I started with 21 chicks (10 RIR and 11 SLW). One of the chicks was smothered at around 3 weeks old. Okay, that happens. The other 20 all matured (I received them in April) and started laying eggs. At 8 months old, everything was going well.
Then, 2 weeks ago, one of my SLWs started wheezing. She got better for about a week, then suddenly much worse and died.
Tonight, when I went to feed them, one of the RIRs wouldn't get off the roost. She stayed under the heat lamps (it IS 13 degrees outside, but 32 degrees inside). Her comb and wattles are very pale and she acts "sleepy" and has had progressively more watery stool. She won't drink any water and hasn't eaten. I brought her inside, thinking maybe she got chilled by a draft (the coop is about 12 x12, insulated & has elevated roosts over a pit of sand that is not accessible to the birds. It has a cement floor on which I have pine shavings. I clean the shavings and pit out every week. Their water is changed twice a day. The heat lamps are on timers and I open a small window at night for ventilation after the door closes.)
They are not vaccinated nor medicated and eat layer feed with some scratch grain thrown down. They have oyster shell and grit available all the time in a separate dish. They used to free-range at least an hour a day before the snow came.
What am I doing wrong? I fed them warm oatmeal with bananas and two raw eggs mixed up in it yesterday, during the blizzard, and it was about 40 degrees in the coop at that time. Was that not OK?
Suddenly I feel like I'm failing at this and I feel bad for the birds.
Then, 2 weeks ago, one of my SLWs started wheezing. She got better for about a week, then suddenly much worse and died.
Tonight, when I went to feed them, one of the RIRs wouldn't get off the roost. She stayed under the heat lamps (it IS 13 degrees outside, but 32 degrees inside). Her comb and wattles are very pale and she acts "sleepy" and has had progressively more watery stool. She won't drink any water and hasn't eaten. I brought her inside, thinking maybe she got chilled by a draft (the coop is about 12 x12, insulated & has elevated roosts over a pit of sand that is not accessible to the birds. It has a cement floor on which I have pine shavings. I clean the shavings and pit out every week. Their water is changed twice a day. The heat lamps are on timers and I open a small window at night for ventilation after the door closes.)
They are not vaccinated nor medicated and eat layer feed with some scratch grain thrown down. They have oyster shell and grit available all the time in a separate dish. They used to free-range at least an hour a day before the snow came.
What am I doing wrong? I fed them warm oatmeal with bananas and two raw eggs mixed up in it yesterday, during the blizzard, and it was about 40 degrees in the coop at that time. Was that not OK?
Suddenly I feel like I'm failing at this and I feel bad for the birds.