Arizona Chickens

[ChuskaMtns]

OK, so just rambling around the site, and some stats caught my eye. The where Am I....forum has a total of 1,083,345 views. Of those, 899,671 views are for the Arizona Chickens thread. Do we talk too much, or are we just popular?

Obviously, we have more fun in AZ! Plus all that time people have to spend clearing out snow in the winter doesn't give them time to do much else outside their chores.
Seriously, being new here it appears many of you are so willing to share your knowledge and some of us need a little more info. I'm happy to be a part of this nice, knowledgeable forum.

 

[Mikokoke]

HELP!
Found a dead ameruacana in the nesting box this morning. We took her out and she was pretty stiff. I like to check on them in the am and pm before going to bed to make sure they have water. We live in Scottsdale, AZ where the temps are in the upper 90s and low 100s. This is my flocks 2nd summer in the climate. We've recently moved and placed their coop on the east side of the property next to the house. Before they were on the west side between the wall and house and didn't get exposure to the sun. Now, they are exposed in the am. What do you think may have caused this death? Egg bound? It appears that she just fell asleep and didn't wake up. This is our first chicken to lose. The only thing that I have done differently since we moved, is that I have introduced them to alfalfa since we do not have our yard ready for free ranging. We used to let them out every evening and morning and they would work the grass and yard. Now, I have them cooped up in 5x10 run for 9 hens now.
Any thought or insight would be greatly appreciated!
Could it be our neighbors? We live in the Rio Verde area and it's a bit like the wild west here. My husband says he would not put it past them. I sure hope not. She was in the nesting box and maybe her neck was broken, because she was laying with head in an awkward position. I don't know what to think...

 

[K9Dave]

HELP!
[COLOR=333333]Found a dead ameruacana in the nesting box this morning.  We took her out and she was pretty stiff.  I like to check on them in the am and pm before going to bed to make sure they have water.  We live in Scottsdale, AZ where the temps are in the upper 90s and low 100s.  This is my flocks 2nd summer in the climate.  We've recently moved and placed their coop on the east side of the property next to the house.  Before they were on the west side between the wall and house and didn't get exposure to the sun.  Now, they are exposed in the am.  What do you think may have caused this death?  Egg bound?  It appears that she just fell asleep and didn't wake up.  This is our first chicken to lose.  The only thing that I have done differently since we moved, is that I have introduced them to alfalfa since we do not have our yard ready for free ranging.  We used to let them out every evening and morning and they would work the grass and yard.  Now, I have them cooped up in 5x10 run for 9 hens now.  [/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333]Any thought or insight would be greatly appreciated![/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333]Could it be our neighbors?  We live in the Rio Verde area and it's a bit like the wild west here. My husband says he would not put it past them.  I sure hope not.  She was in the nesting box and maybe her neck was broken, because she was laying with head in an awkward position.  I don't know what to think...[/COLOR]

Sorry this happened. How old was it? Are you thinking a neighbor poisoned it or ? Is your neighbor capable of getting to your chickens?

 

[Macboat]

HELP!
[COLOR=333333]Found a dead ameruacana in the nesting box this morning.  We took her out and she was pretty stiff.  I like to check on them in the am and pm before going to bed to make sure they have water.  We live in Scottsdale, AZ where the temps are in the upper 90s and low 100s.  This is my flocks 2nd summer in the climate.  We've recently moved and placed their coop on the east side of the property next to the house.  Before they were on the west side between the wall and house and didn't get exposure to the sun.  Now, they are exposed in the am.  What do you think may have caused this death?  Egg bound?  It appears that she just fell asleep and didn't wake up.  This is our first chicken to lose.  The only thing that I have done differently since we moved, is that I have introduced them to alfalfa since we do not have our yard ready for free ranging.  We used to let them out every evening and morning and they would work the grass and yard.  Now, I have them cooped up in 5x10 run for 9 hens now.  [/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333]Any thought or insight would be greatly appreciated![/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333]Could it be our neighbors?  We live in the Rio Verde area and it's a bit like the wild west here. My husband says he would not put it past them.  I sure hope not.  She was in the nesting box and maybe her neck was broken, because she was laying with head in an awkward position.  I don't know what to think...[/COLOR]

Sorry to hear that, I have a list of questions see if will help reasoning.
* was she behaving abnormally recently?
* what time did you see her last night? Any sign of stress? Somehow my yard was incredibly hot last night.
* any bite mark? Any insects issues, ants, scorpions?
* have you sprayed weed killer or any other chemicals recently?
* how are other girls?

 

[Macboat]

Sorry this happened. How old was it? Are you thinking a neighbor poisoned it or ? Is your neighbor capable of getting to your chickens?

Less likely was neighbor if only one bird is dead, I think.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

HELP!
Found a dead ameruacana in the nesting box this morning. We took her out and she was pretty stiff. I like to check on them in the am and pm before going to bed to make sure they have water. We live in Scottsdale, AZ where the temps are in the upper 90s and low 100s. This is my flocks 2nd summer in the climate. We've recently moved and placed their coop on the east side of the property next to the house. Before they were on the west side between the wall and house and didn't get exposure to the sun. Now, they are exposed in the am. What do you think may have caused this death? Egg bound? It appears that she just fell asleep and didn't wake up. This is our first chicken to lose. The only thing that I have done differently since we moved, is that I have introduced them to alfalfa since we do not have our yard ready for free ranging. We used to let them out every evening and morning and they would work the grass and yard. Now, I have them cooped up in 5x10 run for 9 hens now.
Any thought or insight would be greatly appreciated!
Could it be our neighbors? We live in the Rio Verde area and it's a bit like the wild west here. My husband says he would not put it past them. I sure hope not. She was in the nesting box and maybe her neck was broken, because she was laying with head in an awkward position. I don't know what to think...

I'm sorry she died.

First, I don't think it was the neighbor. Chickens can die suddenly for all sorts of reasons and they sometimes die in the nest box. Like Macboat suggested, we need more info. How had she been acting before this? Was she eating normally. The new conditions don't sound as good as the situation before, the run is too small for that many birds and the coop being in the direct sun might be problematic. Does the inside of the coop get hotter than the ambient temperature just outside of it? Is the water out of the sun at all times? I would work on expanding the run size and making shade for the coop as soon as possible.

Did you happen to check the condition of her crop?

 

[Beckyhsinglsc]

Quote:
Chickens die for lots of unknown reasons. I had one that died and we didn't know why. We did a necropsy and found that she had eaten a screw that had punctured her intestines. :>/

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Hi everyone!

Does anyone know why chickens lose feathers? Or cough or sneeze or have runny noses. I wished I wasn't in this situation

Chickens can lose feathers for a variety of reasons, most commonly its the molt and that's normal. The respiratory issues might be more troublesome. Without a necropsy it's sometimes hard to know what kind you're dealing with. They're often viral with no treatment (e.g. Mycoplasma gallicepticum). When did they first show symptoms? Do all of your birds exhibit symptoms? Did you add new birds to the flock before the respiratory issues showed up? Fortunately, I have not had to deal with viral lung infections. Another possibility is that could also be fungal. Wetting down the ground chronically can facilitate the growth of fungal infections in the lungs. I had two BO hens that got rattly-gurgly lungs when they'd breath on the hottest days after I'd start wetting the ground. I could treat them with fogged Oxine and it would clear it right up.

Hopefully, others with more experience with respiratory issues will chime in.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Chickens die for lots of unknown reasons. I had one that died and we didn't know why. We did a necropsy and found that she had eaten a screw that had punctured her intestines. :>/

I remember that and ever since I've been extra careful about dropping things that a chicken might eat and cause damage.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

OK, so just rambling around the site, and some stats caught my eye. The where Am I....forum has a total of 1,083,345 views. Of those, 899,671 views are for the Arizona Chickens thread. Do we talk too much, or are we just popular?

That 1 million+ number is the number of posts (as opposed to views) for the sub-forum. You're right though, we do talk a lot--but we got nothin' on the Okies. They're on the third iteration of their state thread!