jflynn253
In the Brooder
- Aug 24, 2016
- 11
- 0
- 15
Ok here is my problem. I have or should I say had 19 healthy (or I thought) chickens. Within the last 2 weeks I lost 2 leghorns. The first one I thought it was due to heatstroke as it was during the latest heatwave here in Jersey. The last one happened yesterday (I found it this morning) and it wasn't hot at all.
Here is the scenario. I keep them in their pen/coop during the week and free range on the weekend.
The first one died in the coop and I did not find her until after 24 hours as I did not check up on them that day. I did not check the eggs that day and the neighbor put them away from free ranging that Saturday.
Today about a week later I go and release the chickens as I am trying to get more free range for them during the week and I find another hen dead under the ramp going into the coop out in one of my 2 runs. Once again yesterday I did not check on my girls. When I do not check on my girls I know they have plenty of water because I have an automatic water collection system that gets water from the roof of the coop and have chicken nipples for them to drink from. I also have a store bought water holder inside the coop. I also have 3 automatic feeders with over 100# of food in them. 2 PVC tubs outside the coop with 50# of food. These tubes are homemade auto feeders. I also have a store bought auto feeder inside the coop that has 50# in it.
When I find this chicken I see that her insides appear to have been eaten out as you can see them from looking at her butt. This happened quick, within 24 hours because she was healthy running around the day before and she was inside the coop when I check the night before. When I talked to the wife about the other chicken that was found dead a week ago she said that she remembers that there were already maggots or something in her butt when I found her dead. She questioned how long that hen was dead because they don't form that quickly (my wife was a vet tech and now an ER nurse). I reassured her that the hen was not dead for longer than 24 hours.
After I found the first hen I cleaned the inside of the coop because I wanted to make sure that whatever was in that coop did not spread as I know it can be dangerous and quick. Now it has made chicken 2 in 2 weeks. I am at a lose as I have only been a chicken fun farmer for a little over a year.
If anyone has any thoughts on this topic please help me out because I have no clue. I do not want to lose my flock of now 17 that are left.
Here is the scenario. I keep them in their pen/coop during the week and free range on the weekend.
The first one died in the coop and I did not find her until after 24 hours as I did not check up on them that day. I did not check the eggs that day and the neighbor put them away from free ranging that Saturday.
Today about a week later I go and release the chickens as I am trying to get more free range for them during the week and I find another hen dead under the ramp going into the coop out in one of my 2 runs. Once again yesterday I did not check on my girls. When I do not check on my girls I know they have plenty of water because I have an automatic water collection system that gets water from the roof of the coop and have chicken nipples for them to drink from. I also have a store bought water holder inside the coop. I also have 3 automatic feeders with over 100# of food in them. 2 PVC tubs outside the coop with 50# of food. These tubes are homemade auto feeders. I also have a store bought auto feeder inside the coop that has 50# in it.
When I find this chicken I see that her insides appear to have been eaten out as you can see them from looking at her butt. This happened quick, within 24 hours because she was healthy running around the day before and she was inside the coop when I check the night before. When I talked to the wife about the other chicken that was found dead a week ago she said that she remembers that there were already maggots or something in her butt when I found her dead. She questioned how long that hen was dead because they don't form that quickly (my wife was a vet tech and now an ER nurse). I reassured her that the hen was not dead for longer than 24 hours.
After I found the first hen I cleaned the inside of the coop because I wanted to make sure that whatever was in that coop did not spread as I know it can be dangerous and quick. Now it has made chicken 2 in 2 weeks. I am at a lose as I have only been a chicken fun farmer for a little over a year.
If anyone has any thoughts on this topic please help me out because I have no clue. I do not want to lose my flock of now 17 that are left.