Five sick chickens of 30 in one week for unknown reason...help!

It started a week ago, with an older chicken (probably 6 or 7) we noticed her comb fading, and not acting right, but still eating, drinking, but acting lethargic. Not going far from the coop....but hiding. Then she wouldn't return to the coop. She ended up with a very bloody vent, and we found her hidden the next day after not seeing her for about 24 hours. Sadly, she had maggots at her vent area, and inside...and she was not doing well. We put her down, and didn't think much about it, until we found 2 chickens a few days later. These did not have any vent issues, didn't seem anything more than lethargic a few days before...so we were watching them, and they didn't return to the coop that night....but found them hidden the next day, both dead. I now have two others that are acting strange. One went to the coop under protest tonight, but she won't roost, just is in the corner....the other has retreated to a spot behind our food storage bin. Both are very poopy on their rears and feathers....and even when washed off, they are the same again. I haven't separated them, just because they have been together for days, and the first one I thought an oddity, but now am wondering if I should separate? I have a brood of chicks I was just about to integrate, but have decided not to, and have them in our pump shed in large kennel, but wondering if that's even too close....as it is in the shed outside the coop and pen area.

I have been through the threads, and now I'm certain they have everything from bird flu to worms. Its hard to tell when there aren't many symptoms. We have never wormed our chickens, but would that affect them all this much, this quickly? Other than lethargic and poopy vents (feathers, bottoms, etc)...there have been no other symptoms, and once we notice, then it's not long until we lose one.

Suggestions, thoughts? I'm wondering if I should contact my county extension office? I would hate to be ignoring an issue.

Any advice you have would be helpful. We've had chickens for 7 years now..never had anything like this.

Thank you!

One of my chickens has recently been very ill and after taking her to the vets we got told she had cocodiosis which is a parasitic disease. We had to put both my chickens on antibiotics as, sadly, cocodiosis is infectious. My chicken had diahorrea and there was a lot of blood in her poo. They've come off the antibiotics now and are making a good road to recovery. I don't know if this helps, but if your other chickens are getting ill with the same thing, it might be cocodiosis. I hope this helped a bit. I'm sorry to hear about your losses xx

Thanks...I wish chickens could talk....I feel so helpless. I haven't found a vet that will take chickens. Where I live they are pretty "disposable". Sadly the one is standing in the middle of the pen, almost looking 'lost'.

You might want to think about deworming them with Safeguard liquid for goats, Safeguard paste for horses or Valbazen liquid.

Safeguard liquid or paste dose is 0.23ml per pound orally for *5* consecutive days.
Valvazen dose is 0.08ml per pound orally once and repeat in ten days

-Kathy

Thank you...when my flock settles and I know the issues, I will worm them. I've lost four of the five...the fifth one I believe is fine, just that she was sleeping somewhere besides the coop led me to believe she was sick. Saturday one of my girls died in my arms. I got in touch with USDA, and they had a guy from Dept of Agriculture contact me. He was concerned, and asked for the girl I froze from Saturday...so she goes in today to the university for testing, first to rule out bird flu, and then if she clears that, they will find the cause of death. I did learn, freezing is not the best, but to refrigerate or put on ice...as freezing eliminates one of the tests on tissue that they can do. Everyone else seems healthy, but Dept of Agriculture warned that if these few contracted, and it's something catchy....I could see a big change in a week. Just praying these four are the problem, and that it's not ILT or something I will need to put my flock down for. Three of these 26 remaining are very special pets to us. I will post back here when I know results of the testing.

Did any of your girls have a swollen squishy crop? I'm having problems with my girls getting sick as well. My girls almost seem to have sore crop, so far one had died, one is better and the third is still in my chicken hospital as I call it. Just wondering if you had the same symptoms with the swollen crop? Wishing you luck with your girls. Fingers crossed everything gets better.

FYI

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/st...fields/2015/04/14/birdflu-iowa-usda/25775961/

From 4/15-15, some articles go back to March of this year.

Google news for Bird Flu, this is NOT funny and it's rampant.

I did better than google the news about bird flu. I contacted USDA, and they got Department of Agriculture involved within hours. I took one of my birds to OSU and they found that my girls do not have bird flu, or anything else that is of major concern. I also realized this week, that my neighbor sprayed with roundup...which we didn't know until we saw things dying off. Too late now. We still don't know the actual cause. The girl I took in had egg yolk peritonitis....which I understand is common in hens 18 months or older. There is also a possibility of bacteria (E COLI) but that was inconclusive. Thankfully, we only lost four girls, don't have bird flu, and things are almost normal in the coop. Never noticed anything with their crops...never had any telltale signs in their poop, and nothing out of the ordinary, except the sudden death of the four....

Thanks for all your suggestions....funny how these little feathered friends become such pets to us!

That's great news that your girls are on the mend. It does make you crazy not knowing the cause of the issues. Good luck with your girls.