Chickens dying with no explanation

[farmwife2016]

So here is a little background story... I am very new to the farm life and never raised chickens in my life but my husband wanted us to get chickens this past spring and I agreed and for the first while everything seemed well and good. We lost a chicken or 2 due to pecking issues but solved the issue quickly. As our laying hens got to age they seemed fine, laying eggs every other day or so then every day... then October hit and we lost 4 of our layers within a month. We started with 13 and since October we have lost a chicken or 2 every month or so and we are down to 4 as of this morning.

We can’t seem to figure out what we are doing wrong! We are grain farmers in Canada and so we were feeding them a mix of grains from our bins as well as any fruit we had that was soon to go bad and we also mixed in some chicken feed that we got from our local store thinking that maybe they are not getting enough nutrients.

What are we doing wrong? Any answers will be much appreciated as we need all the help we can get.

Chicken symptoms: lethargic but still eating and drinking. *note* we always seem to find them in their nesting boxes when they pass

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

What breeds? I would switch to an actual ration. Feeding grains can lead to internal fat, which can cause lots of problems, and sudden deaths. Have you had an necropsy done on any of the deceased or cut them open to see if you see any obvious problems?

Are you providing oyster shells for the calcium needs?

 

[Chickens :)]

Is it a sudden death or do you notice they are unwell before they die? Some of my chickens ate some sort of poison and not long after had a fit before dying. Has there been a sudden temperature change. Because they may be dying from shock. My chickens over the years have not died from dramatic temperature change but have stopped laying and seemed really unwell for about a 2 weeks to a month. But I live in Australia so I don't know what the weather is like where you live. I hope this helps. Good luck with your situation.

 

[Eggcessive]

It might have to do with their diet, possibly eating mold spores, but hard to tell. Layer feed would be better for them. There could be something infectious, but without getting a necropsy by your state poultry lab. I would examine their crops to see if they are emptying by morning, look the survivors over for lice and mites, feel their chests for weight loss, and look at droppings for blood, mucus, or diarrhea. Sorry for your losses, and welcome to BYC.

 

[nminusyplusm]

It sounds like it was most likely malnutrition. Unless you really know what you're doing, feeding them a commercial feed that has been formulated to meet their nutritional needs is your best bet.

 

[farmwife2016]

What breeds? I would switch to an actual ration. Feeding grains can lead to internal fat, which can cause lots of problems, and sudden deaths. Have you had an necropsy done on any of the deceased or cut them open to see if you see any obvious problems?

Are you providing oyster shells for the calcium needs?

We have white leghorns and we have given them lots of oyster shells. We haven’t cut them open or anything to really inspect them.

 

[farmwife2016]

Is it a sudden death or do you notice they are unwell before they die? Some of my chickens ate some sort of poison and not long after had a fit before dying. Has there been a sudden temperature change. Because they may be dying from shock. My chickens over the years have not died from dramatic temperature change but have stopped laying and seemed really unwell for about a 2 weeks to a month. But I live in Australia so I don't know what the weather is like where you live. I hope this helps. Good luck with your situation.

Our temperatures change quite a bit in the winters from +3C to -35C with the windchill within a day or two. The only thing we notice is that they get lethargic the day or two before they pass. Other than that they seem fine.

 

[farmwife2016]

It might have to do with their diet, possibly eating mold spores, but hard to tell. Layer feed would be better for them. There could be something infectious, but without getting a necropsy by your state poultry lab. I would examine their crops to see if they are emptying by morning, look the survivors over for lice and mites, feel their chests for weight loss, and look at droppings for blood, mucus, or diarrhea. Sorry for your losses, and welcome to BYC.

I don’t know that we even have a poultry lab close by. We are in a very rural area and we get our chicks sent to us by mail from a city. We have noticed that a lot of our eggs have very bloody shells as well. My husband is the one that checks on our chickens most of the time as I’m pregnant and was told by my doctor to stay away from the coop because of the bacteria.

 

[micstrachan]

+1 to something feed or nutrition related. The bloody eggs may be a clue, as well. I agree you should start with examining your remaining chickens and see if you learn anything there. Also learn where you can send one in for necropsy next time you lose one. So sorry for your losses.

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

What breeds? I would switch to an actual ration. Feeding grains can lead to internal fat, which can cause lots of problems, and sudden deaths. Have you had an necropsy done on any of the deceased or cut them open to see if you see any obvious problems?

Are you providing oyster shells for the calcium needs?

Chickens need to be feed a complete poultry feed made and specifically developed for chickens. They need at lot of essential nutrients and vitamins that are contained in their feed. Feed only scratch and other treats very sparingly, otherwise it will dilute the nutritional balance that they need to have to be happy and healthy. Most likely they are not getting the right balance of nutrition and its causing internal problems. Fat chickens are not healthy chickens, the epidemic of obesity in backyard chickens is staggering.

Most are feed to death by well meaning caretakers that just do not understand the critical balance of the complete nutritional needs of chickens.

For example I use Purina poultry feed that I can get at my local Tractor Supply Store. It has all the things that my birds need plus oyster shells to help them form strong egg shells. Some people like to give their birds extra calcium by supplementing with oyster shells, that is fine too.

Raising chickens is very much a live and learn experience. As much as I researched before I got my first chickens I still made mistakes and am still learning 8 years later. Don't take it too hard, when starting out its a sharp learning curve, you will learn as you go. I would just change their diet immediately to a balanced poultry feed that has all the nutrients that they need. For the remaining birds I would not feed them anything but their chicken feed and some electrolytes in their water. I would suspend all treats for a while to let their bodies get all they need from there feed.

Here is a link to what I use for my birds.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/purina-layena-plus-omega-3-poultry-feed-40-lb?cm_vc=-10005