Chickens dying

[christyinmo]

I'm hoping someone can help on this forum. I have now 3 chickens that have suffered from the same issue. They seem perfectly healthy, then start showing some poop on their tail feathers. When I examine them it's just on their feathers and not affecting the vents or egg laying. Then, within a couple days they become sluggish and die. The vents are clean and pink.

This last hen started showing symptoms, so I did a dewormer on her (pill). I usually do natural deworming, so this was a measure I took just to be sure. Yesterday when I picked her up she had a white long tube like thing coming out of her vent - not sure what it was - didn't seem like a worm. She's super sluggish today. I'm hoping she will make it.

They all come from the same flock (we have two) and are about 2+ yrs old. They free range in our pasture/yard, have a clean coop and water.

Anyone else have this happen?

 

[nuthatched]

What wormer did you use?
There's really no such thing as natural dewormer, they're not effective.
Sounds like a reproductive issue, what breeds are they and what's their diet?
It's odd that they would all get sick at once.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Yesterday when I picked her up she had a white long tube like thing coming out of her vent - not sure what it was - didn't seem like a worm. She's super sluggish today. I'm hoping she will make it.

Welcome To BYC

Do you have photos?

From your description, a white long tube coming from the vent is probably an egg membrane. Was she able to expel it or were you able to help pull it out?

I'd get extra Calcium into her ASAP. Give 300mg Calcium Citrate+D3 now, then once daily for a week. If you don't have that, give her a TUMS now, then once daily for a week.

See if you can get her take sips of sugar water (1tsp sugar to 1cup water) to get hydrated and to bring glucose levels back up.

What do you feed, do you provide oyster shell free choice?

Unfortunately, reproductive issues can be common in laying hens. So starting to lose a few at around 2yrs of age can be something that one may encounter. It sounds like the losses were spread out a bit, but if they have all died within the last couple of weeks of one another, then further investigation is needed. If you lose this hen, then having a necropsy through your state lab or doing your own at home would be a good idea.


You gave a pill for deworming, was it a Poultry Dewormer5X capsule? If so, one pill will not deworm unfortunately. I'll give you a link to figure how many capsules are needed to deworm a hen. Most of us just use Safeguard Liquid Goat Dewormer 10% or Albendazole (Valbazen) for deworming. If you want that info, let me know.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/are-these-normal-poops.1553393/

I'm hoping someone can help on this forum. I have now 3 chickens that have suffered from the same issue. They seem perfectly healthy, then start showing some poop on their tail feathers. When I examine them it's just on their feathers and not affecting the vents or egg laying. Then, within a couple days they become sluggish and die. The vents are clean and pink.

This last hen started showing symptoms, so I did a dewormer on her (pill). I usually do natural deworming, so this was a measure I took just to be sure. Yesterday when I picked her up she had a white long tube like thing coming out of her vent - not sure what it was - didn't seem like a worm. She's super sluggish today. I'm hoping she will make it.

They all come from the same flock (we have two) and are about 2+ yrs old. They free range in our pasture/yard, have a clean coop and water.

Anyone else have this happen?

 

[christyinmo]

Welcome To BYC

Do you have photos?

From your description, a white long tube coming from the vent is probably an egg membrane. Was she able to expel it or were you able to help pull it out?

I'd get extra Calcium into her ASAP. Give 300mg Calcium Citrate+D3 now, then once daily for a week. If you don't have that, give her a TUMS now, then once daily for a week.

See if you can get her take sips of sugar water (1tsp sugar to 1cup water) to get hydrated and to bring glucose levels back up.

What do you feed, do you provide oyster shell free choice?

Unfortunately, reproductive issues can be common in laying hens. So starting to lose a few at around 2yrs of age can be something that one may encounter. It sounds like the losses were spread out a bit, but if they have all died within the last couple of weeks of one another, then further investigation is needed. If you lose this hen, then having a necropsy through your state lab or doing your own at home would be a good idea.


You gave a pill for deworming, was it a Poultry Dewormer5X capsule? If so, one pill will not deworm unfortunately. I'll give you a link to figure how many capsules are needed to deworm a hen. Most of us just use Safeguard Liquid Goat Dewormer 10% or Albendazole (Valbazen) for deworming. If you want that info, let me know.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/are-these-normal-poops.1553393/

Thank you for this information! I did pull out the white membrane. I had given her two pills of the Poultry dewormer, but will get her the Goat Dewormer also (it shouldn't hurt her). Is it a one-time dose? They do get Oyster shells free choice. I will also get the Tums in her now.

They did all come from the same place. We got them about 4-5 months ago from another family. They all seemed fine at the time and we did quarantine from our home grown flock.

Thanks agin.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you for this information! I did pull out the white membrane. I had given her two pills of the Poultry dewormer, but will get her the Goat Dewormer also (it shouldn't hurt her). Is it a one-time dose? They do get Oyster shells free choice. I will also get the Tums in her now.

They did all come from the same place. We got them about 4-5 months ago from another family. They all seemed fine at the time and we did quarantine from our home grown flock.

Thanks agin.

Yes, I'd give the Goat dewormer.

Is she perking up a little?

Are all the ones you got from the other people hybrids, like Sex links or similar?