chickens are dying

[thompsonchic]

I am new to the whole thing of raising chickens. In the last week and a half we have lost 7 of our chickens. They are eating and drinking. I have wormed them, cleaned their coop, feeders, and waterers. I don't know what else to do. They look fine one day and then are dead the next..Any help would be greatly appreciated..

 

[flewdacoop]

were are you getting the chicks and how old are they when you get them

 

[thompsonchic]

we got them at Atwoods, which is like a TSC store, really not quit sure the age but they were chics. we have had them since late March, early April and they just started dying...

 

[my sunwolf]

If you really want to find out why they're dying, you have to be prepared to fork over a lot of info! I can't list all the questions we need answered, but do try to include pictures when possible. Examples of good questions to try to answer: What breed are they? What bedding are you using? Any diarrhea? Were they under a heat lamp as chicks? What are you feeding? What is your coop like? Have you tried an autopsy? How many total chickens do you have? Have you mixed flocks at all? Have you tried checking for insects in the coop at night? Etc.

I'm sorry about your chickens and I hope someone on BYC can help you out! Keep us posted with updates.

 

[Minchi]

Also are you giving them corn/scratch, it can raise their body temperature and in this heat lead to a heat stroke. Also I have started putting Apple cider vinegar in there water 1/100 ratio to give them electrolytes and help them keep cool. I use Braggs unfiltered apple cider vinegar, you can get it at vitamin cottage but it also helps with other illnesses that chickens can get and keeps the water cleaner longer. This is the only quick advice I can think of that covers a few problems and wont do any harm to the chickens.

 

[Minchi]

I am not sure if you have heat right now but that is a concern for me. I hope you figure this out.

 

[thompsonchic]

To answer the above questions:
What breed are they? Road Island Red and Buff Orpington
What bedding are you using? wood shavings
Any diarrhea? some have this
Were they under a heat lamp as chicks? yes they were
What are you feeding? Egg Laying Crumbles and occasional scratch
What is your coop like?
Have you tried an autopsy? No
How many total chickens do you have? 10
Have you mixed flocks at all? we bought 5 laying hens and put them in with our chickens
Have you tried checking for insects in the coop at night? i have cleaned the coop and sprayed for bugs

 

[Minchi]

Are the shavings are pine or ceder? Ceder is bad. If it is hot I would lay off the scratch or cut it down a lot.