all juveniles drop dead in less than 24 hours

[mom2to]

I gave for free some friends of mine some chicks I hatched of my own flock that was extra. They have never had chickens before. They & their kids were very happy with the babies. They have had them three months. They came to me today and stated all of them, every juvenile is dead. They all died. They wanted to know why. They stated they had them in their 100% enclosed coop/pen and the gate was locked with no signs of vermits. The birds just appeared to have dropped dead where they stood. Some of the birds were inside the house while some were outside. No missing feathers, no bits, no nothing.

I asked if their child might have got confused and feed something they was not suppose to eat and they adamantly said no. I asked if they had any signs of sickness, no again. It was not cold last night, around 68 degrees. I asked if their feed might have been moldy. They said they would look but kept it in a dry place and it had looked fine.

I don't know what to do. My chickens had went through molt and have only laid a few eggs since then because of winter coming on. I feel real bad. I don't want to give them more in a way since they don't know why they died. I don't want any hard feelings but they were free to start with and I have no way to replace them at this time. Plus, they kept asking me what to do with them.

What do you think? Should I replace them? Has anyone had their whole flock just drop dead? It was about 20 birds.

All my flock is great with no signs of sickness. I do have my tested once a year and some of them was tested again about 3 months ago when my daughter showed a few.

 

[peterlund]

Ah................................................. Do they have the dead birds to show you??? Maybe they are just running a ponzi scheme. Take your birds... sell them, and proclaim they all died... get new birds... repeat. Sound real fishy to me.... in a fowl sort of way.

Is their coop near the garage? Does he/she warm their car up in the AM prior to leaving? Carbon Monoxide?? Do they feed them? What food??

 

[CMV]

I don't think I would replace them until I established what happened the first time. Sorry for the losses. You must be very upset. They should have a necropsy done on at least one bird to figure out what happened.

 

[mom2to]

I told them about this and they declined to have it done because it would be over 24 hours when they got home from work. I am just confused. I can see one or two but not everything.


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[FuzzyButtsFarm]

Sounds real fishy to me.

I'd investigate it more before I offered replacements

 

[mom2to]

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I haven't seen where the coop was built. They only built it about a month or so ago. I don't think they would lie to me. They stated they started with med chick feed, then non med chick feed and last bag was grower.

 

[Carrie Lynn]

Weak excuse for not have a necropsy done...

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

The whole flock - inside the house and in the coop - ALL of them dropped dead in ONE night?




Hogwash

 

[Serrin]

Mom2to, you are under no obligation what so ever to replace these birds! The very idea!

If they imply that you owe them additional birds, remind them that you gave them the first birds as a gift. If any thing, they owe you an apology for failing so miserably as chicken parents!

As for what may have killed them, my guess would definitely be something environmental. And I wouldn't be so quick to accept their answer to your question of one of their children perhaps giving the chickens something they shouldn't have. What child in their right mind is going to answer in the affirmative after the whole entire flock just went to the great free range in the sky? Kid's ain't stupid and they intuitively know when their butt is on the line!

As they say they still have the deceased birds, I think I would ask for one of them back and that I'd go ahead and have the necropsy done myself. I'd want to know for the safety and well being of my own flock if nothing else. Though, for the life of me, I can't imagine anything that could wipe out an entire flock in just a few hours that could have an impact on your flock, separated by miles and months.

An interesting situation. If you happen to solve the mystery, please be sure to post an update. I'm sure we'd all like to know what could wipe out an entire flock of 20 young otherwise healthy birds in a matter of hours!

 

[dntd]

Did they just paint the coop? did the kids play too hard with them. Did they let them free range so they ate rat poison? Did the kid feed them something toxic. Is there toxic plants growing in there yard that the chicks could have aten. All of the chicks dead seem odd.Perhapse the neighbours didn't like the chicks and poisoned them.