Chickens slowly losing weight and dying

[csb146]

Hello,
I’m fairly new to chickens and the last 3 months are so I’ve been loosing some birds and can’t figure out why. Over the course of about 3 weeks they start to self isolate and seem to just slowly waist away until they get so weak I have to cull them. They all seem to still be eating and drinking, but they are still just waisting away. They have plenty of room and I clean the coop regularly. They’re on a non gmo feed and I add some supplements to one of the waterers.

Any ideas? I’m assuming it could be a host of things but it’s starting to be a real bummer.

 

[AGeese]

Maybe a parasite.

 

[nuthatched]

I'm sorry you're having difficulties.
How old and what type of feed? What symptoms?

 

[BarnyardChaos]

@azygous @casportpony @Wyorp Rock can you help?

 

[sourland]

Have they ever been wormed ?

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

What does their poop look like? Coccidiosis is a likely culprit and might show up in poop

 

[SourRoses]

What are the supplements you add to the water?

Some things can come with hidden risk of toxicity.
I.e., livestock mineral blocks can be contaminated with heavy metals. Herbal extracts can grow microbes, etc.

What does their poop look like?

 

[azygous]

All we can do is make guesses. The way for you to find out for certain and to prevent further deaths is to take the most recent dead chicken to your state lab and request a necropsy. Or you can select the current sickest chicken and the lab will euthanize for you and do the exam.

If you will provide us with your location we can help you locate your state lab(s) if you are in the US.

Causes of weight loss can be from cancer tumors from an avian virus, from parasites, bacterial infection, etc. You can try treating for worms and coccidiosis, and you can safely do both at the same time. You can even toss in an oral antibiotic to cover a possible bacterial infection, and something may work. But the necropsy will give you concrete information and remove all guesswork.

 

[csb146]

Have they ever been wormed ?

They have been dewormed. I did have a worm problem a while back but I feel like I have that under control.

What does their poop look like? Coccidiosis is a likely culprit and might show up in poop

So I have noticed the sick birds have had a very green colors poop compared to the rest of the flock and it tends to be runny and not solid.

 

[csb146]

What are the supplements you add to the water?

Some things can come with hidden risk of toxicity.
I.e., livestock mineral blocks can be contaminated with heavy metals. Herbal extracts can grow microbes, etc.

What does their poop look like?

They’re all poultry specific. I also add ACV into one of their waterer as well.