Chicken health advice from an avian vet! Topics include antibiotics, bumblefoot, euthanization, pain management, and scaly leg mites.
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All in Chicken Maladies
Crested Chickens, Vaulted Skulls, and Damaged Brains - Part 2: Crests, Vaults and Their Genetic Connection
When people think of Polish chickens, they think of those elaborate, beautiful crests. Most people don't realize that Polish chickens also have “vaulted skulls.” Vaulted skulls are misshapen, with a large knob or vault sticking up from the top. A misshapen skull results in a misshapen, unusual, “hourglass” shaped brain. Vaulted skulls are often filled with holes. The only thing protecting parts of the chicken’s brain is a bit of skin and some feathers. Thus, chickens with vaulted skulls are vulnerable to brain damage. What are the genetics behind crests and vaulted skulls? And are these two traits connected?
Crested Chickens, Vaulted Skulls, and Damaged Brains - Part 1: Polish Hens and The Genetics of Crests
The origin of Polish chickens and the genetics behind their crest.
Can I Catch Bird Flu From My Chickens? Will it Cause the Next Pandemic? (Flu - The Coop, part 3)
Bird flu has been marching across the US, destroying flocks in its wake. Since avian flu first appeared in the news this year, people have been wondering about how this disease relates to them. They have been asking: “Can I catch flu from my flu-infected chickens?” While this 2022 bird flu strain is less likely to infect people than strains seen in the past, the answer is definitely “Yes!” But, perhaps the more profound and important question people should be asking is, “Will bird flu cause the next human pandemic?”
Bird Flu 101 (Flu - The Coop, part 2)
Flu - The Coop, part 2. What is bird flu? Actually, what is any flu? And while we’re at it, what’s a virus?
Two Viruses: Thoughts on Bird Flu and Covid- (Flu - The Coop, part 1)
Flu - The Coop, part 1. The author falls prey to Covid and then writes about avian flu.
Feather Follicle Cysts in Chickens - Rafael Rooster Tries Life as a Unicorn
It looked like Rafael was trying to grow his own little unicorn horn. But he’d gotten confused and had grown it on entirely the wrong part of his body. It was actually a feather follicle cyst. Who knew?? Feather follicle cysts are a rare phenomenon in chickens.
What’s Killing Our Backyard Chickens? Part Two: Preventing the Preventable
A 2019 study showed that most of the diseases that cause our backyard birds to die are infectious diseases. Many of those diseases are preventable.
What’s Killing Our Backyard Chickens? Part One: The Top Six Causes of Death in the Backyard Coop
What are the main causes of death of our backyard chickens? The six top killers, determined by a scientific study on chickens in eight different states, may surprise you.
Marek’s Disease: 8 Questions - 8 Answers (Plus, The Scoop on Home Vaccination)
If Marek’s Disease strikes your flock there’s very little you can do except suffer as your sick chickens suffer, and end their suffering when it becomes severe. There is no cure. Thus, your best strategy is to prevent Marek’s from harming your flock in the first place. You can fight infection with biosecurity and prevent symptoms with vaccination.
Keeping Bad Bugs at Bay - What Keeping Chickens Can Teach About Staying Safe From COVID-19
Some of the main recommended practices for keeping our flocks safe can, with a few modifications, be good guidelines for protecting ourselves from the marauding coronavirus.
Why is Marissa’s Belly So Bloated? Recognizing and Dealing with Ascites in Hens
Something was wrong with Marissa! Her belly was blown up like an over-inflated basketball, she had lost interest in all the usual chicken activities and she spent all of her time standing in a quiet corner looking sad. Did she have ascites? How could I tell for sure? And how could I make this sweet little hen feel better?
Salmonella in Chickens – Why CDC Wants You to Stop Kissing Your Hens – And Why the CDC Suggestions Are Not Working
There’s an ongoing serious Salmonella outbreak occurring among folks who keep backyard chickens, and CDC’s best response is to continue to trot out essentially the same old list of impractical rules. Why is nobody working on eliminating Salmonella from chickens in general and backyard flocks in particular? In this post I suggest a strategy.
Curled Toe Paralysis in Chicks - Making Roz Right
This is the story of a lovable and tenacious Rhode Island Red chick named Roz, who entered this world crippled with curled toe paralysis—and then got better.
Chicken Frostbite
Ingredients for frostbite: Take one coop of chickens. Add one polar vortex event.
Virulent Newcastle Disease Can Kill Your Backyard Flock
In May of 2018, backyard chickens in Los Angeles County, California began to die – first in one backyard, then in another, then in many, many more. It was the beginning of the spread of a terrible scourge known as Virulent Newcastle Disease (vND), a contagious and deadly viral disease that affects birds. By January 2019, in spite of the heroic efforts by staff of the US Department of Agriculture and the California Department of Food and Agriculture, not only had vND found its way into large commercial flocks, it continued to spread through many, many more backyard flocks southern California.
Marek’s Disease – Six Things You Should Know
If Marek’s Disease strikes your flock there’s very little you can do except suffer as your sick chickens suffer, and end their suffering when it becomes severe. There is no cure. Thus, your best strategy is to prevent Marek’s from harming your flock in the first place.
Sour Crop and Flystrike: The Little Red Hen Gets Well
This is the saga of how one tenacious little red hen at death's door fought her way back to the land of the living. It is also the tale of my search for the needle of truth about a confusing chicken disease and its treatment in the haystack of conflicting information on the internet. Sometimes, in order to do the right thing for your sick chicken, you have to sift through a lot of hay, then grit your teeth and hope you’re grabbing the needle.
Baseball, Sick Chickens, and Love
A hen can go from normal to fly-blown in 24 hours, and can go from fly-blown to dead in an equally short period of time.