Morning,
I found my 6th dead hen in 8 weeks this morning. All of these have been without warning signs, as in, walking and looking normal at 8am, but found in the pen by 11am dead, no pecks, no injuries, nothing. They have been wormed with Valbazen within the past 6 months after finding tapeworm segments in droppings. I have treated them with Sevin dust and also Ivermectin in the past 2 months due to lice and stick tight fleas, neither were particularly bad outbreaks, just noticed on a few (of 35) and treated the flock.
What I know:
Many are molting, and have been missing feathers on their back for a few months. I thought this was due to our rooster.
Vents look fine, some messy back ends, but nothing that looks unusual.
I am getting almost NO eggs. 35 hens and I get about 3 eggs a day but they aren't lit and maybe a third are molting.
My neighbor lost all of her flock to MAREKS this spring. Her deaths were of hens under a year, mine are all 18months -3 years and most have been vaccinated as chicks. Her pen is maybe 60 yards from mine as the crow flies.
Of the 6 I have lost, I know 4 were not vaccinated against mareks, but the other two could have been.
The hen that died last night while acting normal, did seem to have a yellowish cast to her waddle and comb, not pale, but orange yellow.
I decided not to send the bird off for necropsy bc if it's mareks, there isn't anything I can do, really. And I feel I have treated for parasites fairly well...but have I???
What else should I be doing??
I found my 6th dead hen in 8 weeks this morning. All of these have been without warning signs, as in, walking and looking normal at 8am, but found in the pen by 11am dead, no pecks, no injuries, nothing. They have been wormed with Valbazen within the past 6 months after finding tapeworm segments in droppings. I have treated them with Sevin dust and also Ivermectin in the past 2 months due to lice and stick tight fleas, neither were particularly bad outbreaks, just noticed on a few (of 35) and treated the flock.
What I know:
Many are molting, and have been missing feathers on their back for a few months. I thought this was due to our rooster.
Vents look fine, some messy back ends, but nothing that looks unusual.
I am getting almost NO eggs. 35 hens and I get about 3 eggs a day but they aren't lit and maybe a third are molting.
My neighbor lost all of her flock to MAREKS this spring. Her deaths were of hens under a year, mine are all 18months -3 years and most have been vaccinated as chicks. Her pen is maybe 60 yards from mine as the crow flies.
Of the 6 I have lost, I know 4 were not vaccinated against mareks, but the other two could have been.
The hen that died last night while acting normal, did seem to have a yellowish cast to her waddle and comb, not pale, but orange yellow.
I decided not to send the bird off for necropsy bc if it's mareks, there isn't anything I can do, really. And I feel I have treated for parasites fairly well...but have I???
What else should I be doing??