Please Help! Chickens dying and I don't know why!!

[kttodd]

Hello everyone. I am new to the forums here, and to chicken raising. We have had our backyard flock for almost a year now.

About 5 days ago our favorite chicken (Rosa, a blue Cochin) became ill. She was sitting around in the coop, wouldn't come out, and didn't want any treats. I took her inside and made a nice cozy spot for her in a storage tub. I put water in there and she drank. She stayed in there all day, but seemed to get worse. By 7 that night, she had died! I was worried, so I changed the bedding in the coop, and washed their waterer.

Today we went out to find one of our Light Sussex hens dead in the coop!

We have no idea what is going on or what to do. We have 5 chickens left, and I don't want them all to die. Does anyone know what it could be?? I would so appreciate some help!

Thanks!

 

[chicks4kids]

Do you notice any sneezing, wheezing, or watery/bubbly eye going on? You said that she became ill, what were her symptoms??

Is there access to any type of rat poison at all?

 

[kidcody]

When you hold your chickens do any of them feel thin? Have you dewormed them since you owned them? It could be a number of things from internal laying to worm load. Try to tell us about your chickens, how you keep your chicken in a coop or free range, etc.? Any heavy breathing, eye problems? Chickens sometimes just die for reasons we don't know, it's frustrating when this happens!

 

[berniezahm]

Did your chickens gurggle or rattle when they were breathing? Snot running out there nose or anything else you can tell us would be helpful. Sorry for your loss.

 

[kttodd]

Thank you both for the quick reply.

A little more about them... We had 2 Cochins (one hen and one roo), 2 Light Sussex, 1 Bantam Light Brahma, 1 Silkie, and 1 Amerucana. They have a wonderful coop my husband built and it is insulated for warmth, kept very clean in my opinion, and they have good ventilation. They have a run attached, but free range a good part of the day in our backyard. We do not use chemicals on the lawn or anywhere. We also have a 2 year old, and I try do do all organic and make sure there is nothing dangerous around.

When I hold them they feel normal. When I brought Rosa inside to isolate her, she seems a normal weight. She was not wheezy, or coughing, or breathing hard. After the day had gone on, I noticed her comb was loosing the red color and she was panting close to the end. With the other one, not sure. Whatever is happening is seems to happen in about 2 days. They are fine, then dead. Her eyes also seems fine to me. I didn't notice any lesions etc. Just tired, weak, not eating and then heavy breathing close to dying.

We have got our chickens form a few different people. Some as chicks, some a tad older. We also got 2 Australorps back in August that died about 2 days later in a horrible way. They had multiple seizures, twisted in horrible ways, and then eventually died. None of the others seemed sick though. Plus, these ones now are dying in a different way.

 

[kttodd]

Also, nothing leaking from their beaks or anything like that.

 

[ThePigeonKid]

What does the poop look like?

 

[dawg53]

Visually inspect your birds closely for lice/mites especially around the vent area. Eggbound is another possibility they died.

 

[kttodd]

Poop from the first hen was runny, but no blood. The second I am unsure because she was with everyone else when she dies. All the droppings in the coop look ok though. No mites either. Would two chickens have been egg bound at the same time?? Also, it seems to me they were all laying well.

 

[tornduff]

I started with 5 chicks and 1 rooster back in August and her less than six months later I have lost 2 from Merak's and another one this week, totaling three. I have a very large coop that I keep very clean and well ventilated. My first that died was under 6months of age and she showed the breathing sign, stood alone and didn't want to eat much, second chicken that died 6 weeks later and was 8-10 months old had been laying eggs didn't show any signs and one morning seemed paralized and died by that afternoon. Now 6 weeks later another chicken of mine is about 10-12 months old just started to lay eggs 3 weeks ago and about a week and a half she started to feel ill. Wasn't sure what is going on in my flock but it is very frustrating. I am down to 2 laying hens and 1 rooster. Can any one tell me what is going on? And why mine are going one by one?