Newsletter: A Mysterious Sickness

After tragedy hits 5 chickens, Miel, daughter of a victim, became very ill. One night after coming home very late, the Stewart family walked into the chicken coop to count the chickens. They heard gurgling noises. Startled, they ran to get a flash-light. After more investigation they realized it was Miel, the daughter of one of the dead victims, Soul Sister.

Miel's mother and 5 other chickens were the victims of a dog attack 4 days before: massacared by the Stewart's family dog while they were away for the afternoon. Since they were away, it wasn't until some hours later that the Stewarts got a call from a neighbor saying there were a couple chickens laying dead on their yard. Of course the Stewarts rushed home as quickly as they could. Sadly, by the time they got home, the 5 chickens where dead. Maybe Miel's sickness could be because of stress from this event.

When Miel got sick, the Stewarts were very afraid that they would loose another. So they separated Miel from the other chickens in case she was contagious and gave her medicine in her water.

They kept that up and 2 days later Miel was better. The Stewart family had no idea what this sickness was but will continue to investigate.

I was lucky enough to have an interview with the dad in the Stewart family and he said that Miel could have been injured during the attack, but he is not certain. I also did some research. I didn't find a sickness that included all of Miel's symptoms but I did find something called Newcastle Disease. Newcastle has similar symptoms, but spreads quickly throughout flocks. Miel's sickness did not spread. Even though Miel is better, the mystery continues.