all juveniles drop dead in less than 24 hours

[Tdub4chiks]

Did they have enough ventilation, could they have used cedar shavings or some other bedding that would be toxic to chickens.

 

[chickenzoo]

Are they asking for reimbursement? You don't owe them anything, but if they are only asking for help, and if they truly loved the chickens and asked questions about how to care for them properly and you think they really tried and would not intentionally harm them I would try to help them find out why they all died. It seems to me it would be some type of poison, chemical or the like, perhaps very undetectable and they didn't know. As for the necropsy, after 24 hours many places will not due one...... but in that case I think I'd still have tried to find somebody..

 

[mom2to]

Quote:
I will ask them all these questions. I never even thought of some of them. They are very helpful. I don't think they are telling me any mistruths but it is all just odd. They are not asking for reimbursement but did ask if they could buy some. I would rather them buy from someone else and if they don't die then........ so thank you again.

 

[CypressValleySouthern]

I am very curious as to what happen to the birds. I was just getting ready to post and see if anyone had an answer to the very question. It just happened to us yesterday. I let the chickens and ducks out yesterday morning. When we got home last night, all the chickens and all but one duck was dead. We actually can't find 2 packing peanuts. They are all about 3 months old. They looked like they just dropped where they were. No signs of any varmit entering the run. No marks, just dead.

The one duck that is still alive we found under the coop. We purposely put the coop up so they could get under it for shade/protection if needed. My son had to crawl under it to get her out when he got home last night. She is still alive this morning. She is not walking. She is pulling herself around by her wings.

Do I give her more time to see if she gets better or do I cull her now? Any Help is appreciated.

No cedar bedding. I do all the feeding and watering so the kids didn't give them something they shouldn't have. The coop is nowhere near the garage. It sits at the back of the property.

 

[Desert Rooster]

you should ask to walk around thier property and try to look for any dangers that the chicks might have had access to

 

[liz_s]

I'm so sorry for the losses of all of these chickies! How sad. CVS, there is an amazing book called "The Chicken Health Handbook" by Gail Damerow. It has all sorts of diseases and some diagnostic charts (344 pages). I was looking at causes of sudden death for 3 month-old poultry, and it says ulcerative enteritis is a common cause. Acute campylobacteriosis, or acute colibacillosis are common and can cause sudden death as well. I'm certainly no vet, but I do love to read... knowledge is power! You may want to check the book out, or look some of those diseases up. The colibacillosis has symptoms that can include lameness, which may account for your duck, and if it was one bacteria or infectious disease that could explain also why it killed the chickens but not the duck. The book points out- and it's a good point!- that it's important to find out what the cause was, because it will affect their housing- how you should disinfect, or if it is permanently contaminated and had to be destroyed. Good luck, and I hope that you all find closure.

 

[geosheets]

Quote:
Sounds a lot like botulism especially with the leg problems on your survivor. Check your feed, pen, and anything else they had access to for mold. Do a search on here for botulism... it should bring up some info on possible treatments for your survivor.

 

[dieselgrl48]

Wow I dunno.I had had buyer's buy day old's +.I have only had one call up with problem with baby turkey once.I told her bring back immediatley but she didn't. The turkey did survive with some tip's I gave her to help it adapt to new surrounding's.I am very Informative about selling any birds and most of time have printed list of thing's they will need to know about the bird's.Feed/heating shelter/handling.They can all play factor's in bird's health and growth.Anyone can say oh i have had chickens before lala.Some breed's require a bit more care than other's.Some weird thing's happen for no reason like i just lost a month old giant frizzle about a week ago for no reason.

 

[chickenzoo]

Be honest, tell them you don't feel comfortable selling them any chicks until they find out what the cause might have been for the loss. You love your birds and don't want any harm to come to them and putting them back into a situation where the cause of death is unknown could end up bad again.

 

[rmyer]

Quote:
Please excuse my ignorance, but chickens would be allergic to shavings? Please educate me.....