chickens dying please help

[latus74]

Hi all, im hoping someone can offer advice to me, maybe tell me what i am doing wrong?

We decided to start keeping chickens about september last year, so i set about building a run ect and reading up on keeping them before finally getting our first hens at the begining of Feb this year.

we purchased 5 x 16 week old hens - 2 x copper blacks, 2 x gingernut ranger and 1 amber star, 7 weeks in and the copper black and gingernut rangers started to lay, at about 28 weeks the amber star had still not grown a comb and then took sick, i rang the lady where we had them from and she suggested i take the sick amber back for her to look at, she swapped the hen for another (cuckoo maran this time) and said she would isolate it and try and nurse it back around and then we could take her back home. unfortunately she died 2 weeks later.

the amber was my daughters and she was deeply upset, but she had her cuckoo maran which helped to take her mind off it.

the maran started to get bullied so we isolated the chicken that was doing most of the bullying and decided to buy two more chickens (pieds) to even the numbers up. After a couple of weeks we reintroduced the other chicken and all was well, then a couple of weeks later the cuckoo maran started to look lethargic so we started to add some herban to their water, a week later the maran died.

so we were then left with 6 chickens (2 x rangers 2 x coppers and 2 x pieds) all finally seemed well, we were getting 4 eggs a day (the pieds not yet laying as they where the youngest). Then this morning i went out to collect the eggs and found one of the pieds dead in one of the nest boxes, strangely yesterday it was running round and looked a picture of health?

i dont know where we are going wrong, and i thought we were doing everything correctly?

i muck them out every saturday, change their water daily, we always add apple cider vinegar to their water, we worm them once a month using vermex. all additives we have given in their water has always been correctluy dosed.

i dust the run, house and nest boxes with diatom weekly, and use redmite cleaner once a month (not that we have had any redmite or other pests) we feed them Heygates layers and occasionally hang a cannage up for them to peck at, we let them out of their run about 3 times a day to free range around the garden.

any help or advice would be great

Many Thanks in advance

Latus

 

[jjthink]

Unfortunately I can't be on BYC much because my computer is too slow with it since the new site was launched, so I am not sure when I will be able to see your response, but I'm sure others will see your posts.

You don't mention where you are located so we can get a sense of the climate. Are you somewhere that has been experiencing wicked heat of late and if so, how do you manage the heat for your birds?

JJ

 

[LizzieJ]

Hi if this is presenting a real problem (and it seems to be) have you checked for mites or other diseases? these can significantly affect a chickens health, if you are really worried id suggest seeking advice from a vet.
Im sorry i cant be much help, we mysteriously lost one of our girls recently too.............. maybe look at the temperature of the hen house? if it gets too hot that can be detrimental to a chicken.................
hope you get some luck soon xx

 

[Red Barn Farms]

Have you thought about taking one of the sick hens to the vet to have it checked? Maybe taking one of the dead chickens to the vet to let them run tests to see what the problem might be.

 

[TeamChaos]

I'm sorry for your losses! I'd start taking a closer look at where they spend their time- is it possible they are picking at old lead paint or eating treated plants in the garden?
Side note- I know everyone has their own opinions on the matter, but I want to mention that worming every month for young chickens, especially when you've seen no sign of infestation, sounds a little intense to me. I'm not saying it's the cause of the deaths or anything like that, just that it could be a contributing stress to their systems.

 

[speckledhen]

You must not be in the U.S. because some of your terminology is not familiar. I have no idea what a "pied" is, but that is not a chicken breed that I've ever heard of. No idea what Herban is. Not sure what a "cannage" is, so forgive all that. Never heard of that brand of layer feed, so I'd guess you are overseas somewhere.


You are introducing birds with no quarantine? First of all, BIG no-no there. Must have 4-6 weeks quarantine time so you can observe that bird for disease and not add it to your flock if it shows any respiratory illnesses; that's right, you'd put it down rather than risk your flock.

No chicken needs once monthly worming so I'd stop that immediately. I may worm my flocks every year and a half, at most. They don't need Apple Cider Vinegar in their water every single day. Sometimes, good fresh water is all they really need.

What symptoms besides lethargy are you seeing? Any discharges from eyes, nose or mouth? Bloated abdomens? Weight loss? Is it hot where you are? Do they have shade? It's too vague to really give us any idea right now what's going on.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Hard to say what the cause of death might be, as lethargy and then sudden death might be worms, or mites, or a disease.

However, here is a handy chart that does list sudden death for fowl cholera (see diagnosis charts at bottom):
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

It is highly unlikely that it would be fowl cholera though, as there are MANY chicken deaths that are sudden with no cause that weren't fowl cholera.

I hope the website helps at any rate.

 

[latus74]

Hi Wow, many thanks for the response, its greatly appreciated, i will try to respond to all questions in one post. I am in England soI don't think heat is a factor, Its currently worse than a typical British summer, its the wettest on record and around 15C.

With the first chicken that took sick we were going to take it to the vets but the lady we purchased her from said to take it back to her instead, so thats what we did, with that chicken it did start to get a messy bottom a day or 2 before we took her back,

they definately don't have mites or any other parasites, i have checked the house and nest boxes regulary and the hens as well, i also dust with Diatom weekly. i often check their faeces for evidence of worms too but nothing.

we do let them roam the garden a few times a day, but there is no lead paint or any paint for them to peck at, they were pecking at some of the plants a while back but i have since put a barrier up to keep them away from the plants, so they basically scratch around on the grass for earth worms and peck at the grass.

regarding the worming, i never knew worming them monthly could be an issue, i was just following the instructions on the bottle, i will stop monthly worming from now on.

sorry for some of my terminology, the "pied" is actually a Pied Suffolk, they are a fairly common cross breed in England, Herban is a natural additive to use at times of stress ect, ant the Cannage was a typo, I should have typed Cabbage.

i didnt think of quarrantining new birds as they are all vaccinated prior to purchase, but this is something i will do in the future, thanks.

regarding other symptoms, the amber that took ill did start to get a messy bottom, and look lethargic, the cuckoo maran was a small bird in the first place but i guess she did loose a little weight but other than looking lethargic there were no other symptoms, no sneezing or discharges, no bloatedness, and their crops felt fine. With the latest bird the Pied Suffolk as i said that looked a picture of health the day before in fact it was once of the fastest birds when i let them out the coop, but it was one of the younger ones and haddn't started to lay.

I am obviously new to keeping chicken but i thought i was doing the responsible thing in not rushing out and buying them and instead we took the time to read up on keeping them, but i guess there is no substitute for experience.

from what i have read on the internet and been told by others, chickens do occasionally die for no apparant reason, but as i have now lost 3 hens since i started keeping them at the begining of Feb something is obviously wrong, Some of you have already point out a few errors of mine so i will start with those straight away.

thanks for the website link also, i will read through that shortly.

thanks again to you all for your help, i greatly appreciate it.

Latus

 

[LizzieJ]

Hi, It sounds like you did all you could before taking on your girls (as did i) and its true there is no substitute for experience, The initial stages of chicken keeping is very much trial and error because there is so much conflicting advice available. Ive found this place to be the best for advice because of the experience of its members. It appears we have both been keeping chickens for about the same length of time! Keep in mind though that in the UK we have breeds of chicken that arent common in the US and we also have indigenous plants that are harmful to chickens that dont grow in the US. Below is a link which contains a list of plants which are harmful to chickens.......hope this helps!
http://wiki.omlet.co.uk/index.php?title=List_of_plants_that_are_poisonous_or_harmful_to_chickens

 

[shoyinck]

Being that you are not in the US but in Europe, it also could be a disease caused by a parasite called coccidiosis. At least on the continent it is a prevailing chicken disease, but there is medication for it.Available at the vet's.
However: it is highly contagious, so any lethargic, puffed up chickens best be isolated from the healthy ones.
I'd give you more information, but the info I have is all in Dutch. I am pretty sure if you google on coccidiosis, you will find all the relevant information.

Hope the rest of your flock stays healthy!