High fatality rate - help! Is it the feeder or the milk or the amount?

[happydog]

This is my third year raising meaties and I'm having a much higher fatality rate this year. I'm wondering if it's the new metal feeders or my feeding method.

I soak my chicken feed in milk for 12 hours before feeding it. The last two years I used rubber feed pans and poured the wet feed in twice a day. But it got really tiresome washing them out twice a day after the chickens walked/pooped in them all day. This year I'm using the tall metal cylinders attached to pans. I like them much better because the chickens can't poop in them.

But I'm worried that there's some kind of chemical reaction between the sour milk and the metal. Is that a possibility? I wonder if the acid from the milk/clabber is leaching zinc or something from the feeder?

Or could it be that I'm overfeeding them? Before, I would fill the rubber pans in the am with an amount that they would clean up within a couple hours. At night I'd fill the pans, leave them for 45 minutes while I did evening chores, then take up the pans so they couldn't sleep/poop in them. This year, however, I'm filling the feeders and leaving them full. Am I over feeding them by giving them unlimited access?

The last 2 years I butchered at 10 weeks (I like a big carcass because most of it goes into canning jars.) I had very few losses. This year I'm at 8 weeks and I've lost 13 out of 51 chickens. That's not acceptable.

Please help! Thank you!

 

[BCMaraniac]

This is my third year raising meaties and I'm having a much higher fatality rate this year. I'm wondering if it's the new metal feeders or my feeding method.

I soak my chicken feed in milk for 12 hours before feeding it. The last two years I used rubber feed pans and poured the wet feed in twice a day. But it got really tiresome washing them out twice a day after the chickens walked/pooped in them all day. This year I'm using the tall metal cylinders attached to pans. I like them much better because the chickens can't poop in them.

But I'm worried that there's some kind of chemical reaction between the sour milk and the metal. Is that a possibility? I wonder if the acid from the milk/clabber is leaching zinc or something from the feeder?

Or could it be that I'm overfeeding them? Before, I would fill the rubber pans in the am with an amount that they would clean up within a couple hours. At night I'd fill the pans, leave them for 45 minutes while I did evening chores, then take up the pans so they couldn't sleep/poop in them. This year, however, I'm filling the feeders and leaving them full. Am I over feeding them by giving them unlimited access?

The last 2 years I butchered at 10 weeks (I like a big carcass because most of it goes into canning jars.) I had very few losses. This year I'm at 8 weeks and I've lost 13 out of 51 chickens. That's not acceptable.

Please help! Thank you!

I think it could be a combination of all of those things. What have you done differently with this batch besides the feeder and the round the clock feedings?

Acidic or alkaline substances can leach zinc, chromium, and cadmium into the feed, and soured milk is acidic.

Feeding free choice has been linked to an increased incidence of Sudden Death Syndrome(flips).

The lactic acid in soured milk has also been associated with flips.

I think it could be an accumulated effect of all these things.

This is, of course, just my opinion. Going back to way you were doing things beforewouldn't hurt anything at this point.

 

[happydog]

Thank you. I replaced the metal feeder (tin? aluminum? does anybody know?) with a plastic one. I'm going to just fill it twice a day and let them run out between feedings.

Heat may have played a part. The last 4 that died were in the hot days and none have died since. Next year I'll order them sooner so they're "done" by the beginning of May. Last year I raised them in the fall, after the worst of the heat was over. (Last year I used a different hatchery too, but I'll start a new thread on that.)

Also, last fall I had a surplus of pears. I kept a big pan in their coop full of smashed pears for them to eat all they wanted. Maybe that helped slow down their growth due to fewer calories being consumed.

What is an average percentage of loss with Cornish Xs?

 

[phalenbeck]

Do not kno

 

[BCMaraniac]

Thank you. I replaced the metal feeder (tin? aluminum? does anybody know?) with a plastic one. I'm going to just fill it twice a day and let them run out between feedings.

Heat may have played a part. The last 4 that died were in the hot days and none have died since. Next year I'll order them sooner so they're "done" by the beginning of May. Last year I raised them in the fall, after the worst of the heat was over. (Last year I used a different hatchery too, but I'll start a new thread on that.)

Also, last fall I had a surplus of pears. I kept a big pan in their coop full of smashed pears for them to eat all they wanted. Maybe that helped slow down their growth due to fewer calories being consumed.

What is an average percentage of loss with Cornish Xs?

5-10%, I think I read....but at my age, take my memory with a grain of salt.

 

[happydog]

I lost another one today. It was one of the tiny ones. I think I can eliminate the heat as a possible cause since it's been cool lately. I've lost 30% of them now.
Obviously I'm doing something horribly wrong.

 

[BCMaraniac]

I lost another one today. It was one of the tiny ones. I think I can eliminate the heat as a possible cause since it's been cool lately. I've lost 30% of them now.
Obviously I'm doing something horribly wrong.

I am so sorry.....are you still using the soured milk?? You might want to consider stopping it at least temporarily to see if it helps, since lactic acid in the bloodstream has been shown to precipitate flips.

 

[stevodod]

Stop the sour milk! Stop feeding them overnight! They need 12 on, 12 off for feeding. In my small experience, I haven't lost one of those yet (others, now....), but watch if they are PANTING. Always provide water at night........

Lights overnight help a lot, too!

 

[happydog]

Aaacckkk! Two of them are panting this morning and not looking too good. Here's the thing that's confusing me. I've fed milk to my Cornish X the last two years and they did fine. (I have cows and therefore plenty of milk to go around.) Can anyone share any links or info that raw/unprocessed milk is bad for chickens? When I first started doing it 3 years ago other folks with cows said they did it and it was fine. So I started raising my chicks with feed soaked in milk/clabber. And they thrived. But if it actually IS bad for chickens I'd like to know it.

What I have been doing differently this year is leaving the feed out for them 24/7. I've been doing that because I have some very tiny chicks in this batch and I'm afraid they won't get enough to eat with the big guys crowding them out at mealtime. Maybe what I should do is separate out the small chicks to make sure they get enough. Although, the small ones appear to be dying off as fast or even faster than the big ones so maybe they're being overfed too.

aackkk.

I did a poop check this morning and it looks good. No diarreah or blood, just regular chicken poops.

I'm going to run out right now and take away their food. That's about the only thing I can think of I'm doing differently than the last two years. What's the deal with leaving the light on all night? I've never heard that before. What does that do?

Thanks for the help!

 

[BCMaraniac]

Aaacckkk! Two of them are panting this morning and not looking too good. Here's the thing that's confusing me. I've fed milk to my Cornish X the last two years and they did fine. (I have cows and therefore plenty of milk to go around.) Can anyone share any links or info that raw/unprocessed milk is bad for chickens? When I first started doing it 3 years ago other folks with cows said they did it and it was fine. So I started raising my chicks with feed soaked in milk/clabber. And they thrived. But if it actually IS bad for chickens I'd like to know it.

What I have been doing differently this year is leaving the feed out for them 24/7. I've been doing that because I have some very tiny chicks in this batch and I'm afraid they won't get enough to eat with the big guys crowding them out at mealtime. Maybe what I should do is separate out the small chicks to make sure they get enough. Although, the small ones appear to be dying off as fast or even faster than the big ones so maybe they're being overfed too.

aackkk.

I did a poop check this morning and it looks good. No diarreah or blood, just regular chicken poops.

I'm going to run out right now and take away their food. That's about the only thing I can think of I'm doing differently than the last two years. What's the deal with leaving the light on all night? I've never heard that before. What does that do?

Thanks for the help!

I don't think sour milk is bad for chickens, I was just wanting you to know that there is some literature suggesting that lactic acid that is found in soured milk has had some adverse effect on the CX.

I have about come to the conclusion that there are good hatchings and not so good ones, and what you end up with is a crapshoot.