In 2023 I started raising bantam cochin chickens, which are my favorite chicken breed to keep and the only poultry I currently have. They are very round, very fluffy, and very docile (to humans)—small and petite, with usable sized eggs, they have a lot of gorgeous colors to choose from and their bowling-ball-with-legs stature really make them hilarious to watch. Now that I have had a full generation from egg to egg, I decided to put together a simple guide for those who are looking to keep them.
As a disclaimer, please note that since my blog is homesteading related, references to keeping poultry—including chickens—for eggs and meat will be common. This will not be the guide for keeping them as housepets, and if you are fundamentally opposed to utility keeping, it likely will not be relevant for you.
With that said, read on if you are looking for information on:
- History of Bantam Cochin/Pekin Chickens
- Incubating Chicken Eggs
- Brooding Bantam Cochin/Pekin Chicks
- Housing and Predator Proofing
- Feeding and Watering
- Overwintering Bantam Cochins in Northern Climates
- Reducing Heat Stress In The Summer
- Sexing Bantam Cochin/Pekin Chickens
- Why Are My Chickens Not Laying?
History of Bantam Cochin/Pekin Bantam Chickens
Bantam Cochins, sometimes known as Pekin Bantams in the UK, are a breed of small sized chickens (Gallus domesticus) believed to have come from the city of Peking (Beijing) and brought over to Britain in the 1800’s where it became an exhibition breed. There is some confusion on the naming schematic because a large fowl Cochin breed exists, but is not a recognized large variety of the Pekin Bantam in the UK where they are considered true bantams (where they do not have a corresponding full sized version.) Standards of perfection for show also differ depending on country, there are some differences between what a bantam cochin should look like in the UK and what they should look like in the US. For the purposes of my blog, I will be referring to them as cochins.
Physically they are quite round, with fluffy feathered feet, and their bodies are tilted forward with their heads slightly lower than their tails, with a full rump that gives them their irresistible shape. They come in many beautiful colors with more being developed every year, which is one of the reasons I like them so much. My current flock contains mille/calico, bobtail (frizzled and smooth), black, and lemon blue splash.
Since they are a bantam and an exhibition breed, they lay smaller sized eggs than the ones we’re used to in the supermarket, and not as often. My birds lay between 3 and 5 eggs each a each from late spring until the fall. Bantam cochins take longer to come into lay as well, often taking 25 weeks+ in comparison to production birds that may lay at 16+. They also tend to go broody easily—which is when they stop laying to sit on a nest and incubate the eggs. However, because they are small, you can keep a lot more of them in the same amount of space as standard sized birds which makes up for the lower amount of eggs they produce.
Personality wise, they are a docile breed although heavily food motivated, making them easy to tame. They can be quite stubborn and strong willed and are considered more prone to being pushy than being pushed so should be kept with similar sized and temperament birds.
Incubating Bantam Cochin Eggs
In general, I do not recommend allowing hens to hatch their own eggs (or adopting chicks) as there are a lot of variables to a hen successfully hatching and then rearing the chicks to adulthood, and hen reared chicks have a higher mortality rate. Some quit halfway or get spooked off their nest, some aren’t good at covering all the eggs and heating them evenly, and some only like the sitting-on-the-egg part and kill the chicks that hatch, and some aren’t good at keeping the chicks warm enough leading to them getting chilled and dying. Brooding is also hard on the hen’s body, as she will sit up to 23 hours a day foregoing food and water, which increases the chance of death due to starvation, disease, and parasites. Likewise, the chicks are exposed to bacteria, parasites, and diseases early, sometimes before their immune systems are fully ready to fight them off which could lead to sickness and death. There is a school of thought that believes it produces stronger and heartier chicks by way of natural selection, but if you would prefer to maximize the number of chicks that make it to adulthood, you should incubate and brood them yourself.
If you insist on allowing a hen to incubate and brood her own eggs, it is important to make sure she is fully walled off from the other chickens and have food and water close by, until the chicks are about 4 weeks old. This way the other chickens don’t lay eggs in the same nest while the hen is brooding (leading to a staggered hatch), and don’t harass and kill the chicks. One of the few advantages of a hen raising the chicks is that once you remove the barrier, the integration process is smoother as the hen will prevent the other birds from picking on her chicks as much. You should still have a backup incubator and brooder, in case your hen abandons the eggs or the chicks.
For incubating the eggs yourself, I have included all the steps to doing so below.
First, choose an incubator. I use an HBLife with the auto turner and have had great success with them and isn’t very expensive to purchase. Manna Pro and Brinsea (7 Egg, 24 Egg) are two other popular options, although they come in at a higher price point. It is always a good idea to purchase two, in case one breaks during incubation.
Temperature: Depending on the type of incubator you get, the temperature setting will be different. Forced air incubators have fans moving the air around whereas still air does not. While slightly higher or lower temperatures will usually only affect incubation times, large temperature fluctuations may cause deformities and/or deaths, so a surge protector is recommended during incubation. A UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) is also a good idea in the event of a power outage.
Still Air Temperature: 102 degrees Fahrenheit (38.8 degrees Celsius)
Forced Air Temperature: 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit (37.5 degrees Celsius) – 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit (38.05 degrees Celsius)
Humidity: Humidity is important during incubation and hatching as it controls the moisture loss in the eggs. The larger the surface area of the water source, the higher the humidity will be. Too high and the chicks may drown in the eggs, too low and they are at risk of being shrink wrapped.
Humidity: While most guides say that between 35 – 55% relative humidity for the first 14 days, and 55%-70% the last 3 days of incubation is standard, I find that dry hatching (where you do not add water to the incubator) bantam cochins when the ambient humidity is higher than 30% results in a higher hatch rates and less stress for me.
Egg Turning: If you don’t have an automatic egg turner, you should turn the eggs a minimum of 3 times per day, although 5 times is best for the first 17 days. Stop turning the last 3 days to prevent pipping at the wrong side. It should always be an odd number, so that it is resting on a different side every night. Marking with a pencil and keeping a notepad handy helps you remember which side it should be on. Not turning the eggs can result in deformities and death since the function of turning is to allow oxygen to diffuse evenly throughout the egg.
How to incubate: If you purchased eggs and they were shipped to you, you should let the eggs rest pointed side down (air cell up) for at least 24 hours before you incubate. Throw away any that look cracked since bacteria will have made their way inside, although you can use melted candle wax to seal the cracks to give them a chance. If you collect eggs from your own birds, store them pointy side down in a carton until you have enough. The first few eggs of your hens may not be fertile, so it is best to use ones after a week or two of them starting to lay. (For the healthiest birds, you should seek to use eggs from hens that are 2 years or older as these birds tend to have better genetics and longevity.)
In the meantime, using a separate thermometer and hydrometer, run the incubator for 24 hours to check that the temperature and humidity is stable. For the style of incubator I linked, a small medicine cup filled with water maintains a more stable humidity than pouring water on the bottom (and, I feel, is more hygienic.) Add more cups for higher humidity.
Shipped eggs do best being dry (with no water) incubated upright in a carton that gets tilted, or slowly spun, rather than on their sides, since some can have detached air cells. They should be locked down upright as well. However, the choice is ultimately up to you.
It takes between 19 and 21 days for bantam cochin chicken eggs to hatch. Remove the eggs from the auto turner/stop manually turning the eggs on day 17 (Day 0 being the day you set the eggs.) If you have to increase the humidity, a sponge helps. I periodically candle to remove dead or unfertilized eggs, usually on day 7 and day 17 when I lock down the incubator. Doing so makes sure no bad eggs end up exploding on the good ones and making a mess.
Do not open the incubator during hatch, as you can dry out the eggs and cause them to be shrink wrapped. The actual mechanism of shrink wrapping isn’t so much what the humidity is, but the swing in it. Opening the incubator causes whatever water that has condensed on the surface of the shell to evaporate, and since water is polar, it pulls moisture from within the shell out with it. Adding more water can actually be counterintuitive, as humidity stability rather than the actual % is what matters in preventing shrink-wraps.
Bantam Cochins hatch relatively quickly from external pip (when they make a small hole in the shell) to zip (when they start cutting through the shell) with an average of 9-12 hours. They can stay in the incubator for about 3 days (72 hours) before they start to dehydrate, but since opening the incubator is risky, the best thing to do is wait until no eggs are pipped before moving the hatched chicks. Your brooder (which is explained in the next section) should be set up to accept the cochin chicks once they have hatched, dried off, and fluffed out.
If no more eggs hatch 36 hours after the first egg and there are no pips, then you can try candling them to see if the rest are good. Any that are clear never developed and can be removed, those that have movement can be placed back in the incubator to finish. It is the unfortunate truth that a portion will have died in the course of incubating—which can be due to any number of factors.
Any that have pipped but have not progressed in 24 hours likely passed as well, or have something wrong with them. If they are still alive and you are certain they have absorbed all the yolk and blood (there are Youtube videos on how to tell) you can try to assist but there is a school of thought that it’s best to let them quietly pass as these would fail to thrive, or pass on weak genetics.
To help prevent splayed/spraddle legs, it is best to place a shelf liner in the incubator at lockdown, so that the chicks can find better grip with their feet.
Brooding Bantam Cochin Chicks
You hatched (or got) some bantam cochin chicks! Your brooder should have been set up for at least 24 hours prior to hatching/receiving chicks. This is so you can check the temperature is correct and stable before placing them in it. A brooder simulates the heat the mother hen would be providing to the babies, and provides them with a safe place to grow. I like using a 40 gallon plastic tote, a pop up play pen, or a small animal travel carrier.
When your cochins first hatch or your receive them as chicks (or even adult birds), it is a good idea to provide electrolytes and nutrients in their water, such as Sav-a-chick powdered electrolytes. I prefer giving them GROGEL extra hydrated in lieu of water for the first three days. They love the green jiggly gel and it has protein, vitamins, and electrolytes and it is less of a drowning or chill hazard.
You should provide chick starter feed, which are usually between 20-24% protein, medicated or unmedicated. If they have been vaccinated for coccidiosis (caused by a protozoa that is endemic to soil everywhere that eats into their intestinal lining, causing lethargy, bloody stools, and death), do not provide medicated feed as that renders the vaccine ineffective. Amprolium, the active ingredient in medicated feed, blocks B vitamin uptake which is an essential nutrient for the growth of the protozoa, therefore while on medicated feed, you should not provide additional vitamins as that will cause the cocci to bloom. You can move them off medicated feed after 4 weeks, which is when they should have built up an immunity to cocci.
Chicks should naturally find their food and water, but some may need help. There are several ways to tempt them to start eating and drinking, so feel free to try these methods if you have to teach your baby chicks how to eat/drink:
- Tapping method – using your finger, tap the food and water. They can be very curious and they may copy you. You can play a sound bite of a mother hen clucking to her chicks while doing so.
- Play a video of other chicks eating/drinking (with sound).
- Place something shiny like a dime in their food and water.
DO NOT force feed them as they will aspirate (get food and water into their lungs) which will lead to death. Chicks are precocial, meaning they come out of the egg ready to eat themselves, compared to parrots or pigeons that require hand feeding. I do put a drop of Grogel on my palm and swipe their beak across it as I move each chick into the brooder, to give them an initial boost of vitamins.
The brooder should have a heated side and a non-heated side so the chicks can choose which side they want to stay on. If they’re too hot they can cool down at the unheated side, and if they are too cold they can move to the heated side. While a heat lamp (ceramic bulb or regular heat bulb) can be used, many people choose to use a heat plate brooder because it allows the chicks to sleep and is also not a fire hazard like the lamps can be. The brooder plate should be tilted (most have adjustable legs for this purpose), where the lowest part touches the chicks backs when they’re laying down, and the highest part touches their back when they stand, this allows them to adjust for heat themselves. Brooder plate raised chicks also feather out faster than heat lamp chicks, since their bodies react to the ambient temperature when they go seek food and water.
The temperature on the heated side, if using a heat lamp, should be 95 degrees Fahrenheit for the first week, decreasing 5 degrees every week until it reaches the ambient outdoor temperature. At about 7 weeks, the chicks will have fully feathered out and can go outside so long as night temperatures are above 60 degrees Fahrenheit. If you have to integrate them into an existing flock, after allowing them to see but not touch each other for two weeks (a dog crate or their brooder placed into the coop, if it wasn’t there already) make sure they have their own waterer and feeder, in an area inaccessible to the adults that the little ones can escape to.
I highly recommend brooding them in the garage, shed, or somewhere not in the house, as poultry dust isn’t great for the lungs, and they tend to smell. Wood shavings (so long as it’s not Cedar) is fine as bedding. Avoid newspapers, since it can become slick when wet, or any other slippery surfaces as it can cause injury to their legs.
Make sure whatever you use to keep your food and water that they won’t get trapped or fall asleep and drown in it. I use a jar lid with Grogel for the first week, and then switch them to using chick nipple waterers or hamster bottles which are far less messy, although you will have to teach them how to use it. Some people prefer purchasing chick feeder and water combos.
While hatching your own eggs is rewarding, if you are unable to keep roosters, you should be aware that about 50% of the eggs will come out male. You will have a difficult time placing them, although I have found that Bantam Cochins from good lines tend to have roosters that more easily find homes. However, those that do not and that I don’t wish to keep eventually get processed. Despite being a small bird, Cochins are meaty and make for a good meal.
Housing and Predator Proofing
A well ventilated, draft free, appropriately sized, predator proof coop and fully covered run is the safest way to keep your chickens as they are prey animals prone to diseases that are carried by wild birds. I am not a proponent of free ranging poultry if you would be heartbroken to lose them. If you are worried about their enrichment, you can build forage boxes and provide hiding spots and roosts, as well as dust baths so they can act out their natural behaviors in a space where they will not be under the threat of predation and illness. Diseases such as Mareks, Mycoplasma, and Coryoza are brought by wild birds and survivors are lifelong carriers. They can also stay in the soil for months to years so being on top of biosecurity is important if you wish to keep a healthy flock. Avian Influenza are brought around by migratory waterfowl which shed the virus as they fly overhead—it kills birds within hours of infection, often wiping out entire flocks within a day. Do not purchase birds or eggs from non-NPIP sources, as you risk bringing in new diseases that could infect and kill your whole flock.
Whatever you choose, it is important to make sure the coop and run have adequate shade (which will reduce heat stress during the summer), enough ventilation to prevent moisture buildup (the leading cause of frostbite), and is sized properly for the number of birds you have/plan to have so that they can keep warm during the winter months and not be too hot during summer nights. Proper coop and run size also prevent aggression and fighting among your birds. For bantam cochins, generally one square feet of space per bird in the coop, and four square feet of space per bird in the run will suffice as a minimum space requirement. You can purchase ready made coops (choose real wood solid construction and NOT prefab, as they are flimsy and rot out in less than two years) or you can purchase second hand sheds on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist, or convert an existing shed.
Your runs should be built with hardware cloth (NOT chicken wire), 19 gauge or stronger, no more than 1/2 an inch in spacing to prevent predators from ripping through or reaching in and pulling out birds piecemeal. They should be attached with washers and screws and not staples which are easily pulled out. Create a skirt by attaching hardware cloth around the bottom of the run as well, dug 6 inches to a foot flared out to prevent digging predators. This will not stop rats, however, which like to tunnel—I resorted to fully enclosing the floor of the run in hardware cloth as well, with a layer of gravel, soil, and wood chips on top. If you have drainage problems, I recommend building the run on top of a raised bed, two or three inches above the surrounding land so that during rainy periods, it stays dry. This is especially important for Cochins which have feathered feet, and moist conditions cause feather rot and bumble, not to mention blooming parasites, mold, and cocci.
The coop should have roosts of equal height installed with 2×4’s wooden planks with the wide side up. Round roosts cause pressure sores that can develop into bumblefoot, and anything thinner than 4 inches means their toes are exposed in freezing temperatures and prone to frost bite, rather than being able to cover it fully with their feathers while roosting. Different height roosts can sometimes cause pecking order squabbles.
For flooring, you can either epoxy it or use vinyl, both of which provide an easy way to clean up bedding and prevent poop from caking on the floor. For bedding, horse pellets (that have been lightly moistened and expanded), hemp bedding, or wood shavings are all great options. I do not recommend sand in the coop as the fine crystalline dust can cause respiratory issues.
Nest boxes should be about 12 inches by 12 inches, with one box for every 7 birds you have. The reality is that most of the eggs will likely be laid in one or two boxes deemed “the favorite” by all the birds. In order to keep the boxes clean and therefore the eggs clean, you can add straw or nest liners.
Feeding and Watering
First things first: their feeding stations and watering stations should be kept in the run to prevent spillage in the coop which can cause moisture to build up and mold to grow. I personally prefer nipple waterers (heated or unheated) and gravity feeders which limit waste and keeps their food and water clean. It is important that you have two or more stations for each, to prevent resource guarding which can cause some birds low on the pecking order to starve or dehydrate. Due to being a bantam breed, Cochins eat less than their standard chickens, so it’s easier on your wallet.
If you have a rooster or plan on having one, the feed should be an all-flock rather than a layer feed, since the additional calcium can cause kidney damage. Provide crushed oyster shell on the side for the hens so they can pick and choose when they feel they need extra calcium for laying. It is important to have a calcium source to prevent soft shelled eggs and egg binding, both of which can be life threatening conditions.
Shoot for 16-18% protein commercial pellets, since any higher can cause issues such as fatty liver disease or visceral fat deposits which can lead to an early death. Keep treats, which is non-commercial feed, to less than 10% of their diet in order to avoid issues associated with increased fat. Avoid whole grain feeds since they can end up with a nutritional imbalance and obesity, picking and choosing the things they prefer to eat and wasting the rest. If you wish to provide a “treat” for bonding, food but wet into a mash is highly popular among chickens. During molt, you can bump up their protein intake with black oil sunflower seeds or mealworms to improve feather quality as they grow them in.
Overwintering Bantam Cochins in Northern Climates
A properly sized, draft free, and well ventilated coop means your chickens will be perfectly fine far below freezing temperatures. As long as you follow those three main rules for your coop construction, Bantam Cochins, with their fluffy feet and rotund bodies, are an orb of insulation that keeps them from suffering in extreme temperature swings. I have had them perfectly toasty in -16 Fahrenheit wind chill temperatures with no additional help.
The first point: Coop size. Your coop should not be too large or too small for the number of birds you have, since it is important for the chickens to be able to heat their space with just their body heat.
The second point: Draft free. Making sure there are no drafts that pass over your chickens means it won’t whisk away the heat they have created with their bodies.
The third point: Well ventilated. Any ventilation should be placed far above their head height when they roost, to take away moisture buildup which is the main culprit for frostbite.
I DO NOT recommend heating the coop—aside from it being a fire risk (every year I see coops burned down in my local chicken keeping group), it can also CAUSE frostbite. Warm air holds more moisture, and should the heat cut out, it will cause the water in the air to quickly condense onto the birds, chilling them and causing frostbite on their combs and feet. If you feel your birds need a bit of extra help, deep bedding with more straw and shavings, along with a handful of high calorie scratch before bed should give them enough fuel to burn through the night.
In the winter, if you’re not using a heated waterer, you’ll need to give them fresh unfrozen water periodically. Keep your water source outside of the coop to prevent moisture from building up within it.
Reducing Heat Stress in the Summer
Despite how fluffy they look, Bantam Cochins are actually pretty heat resistant too—their feathers provide a bubble of insulation around them keeping their temperature relatively stable. Mine have been fine in 95 Fahrenheit weather with no extra help—they pant a little, but no heat exhaustion or heat stroke symptoms.
The main thing you want to do is keep their coop and run in the shade, with any windows on the north facing side. I keep their windows open in the summer, having installed a metal grate over each to prevent predators from ripping through. This improves the ventilation and air movement, and also stops the windows from acting like a greenhouse by letting sunlight through. Their roofed run is also located on the east side of the coop, which means other than some morning sun, the run is fully shaded throughout the day.
Whatever you do, do NOT wet your chickens. It traps the heat under their feathers, worsening the possibility of heat stroke. If they are exhibiting symptoms of heat stroke or heat exhaustion such as panting and lethargy, or they collapsed, take them to a cooled area and you can use a moist washcloth and wipe their comb and feet to help them lose heat quickly via evaporative cooling.
You can place a large concrete or cinderblock in a pan of cool water so they can stand on top of it—wetting their run or letting them stand in water is not advised except for extreme situations, as it can cause the skin of their feet to soften, making it more prone to cuts and scrapes that lead to bumble.
You can also provide a second waterer with electrolytes, so they can free choice between the two. Frozen fruit and low caloric veggies as a treat are also good ideas, especially if their appetite is depressed due to the heat.
A dry, dust bathing area in the shade also helps them cool off. Think of sand under an umbrella on the beach versus under the sun—the difference is enormous and it helps them cool off as they pass the colder dust through their feathers. Do not use play sand as it can cause crop impaction—you’ll want construction sand that does not clump when wet.
Sexing and Breeding Bantam Cochins
Bantam Cochins are generally easy to sex, and by 4 weeks old the cockerels should start becoming obvious as their waddles will begin developing and reddening. Sometimes there are late blooming roosters of high testosterone hens, but by twelve weeks their saddle and hackle feathers should start coming in which are the main indicators that the bird is male.
A ratio of one rooster to a minimum of 6 hens will prevent overbreeding, which is characterized by rooster rash—patches of feathers missing from the lower back and behind the neck. Twelve is the maximum before you start losing fertility levels. Since Bantam Cochins are so fluffy, sometimes it’s difficult for the rooster to successfully fertilize the girls, in which case you can either trim or pluck the feathers around their vents.
Note that temperament is largely genetic, and I don’t breed aggressive roosters. A rooster in my flock is required to have two qualities: polite to humans and polite to hens. Anything else is a cull (remove from the breeding program, however you wish to interpret that.) Politeness to the hens means that he asks for permission before mounting, which is granted by the hens voluntarily squatting. He will tidbit (bring them treats) and wing dance for the girls in order to win them over. Politeness to humans means that he leaves me alone and I leave him alone. I do not handle them as chicks to prevent the cockerels from viewing me as a flockmate which can be punished, challenged, or an object of attraction (which in some ways can be as annoying as them trying to fight). I don’t correct by picking them up either, since it simply reinforces their idea that I’m a threat and therefore they need to fight me to keep me away. I bring food and the occasional treat, and I am happy just being that to the boys. The girls sometimes end up viewing me as another rooster (and will squat for me) because I bring them treats, but since they do not aggress me, I don’t pay particular attention to them as far as temperament goes.
Why are my Cochins not laying?
You got Cochins and you’re eager to start collecting eggs. Perhaps they’re already over 16 weeks old and you haven’t seen one yet, while your neighbor with Rhode Island Reds have birds that are already popping out breakfast. Maybe you got adults and while they laid the first two days you had them home, it’s been a week and they haven’t done so again. What gives, and what can you do to help?
Age – First thing’s first, the age of the bird is important. Bantam Cochins can take up to 24-26 weeks to lay, although there have been cases of them laying at 20 weeks old.
Time of Year and Light – My Cochins here in New York stop laying in late September and generally start in April*. They CAN start early which is related to the amount of light they get. Chickens need about 14-16 hours of light in order to trigger egg laying. In the winter, when there is less light, they tend to stop laying but you can artificially increase it by stringing up LED lights on a timer to have them lay throughout. An important thing to note is your coop position matters as well—if it’s in a shaded area it will take longer for them to start in the spring. I prefer keeping them in shade for the summer months, so a slight delay doesn’t bother me. Triggering them to lay more or over winter decreases the number of years they will lay, since chickens are all born with the total amount of eggs they will ever produce.
Stress – Changes in weather, changes in location/environment, too hot or too cold, predators bothering them at night, or loud noises can cause them to go off lay. A camera watching your coop can tell you whether or not a predator is harassing them. Too many males that cause overmating or aggression can also cause the birds to stop laying so make sure your gender ratio is correct.
Nutrition and Egg Eating – If the protein level/nutrition level is off, they will stop laying. I always recommend using a feed that has been pre-formulated rather than mixing your own. They need minimum 16% protein feed to lay every day (higher than 18 can cause obesity). If they don’t have enough nutrition, they may stop laying altogether, or they may start eating their own eggs to make it up. Either way you will have no eggs. If you suspect egg eating, a roll away cage or a tilted mat that rolls the eggs into a covered area they cannot reach can help you determine if that is an issue. It’s important to fix the feed to extend their life of lay.
What to do if my Chicken is Sick or Injured?
Chickens are prone to illness and injury, so the first thing you should do is have an area that they can be quarantined in. A dog crate in a quiet space such as the garage is a good area for quarantine. Practice good biosecurity procedures, feeding and watering the sick bird last and changing clothes and shoes so you don’t bring any particles to your healthy flock.
If you are in the US, check with your local agriculture cooperative extension which provide resources to livestock keepers, including backyard poultry keepers, for the tests they can run. If they do not run tests, they can point you in a direction so give them a call. It is important to get ill birds tested before giving medication, to prevent creating superbugs that are resistant. Use medications as prescribed, and make sure you follow the egg and meat withdrawal period.
If your bird passes, check with the cooperative extension for a necropsy which will help pinpoint cause of death so you can start treatment in your other birds if it comes up positive for something contagious. Should a large portion of your flock start passing, contact your state for Avian Influenza testing. Note that AI has a 99.9% mortality rate anyway, wiping out flocks within hours so if it comes up positive in your flock, culling them versus them dying of AI has no functional difference other than decreasing the possibility of it spreading.
You can check out the Poultry First Aid Kit page for information on items you should have on hand. I hope you enjoy these adorable creatures as much as I do!