Recent content by Newbiechickchic

This morning's update: the food he had in his crop yesterday, which I now think was from the day before, since I didn't see him eating at all yesterday, is as hard as a rock this morning! So it seems his digestive system has shut down, with no acid or enzymes to break the food down..?!? I...

I have never had any feed issues like this either, until all of a sudden. We're getting a Show & Grow feed just for the rooster's, just in case.

No spots in his beak or throat, thankfully.

I haven't seen any bullying between them at all. And they go through feed so fast, and it is put into my unplugged freezer at night (due to rats), so it rarely has a chance to get moldy. We did have quite a lot of rain over the past month, but their food still doesn't stay out long enough to...

Okay, I will go check. We are in the northeast, no bugs out yet (except ants), so no mosquitos yet. But I will go check! Thx!

I have been looking for mites on those that die, and on the hens. I haven't seen any.

Well water, very good (though a tad high in iron). I have used rat poison before, but only where rats can get it, and none used in the past few months. Again, no hens are dying. Rooster's are free-range with the hens.

A photo below. It only lets me attach one. Using a Kindle... :(

Is there anything from the egg development period that could do this 8 months after hatching? They've all been 100% normal and healthy up until this starts, then dead in 2 days.

All hatched last fall. They've all been buried, except this one. Hens have no issues, no comb spots, so it can't be contagious. I'll snap pics, maybe they'll upload.

The site won't upload my videos for some reason.

It's a huge shed (16x20) attached to the barn, with a dirt floor. It is very dusty when they're scratching around, but the sliding door is always open during the day, with several screened windows high and low for circulation. Is dust bad for them? Don't they love rolling in dirt?

I shou!d also add that they were just hatched last fall, so none are even a year old.

Just got a couple of videos, but he's active in them, trying to get away from me. You can't really tell in these that he isn't acting or looking right. But he is otherwise showing signs of inactivity, hunching down, tail feathers down, and doesn't seem to be eating. Same behavior as the previous...

No hens, just my rooster's! So this calcium issue seems to be a problem for me this past month.. This is my 8th year having chickens, and plenty of rooster's, and never has this happened before until this spring! I have lost 4 rooster's in the past month, and another one seems to be falling...