Broilers wheezing and skin turning purple

[valsetz]

I have 55 cornish cross broilers and they are 8 weeks old. So far I have lost 4 and have lost two in the last week. The chickens were breathing really heavy almost wheezy like and it takes about three days before they die. I know that there is issues when I put their food down in the morning and the ones that are sick do not come running over. I also noticed that their skin starts turning blue or purple colored. I am assuming that they are not getting enough air and that is why the skin turns blue. On day two and three they just sit there and keep there eyes close and never move again.
Last year I raised broilers and lost a lot to the same disease or whatever it is. This is the 5 th year I have raised broilers and have only had this problem for the last two years. I was afraid they might have coccidiosis so I moved the into a different area of the barn and started putting 1 tablespoon of the unfiltered apple cider with the mother in it to every gallon of water and I give a fresh new batch everyday. I have been doing this for a about 9 days now. Not sure what to do but they are costing me a lot of money as we are getting closer to butchering time. Any help would great, I can take some pictures if needed maybe take a video if this helps. I am planning on butchering them in two weeks so whatever I give them medicine wise I need it out of their system by then.
One other tid bit of info is the butcher last year said that they found fluid in their lungs and this was then giving them congestive heart failure. I hope this helps and if any more info is needed I will try my best to answer them.
Thanks

 

[emvickrey]

Try this link. You should find what your looking for. It's a good one to save for future use.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[CMV]

Fluid in the lungs doesn't give them congestive heart failure. Fluid in the lungs is a symptom of congestive heart failure (thus the "congestive" part). Sounds like bad hearts to me. Pretty common in CXs. I don't think it has much to do with your set-up so much as it has to do with the breed lines going into your birds. CXs are so super engineered to get huge fast that sacrifices are necessary to achieve this. As a result, their organs are usually mush especially their hearts. I do not think you have an illness at work.

My recommendation is to keep doing what you are doing, but when you notice the wheezing starting in any of the birds- process immediately. You are getting fair warning that their hearts are failing, so use that warning to get them processed before they drop dead and are wasted.

Last year I lost 30% of my meat birds to flipover during a 3 day heatwave. They had bad hearts, couldn't handle the stress of the heat, and were dropping like flies. Very discouraging, but it happens.

Good luck.

 

[tellynpeep]

I agree with CMV. They are bred to put on meat fast, and to live short lives. I think the commercial growers process them at 6 weeks. It still may be worth getting a necropsy done on one so you know for sure. But I think you have to process them soon, or you may lose them all.

 

[baby chicks]

I was wondering if valsetz ever found out what the disease was. Did you ever have a necropsy? We are having the same problems and are loosing more every day. This is diffentely some sort of disease for sure. Like Infectious Bursal Disease or Aspergillosis that they have, I have almost 300 chickens and the meat birds are the only ones that have this disease. Valsetz please comment and tell me if you have found out anything on what they have, much appreciated, thankyou.

 

[jskilian]

Did you ever find out the cause and solution of this problem?

 

[Havenleigh farms]

I've been raising meat chicks for 10 years and this year I have lost have of my birds, with the same symptoms. Very discouraging.