Meat birds dying

[LaynaDon95]

One of my meat birds is dying right now of heart attack or flip over or whatever. Can I stop it? What do I do?
I'm sorry for the double post mods. I wasn't sure where to post this and I need help right now, so I figured I'd chance it.


Title edited by Staff for clarification

 

[AgroUrica]

One of my meat birds is dying right now of heart attack or flip over or whatever. Can I stop it? What do I do?
I'm sorry for the double post mods. I wasn't sure where to post this and I need help right now, so I figured I'd chance it.

How old are the birds?

 

[LaynaDon95]

Four or five weeks old.

 

[AgroUrica]

Four or five weeks old.

If it's heat-related about the only suggestion I have is what I tried and I know it saved some of my birds. About mid day I'd put plastic softdrink bottles with water frozen inside on the floor of their pen. They'd huddle around the bottles, even falling asleep with their necks draped over them. This most surely cooled them down and saved some birds on the hottest days.

If a bird is large enough to eat, then when he goes into cardiac arrest, I'd cut his head off as fast as possible, bleed him out and an process him. Not much else one can do in that situation.

 

[member 166128]

Would you give a description of any signs, odors, discharge or other out of the norm observances?

 

[LaynaDon95]

Would you give a description of any signs, odors, discharge or other out of the norm observances?

They start breathing funny. Like they are gasping, but they don't make a sound. Then they would convulse, flip over, and die.
It happened when they were little too. (Obviously not to the ones still alive, but to their "brothers".) It started happening at just a couple days old. My dad's friend, who has raised meaties his whole life told me to start taking up their feed at night. I did and they stopped dying. This guy was my biggest (he's dead now, by the way) and always hogging the food.

 

[AgroUrica]

What are your daytime temps there now? Panting birds are normally hot birds....panting just like a dog does trying to cool off their bodies.

 

[trunkman]

The same thing happened to one of mine a few days ago, nothing you can do while it is happening. The only thing you can try is the suggestions others have on here like cutting out their feed at night or go on a 12 hour on and 12 off feeding schedule and try to keep them cool when the temps are high. So don't think you are doing something wrong. And if you have raised chickens for a few years you start to realize that you will lose one from time to time for whatever reason, so happy chicken raising...