Chicken Toxicity

[iamsunshine68]

I have raised chickens for the past year without major problems(did treat chicks for coccidiosis and mites) recently we lost two of the four of our one year old hens pretty suddenly. First the hens stoped laying, then for the next two weeks decreased appetite followed by death. We do not use any pesticides or fertilizers and keep the yard clean. The only thing that comes to mind and my vets could be some sort of toxicity. They get fed hen scratch and occasional food scraps and grapes. Has anyone ever heard of grapes causing toxicity in poultry. Recently it was discovered that is does so in dogs. Have you heard of any othter foods that cause toxicity. I have read the BYC website and noted those.

 

[windtryst]

I also just heard grape seeds were toxic to dogs...so I would think we should perhaps not feed grapes to chickens. Just makes sence.
Never knew that before....

 

[chickendude]

I have been giving my RIR girls seedless red grapes for about 1 month maybe twice a week. So far no problems. But i will be paying close attention to this post.

 

[chickendude]

Also welcome to the BYC.

 

[mamaKate]

from MO. If you're only feeding scratch, the problem might be nutritional deficency. Get them on a good layer crumble or pellet. I think I have read about problems with grapes. Any single food shouldn't be fed in large quantities.

 

[windtryst]

Yes, get them some layer pellets, and I would think seedless grapes would be OK, just not the grapes with seeds...

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

We have grape vines across the back of our yard with concord grapes (with seeds inside) and some other kind without seeds. i've fed both to my chickens over the past year we have been here without a problem. They don't get a lot, maybe a cluster per week when they are in season. i haven't had a problem so far. But i would love to hear from others with more knowledge. Don't want to be feeding anything to my chickens that may harm them.

 

[ranchhand]

First,

!

Second, you might have better luck if you post your question in the https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewforum.php?id=10 section, which is for Emergencies, Diseases etc.

 

[fldiver97]

from WI. Agree with OP to use balanced feed appropriate for development stage and supplement with treats and scratch but you may already do that. Somewhere I read that seedless grapes should be used but I can't remember details. Many have posted though that their chickens eat homegrown grapes of any kind while foraging or have been given seeded grapes without a problem. The last I heard about grapes AND raisins regarding toxicity in dogs is that it is unclear how it works....but the animal poison centers have received many reports, I think it causes kidney damage. Strangely there does not seem to be a coorelation between size/weight of dog and amount ingested. Some dogs get sick and some don't....my old dog used to steal raisins and never had a problem but that was many years ago.
If you and the vet think that it was a toxic substance....any possibility that a neighbor used a pesticide of some kind?

 

[justbugged]

Welcome from Western Washington