Poisened chickens

[permacultured]

Last year I lost 10 chicken presumably by poison. This year so far, I have lost 2 and today I have another one showing the same symptoms.
Someone laces a single fig with an unknown poison and throws it over my fence. I discovered one last year which had struck a branch of my oak tree and fallen to the ground,soaked and smelly of a type of alcohol spirits.

It either killed them instantly or they take about three days for them to die.

Can someone please identify these symptoms.

Usually I discover one chicken, stone dead with its neck curled up and sometimes with it's head buried under a dark place. Her comb and face are purple in color, then one or two of my fifty chickens(all hens) look lethargic and are lying down on their belly not eating and not drinking. They usually have a soiled bottom. They sometimes prefer to lie on their side, presumably to relieve the pain. Their back plumage is arched.

It is evident that it is sore for them to swallow when I try to give them water. After the third day they die.

I would appreciate advice anyone can give me, thank you.

 

[dawg53]

Last year I lost 10 chicken presumably by poison. This year so far, I have lost 2 and today I have another one showing the same symptoms.
Someone laces a single fig with an unknown poison and throws it over my fence. I discovered one last year which had struck a branch of my oak tree and fallen to the ground,soaked and smelly of a type of alcohol spirits.

It either killed them instantly or they take about three days for them to die.

Can someone please identify these symptoms.

Usually I discover one chicken, stone dead with its neck curled up and sometimes with it's head buried under a dark place. Her comb and face are purple in color, then one or two of my fifty chickens(all hens) look lethargic and are lying down on their belly not eating and not drinking. They usually have a soiled bottom. They sometimes prefer to lie on their side, presumably to relieve the pain. Their back plumage is arched.

It is evident that it is sore for them to swallow when I try to give them water. After the third day they die.

I would appreciate advice anyone can give me, thank you.

You have two choices or you can do both: Have a fig sent off to a lab for analysis and/or have a necropsy performed on one of your dead chickens. Contact your local extension office or state agriculture department to find out how to go about doing it.

 

[permacultured]

Thank you for your advice. I will do just that.

 

[Reurra]

Animal poisoning is highly illegal, call the authorities and make a report. Because poisoning is non-discriminant, it can effect wild animals too, endangered species can come in contact with it and die as a result. Whoever is doing it could get into very big trouble.

I would suggest getting a trail cam and setting it up where it can catch whoever is doing it. trail cams take pictures of any movement that crosses it, hang it up high in a tree or an area where it cannot be reached easily be someone lurking about.

Security cams are always a good investment as well. There are lots to choose from now days at reasonable prices. Also post a sign saying that the premises is watch by camera 24/7 This sometimes can deter criminals from lurking.

 

[spikennipper]

And in the mean time please keep your chickens in an enclosed covered pen so they cannot access any poisoned fruit, it's a terrible world we live in when people resort to doing things like this

 

[realsis]

if you even have a clue on who is doing this call the poliece and make a repot! this is horriable! and very illegal! I'm so very very sorry ! this criminal need to pay! you can even call the news and this will put pressure on the poliece to do something about it! because this happened before and is still going on it won't stop until an arrest is made! best wishes to you! again I'm so sorry! sounds like a neighbor is doing this! soooo awful! again I'm sorry!

 

[realsis]

if you even have a clue on who is doing this call the poliece and make a repot! this is horriable! and very illegal! I'm so very very sorry ! this criminal need to pay! you can even call the news and this will put pressure on the poliece to do something about it! because this happened before and is still going on it won't stop until an arrest is made! best wishes to you! again I'm so sorry! sounds like a neighbor is doing this! soooo awful! again I'm sorry!

 

[permacultured]

Thank you for replying, yes I have reported the poisoning to the police but as usual "What evidence to you have sir?" is always their reply and yes I also have two video cameras running continuously but I have a large ERF and the night vision only covers a few meters so a fig can easily be lobbed over a hedge without them being caught on camera.

Equally disappointing for me is that I also sell my eggs from an honesty box at the front gate and I am considering halting this as I might being compromising the safety of my customers through being poisoned themselves by an egg laid by a poisoned hen.

I used no chemicals so this fly's in the face of what I am trying to achieve.

 

[permacultured]

I will be enclosing my whole chicken run with 3 meter high netting and will step the run in by 3 meters along two vulnerable sides. My hens will have a slightly smaller run about 90m²(the new run) but a lot safer.

 

[RaccoonRancher]

It almost sounds like a neighbor unhappy with your chickens....Although changing the coop area to a protection netted area, a determined person would just cut up the figs into smaller pieces that would pass through the netting, or use raisins.....I myself would be installing motion activated lighting, very cheap...turns on when someone gets within 20-40' of the sensor, depending on the degree of the sensor..110 deg. sensor double light fixtures are about $15, 180 deg. sensor double lights are about 20$ at homedepot.com....They can be wired with regular extention cords, on a waterproof box, mounted to a 10' 2x4 or 3/4" galvanized pipe ..amazingly, combined with a video warning sign, & cameras if you wish to invest in them, deters a lot of activity....No one wants to be video'd ...the lights will allow a video camera to record as in daylight....some sources for the less expensive multi camera security videos are Tiger.com, harborfreight.com...And EBAY!...do your homework before investing..most cameras are low resolution, rated like 480, which at a distance is sort of grainy...The Motion activated Game cameras work well, with up to 8 MP combined with a SD card for a huge amount of pics, or video, at BassPro.com, from $59...I have one at my gate....they work at night, but different kind of color picture with the darkness led's ....I use one at my gate mounted in a tree....the cheaper ones on sale originally had a flash, which is intimidating to persons sneaking around...BUSTED!..Just the signs & motion light will go a long way, or add dummy cameras with 1 or 2 real ones.....most systems with 4 cameras & a 250-500 GB hard drive start at $250.....Create a bit of Paranoia & maybe your problems will go away...RR