King County, Washington!

[sphinxface]

Yup! In bellevue. Im sure prices ghere are similar.

 

[ochochicas]

Just wanted to update you all - my boyfriend had a long phone conversation with Cory this morning. He was very helpful and understanding. He really thinks it's coccidiosis and not coryza. I'm not 100% convinced he's right about that, because the symptoms don't seem to point to that, but he is the professional so hopefully he's right! Plus I'm not 100% sure it's coryza either so I think it's worth a shot to continue trying to treat them. We bought Corid this morning and will be treating them with that. Cory also said we could bring the chickens back and exchange them for new ones or get a refund, or we can try to treat them with meds first to see if that works. He also said we could come out there and he'd give us Corid and immune boost free of charge, but we decided to buy it somewhere close to home because it's such a long drive out to Fall City.

Anyway, I just wanted to update everyone. I don't want to bash on Baxter Barn unnecessarily. I contemplated even bringing it up online because I didn't want to cause problems. But I think it's important reminder that these things happen...honestly, on the way home on day I picked them up, I contemplated only quarantining them for a few days (I'm a very impatient person). I was like "There's no way they could be sick!" (ugh). I feel so stupid for even considering that and I'm SO glad I did keep them quarantined.

I'll let you guys know how the treatment goes over the next couple weeks. Thanks again for all your support and helpful info!

I'm so sorry you had this horrible experience.

Coccidia and Coryza would have totally different symptons. With coccidia they usually will have runny poop, often times bloody looking. They will be lethargic, puffed up, not want to eat, and will go down hill very quickly. Without treatment chicks will die in a matter of a day or two.

Coryza is a respiratory disease. Birds will have sneezing, coughing, puffy face around the eyes, and often times discharge from the eye or nostrils. IMO there is not way to get the two confused.

How old are your chicks?

 

[poppyflock]

@ochochicas they're about 14 weeks old. And I agree that the symptoms of the two diseases seem very different which was why I was skeptical about them having coccidiosis. However the owner of Baxter barn said he's seem coccidiosis manifest in many different ways besides just the typical symptoms. We've been giving them Corid for about a week now and they do seem more energetic and less lethargic looking. One of them still has foamy yellow diarrhea though.

They've had an array of symptoms, from rattling breath sounds, clear nasal discharge, lethargy, funky smell, one droopy eyelid, bloody diarrhea (just a couple times that I noticed, and not a ton of blood), and most recently the yellow foamy diarrhea. The breath sounds and nasal discharge only lasted a day or two though. And I think the bad smell was coming from their poop (it's particularly stinky) rather than their mouth/nose area. So I'm just not sure what's going on. Hopefully we keep seeing improvement!

 

[LuvMyHens2016]

Is this thread still active?! New to backyard chickens! Maple valley area...

 

[culturalinfidel]

Bumping an old thread. We live just north of Seattle and were thinking about going to Baxter Barn for chicks but now I am concerned with what I have read. Has anyone used them since July?

 

[NWchickenherder]

Hi @culturalinfidel ! No, I do not think you have anything to worry about if you source some chicks through Baxter Barn. I think it's fair to summarize the discussion on Baxter Barn as being more related to level of customer service as well as the health of chicks/pullets, which I do not believe to be significantly better or worse than other sources in our area. I think it may be fair to say that Baxter Barn is going to give you a lot more variety/choices in breeds, but at a slightly higher cost. And these chicks are no more special that the ones that will soon be arriving at a variety of feed stores around the area (Portage Bay Grange, Bothell Feed Center, KIS Farm, Issaquah Grange, First Fruits Feed, Tractor Supply Co. etc.).

So to answer your question asking if anyone has used them since July, I did get another pullet from Baxter Barn in September because an earlier pullet I purchased turned out to be a rooster! But they were great about it and with no questions asked they gave me a free replacement pullet even though it had been over 2 months since my original pullet (i.e. rooster) purchase. And this replacement pullet has been awesome with no issues (other than escaping on the first day, but that's all on me...)

So the upshot is I wouldn't be too concerned with any chicks you'd being getting from Baxter Barn. It'll really come down to a bit of luck and just taking good care of them once you have them.

 

[ochochicas]

A friend of my neighbor got some pullets last month and they started to die almost immediately. Before death they had stumbling, leg paralysis, unable to walk and couldn't roost anymore. They have Marek's. I asked where they came from, and it was Baxter Barn. Owning birds has its risks and it can happen to anyone,but people should be warned about places selling disease ridden birds. My neighbor's friend said she wishes someone would have warned her before she spent a large amount of money on POL birds and "special" feed just to have half of them die in the first month after getting them. It is a very dishonest way to run a business.

 

[poppyflock]

@ochochicas - that's such a bummer to hear about your friend's pullets. One of our two sick pullets did get much sicker and died. We sent the carcass to the WSU Avian Lab and it was confirmed to be Marek's. She also tested positive for MS and MG, which the lab manager said is common with Marek's due to a lowered immune system. I did contact the owner of Baxter Barn to let him know the results of the tests. I don't want to rip on Baxter Barn as I know many people have had really good experiences with them, but from here on out I'll only be buying day-old chicks as it seems riskier to get older birds who've been exposed to more pathogens. I'm fairly certain they were sick the day I picked them up from BB as I noticed they both had watery looking eyes before I left their facility. They just didn't look well - and I noticed the respiratory symptoms as soon as I got them home.

@culturalinfidel - You probably already bought chicks (sorry, I didn't see any posts on here til today!), so hopefully they're happy and healthy, where ever they're from! If you haven't - from *my* experience I would not get chicks at BB, but that's just me. Like I said, lots of people have healthy birds from BB. My other chicks were from Bothell Feed Center and we've had no problems at all with them (except an accidental rooster). Anyway, hope things are going well for everyone.

 

[ochochicas]

I'm sorry your pullet ended up dying.

At least you didn't lose them all! I'm pretty sure BB gets calls weekly about sick birds and Marek's. He does only order vaccinated chicks, but that doesn't do any good if they are exposed to the virus as soon as they get to his place. It take weeks for the chicks to develop good immunity to the virus, so if they are being bombarded by it at 3 or 4 days old they don't stand much of a chance.

I hope your flock stays healthy from now on!

 

[culturalinfidel]

@culturalinfidel - You probably already bought chicks (sorry, I didn't see any posts on here til today!), so hopefully they're happy and healthy, where ever they're from! If you haven't - from *my* experience I would not get chicks at BB, but that's just me. Like I said, lots of people have healthy birds from BB. My other chicks were from Bothell Feed Center and we've had no problems at all with them (except an accidental rooster). Anyway, hope things are going well for everyone.

@poppyflock We did pick up our chicks back in February from BB. We wanted 5 but ended up with 7 as he was nervous about two of them due to size and how they were acting in the cage with the others. 3EE/3RIR/1BO. One of the EE and the BO were the runts. The BO did not make it through the night, I think the stress/shock was too much for her. All of the others are good and healthy! Feathering out quite nicely and starting to realize that I am the bringer of food and drink. Until now they have been sketched out by me but are coming around. Our new hen house should be finished by end of month and these ladies will get a new, much bigger, home for them and their older counterparts.