was actually very surprised to hear about a fox: you don't normally see them around here but in some cities the martens are quite a pest. I haven't seen any here yet, but you never know.

Thanks, I have good comfort there isn't anyting badly wrong, but since they have to be vaccinated anyway it will be good to let him have a look at them.

I will post the result 

[ANHBUC]

If it is the same as over here they can only be vacinated at day old. 

[Silkychicks]

I'm sorry I don't know what you mean..

Can they only be vaccinated when they are one day old??

... then they are so tiny  :blink:

[ANHBUC]

Yes, so they are protected straight away.  I don't think the vacine works after they may have been exposed to infection.   

[Sassy]

Prom your photo the coop looks like one I used before.  The ventilation was not good on it so I used to leave the coop door that leads into the secure run open at night.  I know it is much colder over there but they do have a feather duvet to keep them warm.  We have had -10 degrees this winter and have bantams that roost in the rafters of our covered walk in run. 

I hope the information helps Ester.   

A week ago I was at Tan Hill public house - the highest pub in England - it was like being on top of the world . It was snowing on top of the snow drifts and was exceptionally cold and very windy. There were chickens including bantams everywhere all quite happy and not bothering to shelter!

[Silkychicks]

Hello Sassy,
 my parents used to have chickens and they did'nt have a coop/pen. They where allways outside even at night: the flew into our chestnut tree for sleeping. When it would get really really cold at night we would often, in the mornig, find one or 2 frozen at the bottem of the tree.
At night we would try and 'shoo' the whole group into the barn for their own safety with this kind of weather but they would get out again to return to their chestnut tree

The situation now was very different because I picked them up from the breeder where they were very well sheltered, no wind, no wet soil or grass, about 6 of them together in each coop to keep each other warm ... And then I put them in my garden, on the freezing ground, with -15 windchills.. At the start I had them seperated during the day because the black one would severely attack the white one..

The youngest one was standing shaking and before that she tried to crouch under the other chicken, which I interpretated as being cold, but maybe I was wrong.

I don't think I will need to go through any trouble when winter starts this year exept from keeping them out of the rain because of their open feathers.

I do agree to let your chickens adapt to the climate they live in otherwise they will be needing a warm blanket soon!!