All my flock was dead this am

[shaun14]

I feel so bad. I had a new small flock of hens with a rooster that I am trying to integrate into my old flock. They were staying in chicken tractor covered with a tarp (with roosts off the ground). I was following the advice on this site, integrating them by keeping them separate with a fence between for several weeks, then doing a few "get togethers" with some supervision (for the roosters to get on). They weren't ready to put together when the rainy cold weather hit....The flock was out yesterday despite the rain and went away wet for the night. They were covered, but this am the whole flock was dead....It rained all night and the lowest temperature was 32 degrees F. I am devastated.

Can someone tell me, is it because they went in wet? I would have thought their body heat on the roost would have warmed the tractor up enough. There was hay in the boxes.

 

[StephensonC]

Oh I'm so sorry! This is my first winter with chickens, so I'm not sure about your question. But, would love to find out myself. So sorry!!

 

[Free Feather]

Are you sure it was not disease, or predators?

 

[shaun14]

No, it wasn't predators, they were all lying on the floor of the A frame tractor. None were mangled or scarred in any way, nothing had entered.

I am wondering if they didn't have enough good air? It was raining hard and I tarped the tractor, as I was worried about the dampness and it leaking. There was mesh under a part of the tractor and it wasn't airtight. But?

I do not think it was disease, they were all fine yesterday eve and the other half of the flock (who were in the chicken house) are fine.

 

[Acefit411]

Oh my... How devistating
How old were they?

it could have been a combination of not enough ventilation, with them being wet and the temps going down to freezing. I guess you won't know unless you have one of the birds tested or something happens to one of the other remaing birds. Are the other chickens older then this group in question?

Again, I'm sorry and I will be following this thread because I'm curious as to what could have happened myself.

 

[shaun14]

They were the same age as the old flock, about 2 years

 

[dawg53]

Most likely they were soaked to the skin, then the temp dropped to freezing causing shock, then death. Their fluff and feathers can repel only so much.

 

[JediJinx]

Yes I agree with Dawg, It also would depend on the breed, some do much better with that situation, but if they were really soaked through, they probably experienced hypothermia, etc.

 

[shaun14]

they had daytime shelter, but opted to go out in the rain. So, they most likely went in wet. also the tractor is small and I covered it with a tarp. It was raining hard, so perhaps they didn't have enough O2 with the rain pushing the tarp tight.

 

[MeepBeep]

I agree with a few above, they likely suffered death by exposure due to the freezing (or near freezing) temps combined with the fact they were wet and couldn't properly insulated themselves...