Chickens keep dying??

[xrystak]

So we started off this spring with i think 20(baby) chickens, 1 rooster(adult) that i received from my grandmother, a duck(adult) who i had had for two years but was living with my grammas chickens for the winter, and 6 ducklings. I had my brother build a fairly large coup with a fenced enclosure. Plenty of room basically. One chicken died by accident before they were put into the coup. (i should also mention,when the chickens were inside as well as when they were first placed in the coup they were on medicated feed and sort of weaned off after awhile) first the chickens were put in, then the rooster and adult duck, and then the ducklings. First my rooster died, the day before he died he wouldnt really get up, was dead the next day when we fed and checked on them. Didn't know why, but I wanted roosters to protect them so I bought two roosters off a guy. Fast forward to now and we have lost all of our ducks, all the roosters, and all but 5 chickens. I can't find anything wrong with the bodies, we've tried many things, I honestly can't remember all the things we've tried. I know we tried spraying them for mites, but it rained the next day and although it rarely floods down there, it did that day so that didn't get a real chance, we've tried antibiotics i think it was, in there water. tried cleaning it out. We want to get more chickens next year, and possibly more ducks, but I don't even know where to start with what is killing them. Also we never have gotten any eggs from any of them. Dess, the adult duck ,was laying when she got here, but after a month or two she stopped. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[fawndane]

I would get a necropsy done by a state avian vet.

 

[azygous]

You may have an avian virus that has been killing your birds. The place to start is to save the next one that dies, refrigerate the body, and look for an agricultural lab to do a necropsy. They will dissect the body, look at and weigh all the organs, and look at tissue samples under a microscope at what bacteria and viruses might be living in these tissues. They will then tell you exactly what killed your birds.

 

[ChickNanny13]

So sorry to learn of your loss of chickens, it pretty discouraging & sad. As recommended a necropsy is the best way to find out what's going on. Either a Vet or try contacting your Dept of AG, they maybe able to refer you to someone that can do a necropsy.

Glad you joined us, sorry it's on such sad note. BYC Members are the very best of the flock