Mysterious illness killing my old flock

[Dana]

speckledhen,

That does sound a lot like what mine have been experiencing. Do you notice that their crops don't completely empty overnight? I think I can still feel some peanuts that my hen ate a few days ago.

It's a definite possibility that one or both of my leghorns could have become internal layers. They where having problems with shell-less eggs for a while, so something was going on with them. It's also possible that my current black sexlink is doing this, since she does (or did) lay every once in a long while. However, I don't think this could have been the case for my silkie, since she had completely stopped laying for several years. Of course I'm not absolutely certain that they all had/have the same thing, but it does seem that way.

When your hens are laying internally, do they sit in the nest box for a while, but not actually lay an egg? I'm sorry that your hens are going through this.

 

[dlhunicorn]

Quote:
I think you might have a mold or yeast problem (perhaps caused by possible inadequate ventilation (or improper) from it being in the basement )is underlying your problem... sounds like they might have candidiasis also... I would put them back in that shed (a good insulator is the underfloor used for floor heating> it comes in a roll) or even just hotwaxing thick cardboard to the inside of the walls will add to the insulation... it is surely not that cold yet where you are that they could not stay there while you disinfect (GOOD!) and bleach the walls of your basement to get any spores and such with a good airing and perhaps a ventilator fan installed for when the truly freezing weather recquires them to go back in the basement....

I think I can still feel some peanuts that my hen ate a few days ago.

Dont give them grains or peanuts until you have the crop issue sorted out.​

 

[Dana]

Thank you for taking the time to read and reply to my post dlhunicorn.

They're not in the basement right now, they live in the shed outside for about 8 months of the year. I probably won't be putting them down there until closer to December.

The basement was completely cleaned a few weeks ago. The floor was bleached, but not the walls. Whenever it gets above 30 or so and there's some clear ground, I put them outside for the day and keep the bulkhead open to air out the basement. It really is quite dry down there in winter, and the chickens don't make much smell. But I won't rule out mold, I might just not be seeing it. Oh, and something I forgot to mention, there are cat litter boxes in the basement. I'm sure breathing in that dust isn't good for them.

As for the peanuts, until very recently, I wasn't aware that I had any more crop problems. As soon as I realized that it wasn't passing through my one hens crop, I stopped feeding that stuff. I don't even feed peanuts, she stole those from under a bird feeder. I'm aware that they could be getting bad stuff from the wild birds, and I'm working on blocking them off from the feeders. I would stop feeding the wild birds altogether, but it's my mom doing it, not me. I think I had a thread about it a while ago actually.

I felt her crop this morning, and I think the peanuts passed through! Unfortunately she feels a little thinner to me.

 

[dlhunicorn]

my baaaad for the assumption these were (human grade ) peanuts... which I did (and therefore also the assumption that spores were from perhaps poor ventilation in the basement).
DO block access to those feeders and the peanuts!!! This might be aspergillosis from the bird feeder peanuts...

 

[speckledhen]

When your hens are laying internally, do they sit in the nest box for a while, but not actually lay an egg?

Yes, they do this on and off then completely stop visiting the nests at all. I hope this is not what is wrong with your hens. It's a hormonal issue and nothing can be done, other than the extreme action of a hysterectomy for the hen. It's heartbreaking to see them just waste away. And the crop, when Ivy had a sour crop issue, did not empty overnight, but I think that's a side issue to the internal laying. Not sure if they can be connected or not. My first three hens that died from this did not have crop issues except one and it was resolved in a couple days, though it wasn't sour, it just wouldnt empty out.​

 

[Dana]

I already had one feeder blocked off, and today I'm going to pick up some kind of fencing to block the others. I have the chickens in a large fenced area around their shed, but in the afternoon they decide it's time to leave and a bunch of them will fly out. Because of this I usually just let them out at that time, but I'll keep stuffing them back in until I fix the feeder issue.

You guys have definitely given me some ideas about what this could be. Thank you.