[gingercloverbramble]

At night when I lock my 17 Black Rocks and 2 Speckled Stars up in their big hen house there seems to be a lot of kind of coughing noises?!!  Is this normal?  One particular hen makes a 'cough' noise when she is out and about but the others don't.  They are very very free range and all look healthy and happy whilst they are out and about during the day.  Don't think they seem to make the coughy noises during the day.  Does anyone have any advice? Do hens get coughs?!!  Should I be contacting the vet? Should I be concerned about my sons being around the hens?  We also have 12 ducks of mixed breeds which are also totally free range.  Concerned that this might be something which might affect our young ducks? Their hen house is very spacious and I cleaned it all out at the weekend and dusted diatamous powder around but these noises have been happening for at least a couple of weeks.  Please help!!..................

[dixie]

Have they been wormed? They need to be with flubenvet every 6 months. What bedding are you using? is it dusty? is there ventilation in their house?

[shetlandpaul]

the bedding what are you using. for that number a full clean out should not be needed every week just the messy bits. if your using saw dust it can cause that. i know it does to me when the wind blows it into my face. If you get it free make sure its not got any chemicals on it the horse stuff is the best but its expensive. the same with straw make sure its not dusty, try adding cider vinegar to there water it may help. watch and see how they are doing. what has changed in there environment recently. Defiantly worm them have you seen any bugs that your treating with the earth stuff. I know its well used but their symptom's started after you used it so leave that off and see if that improves. get them some seaweed based tonic and this may help them recover from any bugs. If any show that they are getting ill contact your vet. for them all to get an infection at one go could be very bad. we do have to watch out for the nastier bugs as well as the common sniffles.

[gingercloverbramble]

Thank you both for your helpful comments.  Have removed all the sawdust from the henhouse and will give the diat powder a miss for a while.  Gonna check out the tonics available too.  Many thank yous - it's great to have this facility here.  So good to be able to get some quick advice when you are concerned about something.   

[doganjo]

I think one of my ex batts may be egg bound.  She seems well enough in herself but walks funny and although she is drinking fine she is a bit picky with her food.  Tucks into the porridge but leaves the pellets.  Does anyone know if its treatable and if so how?

[jameslindsay]

Annie found this, hope its of some use

You can try two things - placing her in a warm, dim place where she can sit and relax. The key is to relax her muscles so she can pass the egg.

Or you can try standing her in a bowl of warm water, which she'll drop her vent/cloaca into, and this can help relax the muscles. I've heard this method can be pretty succesful, but please make sure you dry her off thoroughly before she goes back outside.

If neither of these work, you can go to a vet who may try to syringe out the contents of the egg, then remove the shell bit by bit. However, as soon as the egg breaks or is broken, her chances reduce dramaticaly as the chances of infection are high. So it is best to try to get her to pass the egg herself.

At the same time, this is a critical situation, to speed is of the essence.

[doganjo]

I don't know if this is what is wrong or not, but I've put her in a nice warm dry shed on her own with water and some warm porridge - she seems to prefer that to the pellets definitely.  I'll see how she is in the morning then may try the warm water treatment.  Thanks for that,James.

[Rosemary]

Black's Veterinary Dictionary says to give 2ml of liquid paraffin. If she is egg bound she will probably be straining to try and pass the egg.

A few of mine have been off-colour this week. I wormed them last two days and they seem better now. Might just be a bug going round.

[jameslindsay]

Annie - how is your girl today?

[doganjo]

She's still here.  Heavy breathing at times so im suspect that's her straining.  I had to go out this morning but gave her liquid paraffin about 3pm this afternoon.  Just off to the 'stop the night trains' meeting so will check her when i come back

[doganjo]

Well, she has recovered but I'm not convinced it was physical now.  I wonder if she is being bullied. They have been back together again for 2 whole days and suddenly today I heard a commotion and Jamie throwing his weight about. Went to watch for a while and one of the other ex-batts was sporadically going over to her and pecking at her comb.  Nothing else - just vehemently pecking her comb.  the others were ignoring it all but Jamie was going ballistic.  I've taken the offending hen away on her own - she's on the naughty step  and will try her back again tonight after they have all been out for a wander.  Strange behaviour - any ideas?