6 chickens dropped dead overnight, autopsy finds nothing!

[danalister]

there is compost that the chickens have access to, what are the dangers of compost?

 

[danalister]

I'll phone back tomorrow and find out exactly what lab tests they did run.

 

[casportpony]

FYI, complete necropsy testing takes many days and some testing can take a week or more.

-Kathy

 

[ten chicks]

Have you spoken to any neighbors,to find out if any of them have had pets die with no apparent cause? Possibly someone is poisoning animals in your area.


Do you have Coryza and Mareks in your flock as per a thread you started on 6/9/12 you mentioned a rooster i believe fell off roost and was dead.

 

[Beekissed]

Do you and your neighbors share a water supply? Do you have any mutual enemies?

 

[Eggcessive]

there is compost that the chickens have access to, what are the dangers of compost?

There can be a risk of botulism with eating rotted vegetation, maggots, or rotted animal or fish carcasses. I would think that you might have seen some of the symptoms though. A woman recently found a dead hedgehog in her compost bed which may have caused her chicken to suffer from botulism. I would check on more common toxins as others have suggested, and probably lock up the remaining chickens for a short time. Here's a link about the disease: http://www.avianweb.com/botulism.html

 

[casportpony]

Do you and your neighbors share a water supply? Do you have any mutual enemies?

That's a scary thought... Might be a good idea to get a sample tested, especially if you're on a well. We're on well water and have our water tested a couple of times a year.

-Kathy

 

[Nambroth]

I apologize, I didn't realize that you were in Zimbabwe. I ignorantly figured you were in the USA, where people put all manners of stupid things into their grass and soil to make it look 'perfect'!

Most of the time there is no danger in compost, but, when conditions are right, rotting organic matter (especially rotting carcasses, but it can happen with vegetation too) can produce botulism toxins, which when consumed in large enough quantities will kill smaller animals very quickly. The toxin is actually caused by a bacteria, called Clostridium botulinum, however it is important to note that this bacteria grows under anaerobic conditions. This is a fancy way of saying that the bacteria need a low or no oxygen environment to thrive. Therefore, botulism bacteria thrive where conditions are hot/warm and moist, where there isn't much air.
If you turn or aerate the compost often, the chances of botulism and other anaerobic bacteria are much lower.
Botulism also occurs frequently in wet, stagnant areas such as ponds, stagnant puddles, vernal pools... where warm conditions and a lack of air can cause rotting vegetation and/or carcasses (flesh) to concentrate and for botulism bacteria to grow.

I am not saying this is what happened, but if you have any of the above conditions where the chickens and/or rabbits have gone, it might be worth considering.

Avocados do have toxins in them. Avocados have persin in the seed (pit), skin, and very fine papery membrane around the pit. Persin is known to cause toxicity in birds, rabbits, horses, and ruminants (cows, sheep, etc).
I don't know if it's possible that your birds and your neighbor's rabbits previously ignored the avocados and then suddenly had a feast one day? It does seem very silly to think of them ignoring the avocados/leaves/etc forever and then eating a bunch one day. But it's impossible to rule it out, because it can cause the animal to die very quickly if enough persin is consumed. The animal usually dies of heart failure and/or extreme respiratory distress.

I hope that you are able to find an answer, somehow!

 

[danalister]

yes we do have those in our flock, but these were birds that had recovered from that years ago, and autopsy and lab results showed no signs of any current disease, just very healthy chickens that died very suddenly : (

 

[danalister]

That's a scary thought... Might be a good idea to get a sample tested, especially if you're on a well. We're on well water and have our water tested a couple of times a year.

-Kathy

no it's definately not the water, we have borehole water no chance of it being that.