3 Dead Pullets

[stlcards]

I went outside just now and found 3 dead birds. I think it's Mareks, but unsure. I have one bird that shows the signs of Mareks and she's been quarantined since symptoms arrived, but she's still alive. The three that died never showed symptoms, but were laying at one end of the run together. All three of their necks were very twisted when I found them. Do you guys think it's disease?

 

[Kelsie2290]

Sorry about your birds. How old were the ones you found dead? They were all seemingly in good health and in good condition, weight etc? Are the rest of the flock (how many) besides the one OK? I would wonder about some sort of predator with multiple surprise dead that suddenly

 

[stlcards]

1 was 6 months, the other 2 about 8 months. They looked to be in good health. There are no signs of a predator. The coop/run are completely enclosed. That was my thought too, but there are no signs of tampering with the fencing or any digging. I have 13 others in there and they're fine. The bodies weren't mutilated in any way, no feathers missing or anything. It did get down to 18 degrees last night and those 3 are part of a group that always sleep out in the run. There are usually 6-7 that huddle up out there at night, all Silkies. I don't think they were smothered either because there was at least a foot in between each body and they were kind of in the middle. When they sleep, they're always bunched up in the corner. Nothing can reach through either, because the bottom 2 feet of the run is wrapped in corrugated roofing metal. It had to either be sickness or cold, at least that's my thought. The twisted necks is what makes me think Mareks, or maybe Newcastle, but that's pretty rare from what I understand. My Silkie that's in quarantine twists her neck sometimes and walks backwards, and I think she's either fully or partially blind because she bumps into everything while walking around her area. These showed no symptoms though. I'm confused, I just hope the others aren't going the die.

 

[mammat]

Silkies get a vitamin deficiency that can look like merecks. Give polyvisol liquid baby vitamins withou iron in their water. Dont let them sleep outside....ever

 

[mammat]

Silkies also have a portion of there skull that never closes. Like a soft spot on a babys head. They can get brain injuries easily that can cause nerological symptoms.

 

[stlcards]

Thanks mammat, I'll check into the vitamins. Should I just use as directed on the packaging?

 

[seminolewind]

3 dead birds at once is kindof odd. Did they eat anything bad or moldy?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Sounds like a vitamin deficiency could be the cause...look up the "let's talk wry neck" thread- silkies are prone to this.

Yes they can't handle sleeping outside in those temps- they may have frozen to death in my opinion. Try to encourage them (the others who do this) to sleep in the coop with a battery-powered light that comes on at dusk - also keeping the feed inside the coop helps a lot with silkies.

Selenium and Vit E are commonly given to silkies by BYC people...look at the browneggblueegg.com website's articles on "silkie skull" and "crookneck" if interested.

I am sorry for your losses.

I too have lost silkies that froze to death because they wouldn't go in the coop and I didn't find out in time.

 

[stlcards]

Thanks for the help. You guys know everything! I didn't get a chance to get vitamins today, but did add ACV to the waterer. They're all in the coop now. I might leave them locked in there for a few days to try and reset what home is. I usually go pick them up one by one and put them in the coop at night, but sometimes I can't get out there.

 

[pwand]

Check your coop to see if there is mites in it, it seems odd they don't want to stay in there at night. Maybe put more roosts in the coop. Can you send them of for a necropsy to see what the cause of death is.