Hi there, I'm new to BYC. I have had chickens for quite some time, but i've never had the issues I do now. I have chickens dying off like it's their job. I introduced some new chicks to the coop and since them, i've had difficulties. My chickens are loosing weight. Their stool is a brown/tan color, no blood, loose but not runny. I had a couple with nasty eyes. A bunch of them go lame about a week before they die. I hear a couple sneezes here and there, occasional coughs, no wheezing though, egg production slowed down a tiny bit, but is back to norm. I have all ages of birds dying, and it's really upsetting. I mainly have americanas, for eggs for the family, a couple OEG bantams, and some mixed birds. Please help. I did a treatment of doxycycline when birds first started getting sick, no luck though. I've read tons of disease symptoms, but Idk what to do. I was almost half tempted to kill everything, clean everything, and start over. I read that depending on the disease, birds will be carriers, and could transmit to other birds, and that is definately something I don't want. Fresh water is given daily, and they are on a mini layer pellet from Rowe feed.
There's a sticky for you to fill out to help us help you - https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3569 I'd take a few live birds to the vet and send the dead ones to your local extension office who can perform a necropsy to find out what happened. Also, what are your deworming, delousing, etc. protocols? Also, just an FYI: Ameraucanas. No i.
If you can get it cleared up, Yes a couple of deseases will make them carriers but if you dont want to cull them all, what some people do (which is what I heard from a lady -Msbear here on BYC - when I talked to her about a bird I had sick) is they get a "sacrificial rooster" and test the flock, if he gets sick then cull the flock if not you might be safe.
