I'm here to see if this is something I should be concerned about or if I'm doing all I can. During this week I have had 3 chickens die and I can't find the reasons why but I think from inspecting them I can sort of tell but I want to make sure since I'm new to all of this.
The first chicken is from a free range flock of 7 chickens (1 rooster and 6 hens) we inherited them from buying this house and the old owners told us the hens were pretty old (about 3 years or so) shes been getting kind of slow and we usually had to wait for her when we called. We dont know if the age given to us was accurate but she seemed to be a little older. Other than that she was eating fine and drinking fine, they get a lot of table scraps mostly fresh veggies. She has been spending a lot of time unde rour porch in the shade since its been hot.
The second chicken is from our new chicks that our about 18 weeks old now. He was one of those free chickens you get when you order from a mail in hatchery. He was a polish breed and for some reason he just got picked on a lot. From when he was a chick it came in waves but one of the rhode island red's was pecking on the top of his 'bald spot area' and so I applied some antibacterial and kept him separate and when he healed I put him back in and made sure all of the chicks had activities and new stuff to keep them occupied. This worked fine and he stopped getting attacked. But then out of nowhere I found him earlier this week dead in the coop, with an impressive wound on top of his head that was definitely new. I dont know who did it or how it happened but I had no time to react to separate him, he was alive in the morning and by mid afternoon he was lying on the ground.
The third one is from that same flock, its a random barred rock. My husband said he saw one of the barred rocks lying down and looked a little slow the other day but when I checked they all looked fine, and he ended up agreeing with me. We've been watching this flock closely because of the polish we lost because we want to know who was picking on him if possible. This barred rock looks fine, no marks, no wounds, no anything. I don't get it.
I should add that it has been hot lately as I know this can be a factor sometimes. But we do live up north so it hasnt been crazy hot, just hot for up here. Mostly 70-80 degrees with the occasional 90 degree day. The coop is a mobile coop that is moved everyday to new grass. There is no diarrhea, no swelling on any of the chickens, their combs are red looking and their eyes are clear, I dont see any mucus or pus or anything. They have a huge 5 gallon bucket of clean, covered water that I check and fill twice a day, I feed them a heaping scoop of grower feed twice a day and give them the occasional fresh veggie or mealworms for a treat but I haven not done that this week. Am I doing anything wrong here? I just want to make sure because If I am I want to make sure I change it quick. I cant help but be sad over the chickens I've lost, I want to make sure I'm doing right by them. Thanks!
The first chicken is from a free range flock of 7 chickens (1 rooster and 6 hens) we inherited them from buying this house and the old owners told us the hens were pretty old (about 3 years or so) shes been getting kind of slow and we usually had to wait for her when we called. We dont know if the age given to us was accurate but she seemed to be a little older. Other than that she was eating fine and drinking fine, they get a lot of table scraps mostly fresh veggies. She has been spending a lot of time unde rour porch in the shade since its been hot.
The second chicken is from our new chicks that our about 18 weeks old now. He was one of those free chickens you get when you order from a mail in hatchery. He was a polish breed and for some reason he just got picked on a lot. From when he was a chick it came in waves but one of the rhode island red's was pecking on the top of his 'bald spot area' and so I applied some antibacterial and kept him separate and when he healed I put him back in and made sure all of the chicks had activities and new stuff to keep them occupied. This worked fine and he stopped getting attacked. But then out of nowhere I found him earlier this week dead in the coop, with an impressive wound on top of his head that was definitely new. I dont know who did it or how it happened but I had no time to react to separate him, he was alive in the morning and by mid afternoon he was lying on the ground.
The third one is from that same flock, its a random barred rock. My husband said he saw one of the barred rocks lying down and looked a little slow the other day but when I checked they all looked fine, and he ended up agreeing with me. We've been watching this flock closely because of the polish we lost because we want to know who was picking on him if possible. This barred rock looks fine, no marks, no wounds, no anything. I don't get it.
I should add that it has been hot lately as I know this can be a factor sometimes. But we do live up north so it hasnt been crazy hot, just hot for up here. Mostly 70-80 degrees with the occasional 90 degree day. The coop is a mobile coop that is moved everyday to new grass. There is no diarrhea, no swelling on any of the chickens, their combs are red looking and their eyes are clear, I dont see any mucus or pus or anything. They have a huge 5 gallon bucket of clean, covered water that I check and fill twice a day, I feed them a heaping scoop of grower feed twice a day and give them the occasional fresh veggie or mealworms for a treat but I haven not done that this week. Am I doing anything wrong here? I just want to make sure because If I am I want to make sure I change it quick. I cant help but be sad over the chickens I've lost, I want to make sure I'm doing right by them. Thanks!
