2 sudden deaths in the last week, 3rd bird acting sick. Need help!

[Quinstar]

Later last week I noticied one of my hens acting very strange. When I picked her up I could tell that she was skin and bones. No food in the crop at all. I've been extremely busy the past month and have not been as active in monitoring my birds as I normally am. The next day she was so week and so close to death I had to euthanize her. Today while feeding the rest of the flock I found another of the girls dead. She was showing no signs of sickness that I could see. I did notice that there was some soft egg sticking out of her vent and her comb and wattles were a deeper red than usual (not sure if that was from death), but no other outward signs. Upon checking the rest of the birds I noticed a third girl seemed a little thin. I have quarantined her and she has an empty crop as well. She also appears to have dry pox, but neither of the dead birds had any signs of this. I'm trying to figure out if this is all related and I need to be doing something to secure the safety of the rest of the flock or if these are 3 seperate issues. Please help! I'm sorry I'm not able to give you more to go on.

Thanks!
Frightened Chicken Mama

Here is a photo of the sick hen.

 

[GitaBooks]

I'm so sorry to hear that.

Could it possibly be worms or mites weakening them? How are there droppings?

Try to get them to drink electrolyte and vitamin water and offer scrambled eggs to get her strength up. A bright comb is a good sign, better then a pale one.

How old are they?

I hope she gets better soon!

 

[Quinstar]

She is about 3 years old. The first one that died was 2 and the one I found today was 3. I have noticed some irregular droppings, but will be able to better determine now that I've identified one of the sick gals. I will give her some scrambled eggs when I get home from work and as well as electrolytes. Other than being skinny with an empty crop she was acting completely fine. I have noticed that she hasn't been laying for the last week or so, but sometimes they go in spurts so it didn't really concern me too much.

 

[Quinstar]

I have not seen any signs of mites, but worms are always an options.

 

[GitaBooks]

Laying hens are considered old at around 2 years of age, when they can suffer from internal laying, egg binding, and water belly, all of which can kill them over time or quickly. Egg binding or broken eggs inside of the vent are a serious problem, while internal laying and water belly take a while to develop. There is a cure for egg binding (getting the egg out) and for broken eggs, but internal laying and water belly I'm pretty sure are incurable.

Are they nearing molt? Mine have entered molt and aren't laying very much either. They are also acting sort of sickly because growing in new feathers is uncomfortable.

 

[Quinstar]

I think they are nearing molt which is the other reason I haven't been concerned that she isn't laying. The only really distressing sign from Savannah (bird pictured) is the weight loss. That was the only sign I had when the first bird died. I have seen a couple of soft shelled eggs so I'm wondering if the second death was caused by peritontis. I'm really hoping that all 3 of these are completely unrelated. I will check Sav to make sure she is not egg bound.

 

[beetandsteet]

It def does appear as though she has fowlpox. Open up her mouth and look inside. Does she have some foul smelling cheesy substance in the back of the mouth/down into the throat? This could indicate the "wet" fowlpox, which is deadly. The dry fowlpox of course is not deadly, so that would not have caused the deaths of your other birds.