Am I doing something wrong here?

[Brunty_Farms]

Yeah, that was probably the problem as from the pics it looks like you get a lot of air in that pen. Mine are open like that too and they work great for summer time.... but not so good when it's cold.

This is why I keep enough tarps to cover every pen as reguardless of their age if they get too cold they will pile and it doesn't matter if they are day old or 8 weeks... someone always has to be on the bottom.

Good luck, I bet the test results come back negative for anything major... maybe some coccidiosis but if it's that cold in Maine I doubt they will even find this. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

[jaku]

As you know, we're using the same pen, and I still keep a heat lamp on and cover it with a tarp at night. I don't know that they need it, I just figure it can't hurt, and I haven't had any deaths yet of my 53 six week olds, other than the two I culled because they looked sick.

 

[steveo]

I got word back from the lab that I sent my bird to. The girl said the bird looked nice was about 5.5 to 6 lb in weight and died of natural causes/heart attack. She also said if the rest of my birds are like this one that I should process with in the next couple of days or I will have more heart attacks soon.

Looks like i cant wait for the butcher and will have to do myself.

 

[WalkingWolf]

Quote:
If they are piling up they die actually from CO2. The bird that was really lame was probably suffering from lack of air caused by the CO2. If you are using a box or mini coop for them the circulation must be really good. And if they are piling in the open they will bury the bottom chick and still suffocate it. Once the bird loses oxygen to the brain for so long it falls into a deep sleep and cannot wake up and eventually dies. Death from this is easy to spot in the early morning while they are still asleep as the chick will be damp to the touch. A lethargic chic can be revived if gotten to fresh air and moved to get it awake, and moving.

 

[WalkingWolf]

Quote:
The heart will turn black from a lack of oxygen, looking like a heart attack. Actually is in that the heart dies the same as the brain from the lack of air.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Heart attacks are really easy to prevent.... are your birds panting really hard with their mouths open? Purple heads?

If not I doubt they died from heart attacks as they show signs for about 12 hours before they die.

 

[steveo]

Well I had another one die last night and yes he was purple and was panting the other day. He was about 7 lb. I guess I am just going to start putting these birds in the freezer this weekend. I hope I can keep my next batch alive longer with the warmer weather.

The lab did say they were bound to have heart attacks by the amount of fat around the heart or something to that affect.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Warmer weather makes the heart attacks worse... are you taking the feed away at night? This could cause the heart attacks too.

7 pounders are due for the freezer..... You need a roaster strain if you want to get them any bigger. You probably have a fryer strain which is intended to get no bigger than 3.5 lbs dressed weight this would also explain the heart attacks.

 

[steveo]

I just butchered one of my birds that looked like it may be having a heart attack and everything looked good except there was a good amount of yellow fluid inside the bird. Is this bad or is the bird still good to eat?

 

[walls0stone]

I jsut did the same thing, and he had a bubble under his skin by the neck, I chopped off his head as soon as he seemed to calm down. I feed them this morning and they all went nutty.

I presume he over did the feed or was have'n an H.A .

Meat looks fine.


On the light, I leave a heat bulb in with them. they have plenty of spaces so if they feel to hot they can walk away from it. It's a sort of insurance for me. I only lost one bird to cold. The water splashed on the bulb, and blew it so the heat was gone for a few and they trampled her.

still, I worked out a deal this year so grain costs me nothing and I'm make'n money that way.