Chickens going crazy and killing themselves

[ChickenSuicideEmergency]

I lost my entire pen of chickens. They were turning up dead every night and I had no idea what was happening.

Then one morning when I was pouring them their feed I witnessed a chicken suddenly go insane for absolutely no reason, start running, flying and ramming it's body back and forth into the walls of it's cage until it dropped dead. Then a second one did this some time later.

Does anyone have any idea why my chickens went insane and killed themselves? Is there a virus or a parasite? I am so confused by what I witnessed. I have no idea what in the world caused them to commit mass suicide and what to do to prevent it happening again.

 

[MissChick@dee]

No it’s not suicide.
You have something other than a chicken in the coop/run. Go inside and look. BETTER yet take some pictures so we can answer your um question.

 

[Shadowfire]

Yes, I agree, pictures would help. Sorry about your chickens!

 

[ChickenSuicideEmergency]

There is absolutely nothing inside.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Have you been inside?

 

[MissChick@dee]

Pictures of the outside doesn’t help.

 

[ChickenSuicideEmergency]

Yes. I have been in there. I have to go inside to feed. Nothing in there.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

It sort of looks like there's gap where something could crawl under the run to get inside

 

[ChickenSuicideEmergency]

I sat there and watched them kill themselves. The inside had nothing in there. You have to go inside to feed and get eggs. There was nothing. They appeared to be doing it for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

 

[centrarchid]

Can you go out and take picture of birds on the roost?
Is there something rotting in the run they might be eating?
How has the feed been stored?

Get them on fresh feed tomorrow morning and discard old stuff.