2 dead hens in 2 days; 1 sick. Diarrhea noticed. Need help ASAP!

[bama1803]

We lost one of 9 white Leghorns yesterday without warning. Another just now found dead in her house. A third is showing symptoms of lethargy and no appetite. Hubby did notice very runny poo in the coop. Nothing has changed regarding food, water, etc. Hens are about 16 months old. We got them from Myer Hatchery when they were 1 day old. What's going on? What can we do or treat them with? Is it viral, bacterial or parasites? It is hot here in Alabama, but they have a large, roomy coop that's under huge shade trees. They don't free-range, but do have a large coop with room to run.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1118770/help-2-hens-dead-in-2-days-3rd-sick

We lost one of 9 white Leghorns yesterday without warning. Another just now found dead in her house. A third is showing symptoms of lethargy and no appetite. Hubby did notice very runny poo in the coop. Nothing has changed regarding food, water, etc. Hens are about 16 months old. We got them from Myer Hatchery when they were 1 day old. What's going on? What can we do or treat them with? Is it viral, bacterial or parasites? It is hot here in Alabama, but they have a large, roomy coop that's under huge shade trees. They don't free-range, but do have a large coop with room to run.

We raised 9 white Leghorns from a hatchery, and they're 1 year and 4 months old. The second one we found dead in the coop just now, and a third is sick. They don't free-range, but they have a very large coop, roomy hen house and are under large shade trees in our backyard. Hubby just noticed that their poop looks very runny and isn't formed, maybe even closer to diarrhea. Help! We're afraid we're going to lose them all in a short period of time!

It could be a number of things but heat or ingesting something toxic/rotten are the two things that come to mind.Check to make sure they haven't had access to anything moldy/rotten.

Are they panting - do they have their beak open? It is very possible they are dying from heat exhaustion. Lethargy, not eating and very runny poo are a few signs of heat exhaustion.
If you think it is heat, then take the one in distress, move her to a cooler area, gently dip her feet and legs in cool water (not extremely cold), you can submerge her up to her neck if you feel you need to. The idea is to get her body temp down. Keep her in a cool place offer plenty of cool water to drink - if you have electrolytes you can give her that. Eating is not that important for a few hours. If she perks up you can give her wet feed, egg or tuna to eat.

Try adding more air circulation by using fans at the coop and run, provide plenty of cold water, treats can include cold/frozen fruits veggies, there are many articles here on BYC and the web with tips about keeping chickens cool.

If you think they ingested something toxic, moldy/rotten feed, then you need to make sure they haven't had access to anything moldy/rotten.
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/100/mycotoxicosis/

If they continue to die, then a necropsy would be in order to help find the reason.

 

[bama1803]

After my post, I did search for what could be wrong, and I believe you're correct about the heat. One does have her beak open, and egg production is almost non-existent. Even though they're in shade, we put two fans on them, and they are standing in front of them. We've added electrolytes to their water and put cool watermelon in the coop. Thanks sooo much for your reply. Hopefully, we won't lose anymore. Hubby has gone out now to dip her legs in cool water, like you said.

 

[Intheswamp]

It's 6:37pm and 96F ("feels like" 105F temperature) right now about 50 miles south of Montgomery. The high was about two degrees higher. It's be very hot these last couple of days with 50% and higher humidity to go with it. Yesterday and today I noted what a hot breeze was blowing.

I'm sorry to here of your losses, but thanks for reporting them so others (including me) can take heed to this. Hopefully it was only the heat and nothing viral going on for your flock. Definitely a tough loss, though.

Best wishes,
Ed

 

[Wyorp Rock]

After my post, I did search for what could be wrong, and I believe you're correct about the heat. One does have her beak open, and egg production is almost non-existent. Even though they're in shade, we put two fans on them, and they are standing in front of them. We've added electrolytes to their water and put cool watermelon in the coop. Thanks sooo much for your reply. Hopefully, we won't lose anymore. Hubby has gone out now to dip her legs in cool water, like you said. I would suspect heat as well. It's really stressful on them.
I think most people are struggling with heat issues this year.

I run my both the coop and run fans almost constantly. If nothing else it helps with air circulation. My flock does stand in the air flow during the day. The fans also seems to help at night with mosquitoes and during the day with flies. No matter how often you rake or scoop poo, there are going to be some flying critters roaming around.

Let us know how they are doing. I hope the one in distress pulls through.