Sick Birds

[brandonincambodia]

I live in Cambodia but find this site more helpful than anything I can find here.

My chickens and turkeys are getting sick and die. There seems no symptoms other than getting "lazy" and dieing. Eyes, feathers, eating and everything else seem normal and when its hot all all the birds are lying down I can't pick the sick birds from the healthy but when I walk towards them the healthy birds jump up and run away quickly and the sick ones wait longer to move and back to laying down more quickly. It seems to get young and old birds the same. From when I notice them getting "lazy" to death is several days. All my birds are free range and have had them for years but it has just been since the rains started this year that I have had birds die. I have ducks and they all seem fine. This is the first disease problem I have had with my birds so not sure what else would help figure this out but I see no symptoms other and they seem to be breathing and doing everything else normally other than running around. I am not sure that the ducks aren't affected at all but I have over 50 and have not seen a problem, where as I have probably lost 1/3 of my chickens and turkeys.

Let me know if there are more clues which I should look for or if there are any guesses on what this could be or what I should do.

Thank you

[Suradit69]

I saw this rather old reference to avian diseases in Cambodia that included a couple of phone numbers that might be useful, assuming the "hotlines" are still operating.

Avian influenza shares similar clinical signs with Newcastle Disease and fowl cholera, so that DAHP and FAO have been encouraging poultry keepers and farm owners to report sudden, high and spreading mortality in their poultry immediately to the hotline (012 833 795 or 012 214 970) or if they do not have access to telephone, to their village animal health workers, village chiefs, district or provincial veterinary officer.

[brandonincambodia]

I saw this rather old reference to avian diseases in Cambodia that included a couple of phone numbers that might be useful, assuming the "hotlines" are still operating.

Avian influenza shares similar clinical signs with Newcastle Disease and fowl cholera, so that DAHP and FAO have been encouraging poultry keepers and farm owners to report sudden, high and spreading mortality in their poultry immediately to the hotline (012 833 795 or 012 214 970) or if they do not have access to telephone, to their village animal health workers, village chiefs, district or provincial veterinary officer.

Thank you for the reply,

I don't think its influenza as they seem to breath just fine. There is no nasal discharge or coughing. I think the best clue is that it kills the chickens and turkeys but not the ducks (though that could just be luck or the rain weakening the other birds more than the ducks but I think its more than that).

[glegolo]

You should report this, more for the others sake than your own... You might have some shit within your animals at your farm, and to spread this around the area is not a nice thing to do.

Report it immidiately to the Gouverment of Cambodja or nearest town or whatever place suitable.

Glegolo

[brandonincambodia]

You should report this, more for the others sake than your own... You might have some shit within your animals at your farm, and to spread this around the area is not a nice thing to do.

Report it immidiately to the Gouverment of Cambodja or nearest town or whatever place suitable.

Glegolo

I totally agree, and if there was a vet that new anything around me I would bring them up. Elections just happened and I live far from any city and this is Cambodia where everyone thinks in 20 years they could be as good of farmers as Thailand is now. This is the same place that told parents on the radio that if you kid was getting the mystery disease to mix honey in Redbull. Siem Reap is about 4 hours and Phnom Phen is about 7 hours from my farm so WHO aren't likely to come out as when I talk to the locals they all say "yes, raining season the chickens die", so I don't think what I have is anything new or unusual, I am just less willing to write off chickens dieing as the normal way.

[brandonincambodia]

I have just been told that 1/3 loss of birds in the wet season is "normal" in Cambodia. Can chickens just not handle being wet or the the wetness allow a disease to spread?

[IsaanAussie]

Sorry to impose but today I read a report that indicates bird flu may now have mutated so it is human to human transferrable. It may not be the cause of your chickens death, but please be careful.

[tw25rw]

I have just been told that 1/3 loss of birds in the wet season is "normal" in Cambodia. Can chickens just not handle being wet or the the wetness allow a disease to spread?

Chickens originated in south east Asia and millions are domesticated there, so they should be ok with the climate.

[bina]

mites? = anemia... check their legs, faces etc for different mites/ticks... go in to sites from cornell and in the state univfersities (idaho ithink has a good poultry site, but i cant remember) for poultry they might have some ideas...

do u dust them or ivermectin them?

worming?

feet rot?

do other farmers have the same thing? do they live near you? food issues (spoilage/rotten food from wet /humidity)?

are your breeds native or imported? age specific? (only young ones= means disease that causes immunity in the older ones that survive for instance)... what about outbreaks of cocidiosis? or other?

check their vents/nostrils/combes,feet... photos... are their crops full/empty?

etc...

have u opened any up to do a post mortem check of things? u could photo and do an internet consult maybe?

im on a backyard poultry site in the states cause i have pet chickens (including thai fighting cocks) and although they are sometimes OVER THE TOP (hens in diapes, i know, wierdos), they also have lots of professional growers, and good diagnostics, and they are a lot of homesteaders so they are used to not having access to vets/meds etc... try them : backyard chickens... go to the sick/behavior problems section... read through... there is a separate duck/geese section also...

i see that many overseas folks that dont have vet access, use them ..

[brandonincambodia]

mites? = anemia... check their legs, faces etc for different mites/ticks... go in to sites from cornell and in the state univfersities (idaho ithink has a good poultry site, but i cant remember) for poultry they might have some ideas...

do u dust them or ivermectin them?

worming?

feet rot?

do other farmers have the same thing? do they live near you? food issues (spoilage/rotten food from wet /humidity)?

are your breeds native or imported? age specific? (only young ones= means disease that causes immunity in the older ones that survive for instance)... what about outbreaks of cocidiosis? or other?

check their vents/nostrils/combes,feet... photos... are their crops full/empty?

etc...

have u opened any up to do a post mortem check of things? u could photo and do an internet consult maybe?

im on a backyard poultry site in the states cause i have pet chickens (including thai fighting cocks) and although they are sometimes OVER THE TOP (hens in diapes, i know, wierdos), they also have lots of professional growers, and good diagnostics, and they are a lot of homesteaders so they are used to not having access to vets/meds etc... try them : backyard chickens... go to the sick/behavior problems section... read through... there is a separate duck/geese section also...

i see that many overseas folks that dont have vet access, use them ..

Thank you, I will try the question on the backyard poultry site.

I have not cut one open but from the outside they look fine. Their feet, feathers, eyes, face look normal. When I hold a sick one and healthy one together they look the same. Its only when I put them down the healthy one will run around for most the day and the sick one lays down unless it gets really scared or needs to move to eat and drink (which they do right until the die). There is no feces at the back, nothing I can see from the outside.

All ages seem to be effected the same. They are free range with the ducks and so share the same water and food but it is possible the ducks are avoiding or not susceptible to something the chickens are eating. Duck and geese are still fine but chickens and turkeys have the problem. I would just kill them all and start over but the Cambodian farmers tell me its just what happens when it rains so I am guessing that the disease they get hits them when its cool and moist or there is something poisons during the raining season. "Ducks are strong and like water" is what they tell me but as the chickens have dry shelter available all the time I feel that disease is most likely as they were fine before (which makes me doubt its diet or toxins). I asked about vaccinating them and everyone told me there was no reason because chickens are cheap and medicine is expensive. Again this is Cambodia, where they said on the radio that sick kids should drink redbull mixed with honey and the provincial hospital in Kompong Thom told a high-school to cut down the trees at the high school when a student fainted and others said they felt weak because the doctors thought the trees were taking up to much oxygen so finding people that know about chicken disease where I am is a bit tough.

Almost every farmer has chickens and over 60% of the working population are farmers and we still import chicken meat and eggs from Thailand and it looks like I might be doing the same.

Again, thanks, I will follow your suggestion,

Brandon