Dying chickens

[TerryH]

Came home to find one of the BO's dead in the coop. I could find nothing wrong what so ever with the BO. No mites, perfectly clean vent, feet etc... Nothing. Now our beloved #7 is bad. #7 has very labored breathing and had yellow and green poop on he feathers at the vent. Any help is appreciated.

 

[Eggcessive]

Does she have any other symptoms or problems breathing? Heat exhaustion and dehydration can be common in hot summer months. Coccidiosis could also be a problem in younger chickens. A regular vet can do a fecal float on a few fresh droppings brought in, to look for worms and coccidiosis. Corid is a good treatment for cocci, and is used in the water. Symptoms of cocidiosis are lethargy, not eating, diarrhea with mucus or blood, and standing hunched or puffed up. I would treat the sick chicken with electrolytes and vitamins in the water, and give it with a dropper. Offer some chopped egg and regular feed. Check the feed for any possible mold, which can cause severe illness. If she should die, I would refrigerate her body in a plastic bag, and contact your state vet for a necropsy.

 

[TerryH]

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[TerryH]

Does she have any other symptoms or problems breathing? Heat exhaustion and dehydration can be common in hot summer months. Coccidiosis could also be a problem in younger chickens. A regular vet can do a fecal float on a few fresh droppings brought in, to look for worms and coccidiosis. Corid is a good treatment for cocci, and is used in the water. Symptoms of cocidiosis are lethargy, not eating, diarrhea with mucus or blood, and standing hunched or puffed up. I would treat the sick chicken with electrolytes and vitamins in the water, and give it with a dropper. Offer some chopped egg and regular feed. Check the feed for any possible mold, which can cause severe illness. If she should die, I would refrigerate her body in a plastic bag, and contact your state vet for a necropsy.

Feed is fresh. No mold. I started deep litter in the run on Saturday with a few inches of ground trees from a friend that's a tree guy. It had been in a pile for a couple of weeks. That's the only change in anything we've done. They are all 20 weeks old. It was really warm today but we have had many other days just as hot with no issues. They have fresh water and a 9x26 covered run.

 

[Eggcessive]

It looks like she is gasping, possibly from a respiratory disease. Does her face or eyes look puffy? Tylan and oxytetracycline can help treat a respiratory disease. Respiratory diseases can be caused by bacteria, viruses, and mold fungus. Gapeworm or capillary worm can cause breathing problems. SafeGuard liquid goat wormer given 1/4 ml per pound orally for 5 days can treat those worms.

 

[TerryH]

It looks like she is gasping, possibly from a respiratory disease. Does her face or eyes look puffy? Tylan and oxytetracycline can help treat a respiratory disease. Respiratory diseases can be caused by bacteria, viruses, and mold fungus. Gapeworm or capillary worm can cause breathing problems. SafeGuard liquid goat wormer given 1/4 ml per pound orally for 5 days can treat those worms.

Thank you. She is breathing easier now. We have her in the house for tonight. I have NutriDrench but can't get her to drink. The BO that I found dead in the coop looked perfectly fine. No sign of anything. This BA definitely had some gross looking poop on her. We have that cleaned up now. Loose, yellow and some green. No blood. Her face/eyes do not look puffy. I am at a total loss other than there is something in the wood chips I put run the run on Saturday. The chip pile was pretty hot when I started digging in it to move the chips to the run. There was lots of green leaves when we first got it. I'm going to keep the other 6 in the coop tomorrow. I see no sign of anything wrong with any of them. I'll remove the wood chips when I get home from work tomorrow just to be safe.

Thanks again for your help. This is all new to me.

 

[aart]

I've given fluids by soaking a qtip in the stuff and holding against the side of the beak, bird on lap and calmed down....it should wick some liquid into their mouths and they should swallow...or the drop might hang off the tip of beak. I also rubbed their neck and under their chins a bit, kinda of bumping the beak to get them to swallow. Don't squirt anything into their mouths, if it goes down the wrong 'pipe'...not good.

Giving meds without knowing what you are treating can complicate matters.

Hang in there Mr and Mrs Terry.

 

[TerryH]

I've given fluids by soaking a qtip in the stuff and holding against the side of the beak, bird on lap and calmed down....it should wick some liquid into their mouths and they should swallow...or the drop might hang off the tip of beak. I also rubbed their neck and under their chins a bit, kinda of bumping the beak to get them to swallow. Don't squirt anything into their mouths, if it goes down the wrong 'pipe'...not good.

Giving meds without knowing what you are treating can complicate matters.

Hang in there Mr and Mrs Terry.

Thanks. Cheryl and I are hanging in. Amazing how fast thing can go from perfectly fine to this.

We are using the Qtip to give her NutriDrench water. Made some scrambled eggs but she doesn't seem interested. Going to give a call to the county extension office today. TSC has the Oxytetracycline so I'm going to get that and mix in the water. All the others seem perfectly fine this morning. I'm going to keep them in the coop today. I'll remove the wood chips out of the run when I get home. The leaves have some mold on them. No clue if that's the issue but I don't want to take any chances.

 

[aart]

Hmmm...I wonder what kind of trees...maybe eating the leaves.
I know some leaves are toxic to goats, wilting wild cherry is the only one that comes to mind, but there are several others.

Not sure an antibiotic will counteract a mold issue.

Keep an eye on roost boards, clean everyday to see what's coming out each night.

 

[TerryH]

Hmmm...I wonder what kind of trees...maybe eating the leaves.
I know some leaves are toxic to goats, wilting wild cherry is the only one that comes to mind, but there are several others.

Not sure an antibiotic will counteract a mold issue.

Keep an eye on roost boards, clean everyday to see what's coming out each night.

Bradford Pear and Oak mix in the wood chips. No bad poops this morning from any of them in the coop. Still the same yellow/green yuck from #7. We cleaned her and the box/shavings this morning.

I figured the anti-biotic wouldn't hurt and might ease the total helpless feeling going around here right now so perhaps I'm medicating us as much as the chickens.