Chickens randomly dying with no signs or symptoms?!

[JanetS]

Sorry for your loss. Have you thought of using a game/trail camera? That way you would know if there was a 2 or 4 legged predator involved. It would just narrow down some
of the possibilities. I hope you get some answers before you lose anymore. Please keep us posted.

 

[Cowgirl1238]

We were going to set one up last night but we had a really late night in the field shelling corn. So probably tonight we will set one up. No chickens dead today though!! yet...

 

[Cowgirl1238]

I also forgot to mention why we think they might have gotten poisoned. A person in my life did something very morally wrong. I stood up for the truth, now they're mad at me. Long story short anyway, lol. My husband and I were gone to Colorado elk hunting for two weeks, right around when this person got mad at me. Right when we got back is when we noticed the water was off, and they haven't laid a single egg in 4 or 5 days, since we got back. I had 22 chickens, now down to 19 since 3 died. Shouldn't some of them still be laying??

 

[ChickenCanoe]

How old are they and what breeds?
Do you know how long they went without water?
Who was caring for your birds while you were gone?
Stress will interfere with ovulation. If this is their second or subsequent autumn, they could be starting to molt.

 

[Cowgirl1238]

They just turned 1 year old, except for two younger ones who I got this past spring, they are about 4 months old.
Like you said with stress interfering with ovulation, I'm not sure what they would be stressed about?

 

[Cowgirl1238]

Oh, and it was less than a day they went without water. The morning before we found it empty it was full. That was the day we got back from Colorado.

 

[steven29128]

Welcome to Back Yard Chickens !

Good Luck with your chickens.

 

[Cowgirl1238]

Thank you Steven! and again, sorry ChickenCanoe, I forgot another answer!! lol my brain is not with it this morning. They are all rainbow layers except for the babies, they are Ameraucana's

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I thought stress from the change of routine since you were away and new people feeding them. There could have been predator threats while you were away.
I had a beagle attack once. It didn't kill any birds but just scared the heck out of them and I didn't get an egg from that flock for 2 months.
Also, your year olds may be getting ready to molt.

 

[JanetS]

If you think there's a possibility that they could have been poisoned I wouldn't eat any of their eggs anyway.