Chickens dying one by one overnight??

[jessica0028]

I've scoured these forums and haven't found much of an explanation for what's going on. So here it goes.

I bought 30 chickens from TSC back in April. All have been fine up until now. This past Saturday, I culled 6 Roosters out of the 8-9 I had. They were terrorizing my hens and each other so we ended that non sense.

Well, Sunday morning before church, I went to open the door to the barn to find a dead Gold Sex Link. I didn't think much of it, and ruled it off as she fell off the board above the door and broke her neck. No big deal right? Wrong!

Monday it was one of my Barred Rocks, and today one of my brown leghorns. I have found one each day since and no clue why?? There is no visible evidence that there was a struggle, or that something got a hold of them. They just dropped dead.

Little info on housing - they stay in the end of the barn. The coop is 10'x30' with a dirt floor covered in Pine Shavings. The run is approximately 30'x40'. Oh and we're in North Texas.

Any ideas???

 

[Eggcessive]

Since you culled a few of the cockerels, there could have been some violence in them reorganizing the pecking order, causing injuries or being kept from food and water. The young cockerels are very crazy at this age, and are starting to mate. But I would also look for any mold in your feed which may look blue-green or have a chemical odor. Mold which can happen overnight in feed or scratch can kill chickens. Also look for any openings in your coop where a predator could have gotten in. If you lose any more, refrigerate the bodies and contact your state vet at the Dept. of Agriculture, and get a necropsy done. Some use night vision cameras in the coop to find out what might be happening .Sorry for your losses.