And the verdict is...

Infectious synovitis. Yep, that is what my chicks have. How did I figure this out, you ask? Well...I arrived home at the end of a busy week, shucked off some gear indoors, and headed out to collect eggs (three today) and check on the chicks. It is a bit wild out there this evening, gale force winds, snow and howling banshee noises everywhere. But when I popped into the shed, I was met with a very odd noise, kind of like: "gurgle hiss gurgle hiss gurgle hiss". After thinking, what the heck IS that? I realized, omigosh it is breathing. Oh yes, not only do a couple more of my chicks have swollen feet, joints and gimpy wingettes, now a good half dozen are sneezing and percolating when they breathe. Thank the Chicken Gods for the Chicken Health Handbook, which led me to realize that my initial diagnosis of Viral Arthritis was in actuality the first onset symptoms of a much worse disease. Oh yay. But, it is treatable! Can we say "light at end of tunnel", folks? After researching on-line to figure out actual brand names of generic water soluble antibiotics, and a quick phone call to Fleet Farm, I was back in my car headed south like a bat outta hell. No, I didn't get pulled over. I think the police are all hiding indoors from the weather. I grabbed three packets of drugs, got some advice from a farmer or two, picked up a milk house broom and dairy strength bleach (for post-chick cleansing of the shed, as this bug will attack any other poultry in the vicinity for a looooong while), and I was back in the car and whipped home. I swear, it was like something out of an end of the world movie--branches flying down onto the road in front of me, leaves and hard things whacking into the side of the car, pelting snow. But I made it home, mixed up a batch of antibiotic-laced water, and hauled it out to the shed. The chicks were all still alive, a few not so cheerfully so. I forced the worst looking ones over to the waterer and made them drink, endured the horrible gurgle-hiss of agitated sickly chicks, and actually managed to close the door which the wind was trying to rip out of my fingers. I don't know how many will be alive in the morning, but I tried. The good news is, any survivors that make it to butchering time will be edible and non-toxic to humans. The bad news is, anyone hoping for all natural chicken is out of luck with this round. I discovered in my frenzied research that it is likely, given the onset of the disease, that these chicks were exposed to the nasty ol' bacteria either in the hatchery or at the breeder farm where the eggs were laid. I emailed the hatchery to ask if they had any idea about this disease--I am going to bet that they have heard from other folks with the same hatch date about this same issue. Or if they haven't, they will. Poor little things! It is so sad to see a chick that can't breathe. And who knew this would happen?? I feel awful.