Chickens randomly dying?

[Ceejayzee]

It'll be $30 but I'm willing to pay it to find out what's going on. Since 12/26, we've lost 20 chickens. We only have 8 left

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Wow that's a lot of birds.
It is about $100 here for the whole workup but I have to know what is going on with these rare birds even if I only lose one. So far it has only been heart problems and cancer. No diseases.

 

[Ceejayzee]

Luckily we don't have any rare birds or this would be so much worse...but still really sad.

 

[Eggcessive]

Checking your heat lamp bulb is a good idea from an earlier post. Recently an electrician’s wife lost much of her flock from a replacement bulb being used that they didn’t know was harmful. Only bulbs safe for chickens should be used. Teflon coated bulbs have been responsible for chicken deaths several times in the 7 years I gave been reading BYC. They give off toxic gas. Sorry for your losses, and please let us know what the necropsy shows.

 

[Chickens like to peck me]

maybe sudden death syndrome?

 

[DonaldG]

My chickens are dying also. They get lethargic, go in a corner, just sit down, heads go down and eventually die. Takes about a week. Had 8 birds and down to one. Last one before this died about 2 months ago and the first one was last summer. Tried the warm baths and putting more calcium in the food. Haven’t the faintest idea why they died and neither did my vet. He does think it’s a virus but from where? We plan on getting more chickens in the spring. I do plan on thoroughly cleaning out the coop before putting the new ones in there. Wondering if I should get rid of the chicken left in case she is carrying the virus? The chicken left is one “tough cookie” . Last fall she was attacked by one of our cats. Missing feathers, bloody chest, limping quite badly. Never know it now. And she is the only one laying eggs!

 

[Eggcessive]

My chickens are dying also. They get lethargic, go in a corner, just sit down, heads go down and eventually die. Takes about a week. Had 8 birds and down to one. Last one before this died about 2 months ago and the first one was last summer. Tried the warm baths and putting more calcium in the food. Haven’t the faintest idea why they died and neither did my vet. He does think it’s a virus but from where? We plan on getting more chickens in the spring. I do plan on thoroughly cleaning out the coop before putting the new ones in there. Wondering if I should get rid of the chicken left in case she is carrying the virus? The chicken left is one “tough cookie” . Last fall she was attacked by one of our cats. Missing feathers, bloody chest, limping quite badly. Never know it now. And she is the only one laying eggs!

Mareks disease could be a possibility. There can be many reasons for deaths, including moldy feed, coccidiosis, and others. If you lose the last one, I would get a necropsy by your state poultry lab.

 

[DonaldG]

My chickens would be 3 years old come May.

 

[Jinx3726]

So we've had a lot of chickens just die. No real signs of anything being wrong. Not too hot or cold, plenty of food and water. No signs of attacks or anything. No blood. They'll be acting perfectly fine and then suddenly they lay down, refuse to get up, and are dead within minutes. Any ideas what we should look into?
We brought one hen in that acted funny, she recovered and we moved her back outside. Now we have chicks that were in a separate broader in the same room randomly dying as well. I'm really lost and unsure of what to do.

 

[Jinx3726]

Sounds like a toxin in your soil. What's on the ground? Fertilizer.? For them to die that quick sounds like a neurotoxin. Are you spraying for pests? Sevin?