Cold Weather Issues! Help, please!

[Firefoot]

It was a broody hen hatch. They were separated with the hatching, and the mother has never been part of the big flock. She's a pretty paint silkie, so I've wanted to give her special treatment, and I don't think that throwing her in with all the other brutes would help keep her clean. The eggs were some of my own that I pulled over from the main flock when she went broody. All parents are completely healthy and over a year old. I give them a diet of layer feed and an occasional treat of seed or cracked corn. Sometimes we give them fruit or bread, but not that often.

About a week before the first chicken died, it was in the 80s weather-wise. Then it dropped down to the 40s during the day and lower in the night. The reason I thought of dehydration was because, in my reasoning, when it's very hot outside it makes the chickens thirsty, so they don't need to remind themselves to drink, but when it suddenly drops down cold, it doesn't make them as thirsty and they don't see a reason to drink as much.

I don't know what the other stuff was. It was a type of pesticide or something that was designed to rid parasites, such as lice and mites, from your flock. I've used it on my chickens and sprayed it inside the coup. It is also good for keeping out nasty flies. I don't have the original container that it was in, so I don't remember what it was called. I got it about a year ago.

That does seem like a pretty sudden temperature difference. I know with horses I'd be watching for colic left and right. And yes, I do think the cold doesn't make them as thirsty, so dehydration could be a factor.

I would try to get a fecal float done just to rule out worms. And if you're sure you don't have mites, and if you don't see any other symptoms that indicate a more serious illness, then a good vitamin/electrolyte for a few days would help. Does their feed have a probiotic? Probiotics, whether in their feed or yogurt, etc., might also help. I think in your other post said it's down near 0 degrees now? So if you're suspecting they're not acclimated to the weather yet, and assuming they are in a dry, draft-free coop, I used hot water bottles last winter on my coldest nights. Obviously it doesn't last all night but it helped a lot. My birds were in a little pre-fab coop with the "roosting bars" like 4 inches from the floor. So I filled glass jars with very warm water and put them along the bars and they would huddle up with them. It worked well and was very safe. On a couple particularly bad nights I baked a giant brick in my fireplace, wrapped 3 sides of it in foil, and put it along the wall facing the birds with little foil shields to direct heat.

 

[AGirlAndHerChickens03]

That does seem like a pretty sudden temperature difference. I know with horses I'd be watching for colic left and right. And yes, I do think the cold doesn't make them as thirsty, so dehydration could be a factor.

I would try to get a fecal float done just to rule out worms. And if you're sure you don't have mites, and if you don't see any other symptoms that indicate a more serious illness, then a good vitamin/electrolyte for a few days would help. Does their feed have a probiotic? Probiotics, whether in their feed or yogurt, etc., might also help. I think in your other post said it's down near 0 degrees now? So if you're suspecting they're not acclimated to the weather yet, and assuming they are in a dry, draft-free coop, I used hot water bottles last winter on my coldest nights. Obviously it doesn't last all night but it helped a lot. My birds were in a little pre-fab coop with the "roosting bars" like 4 inches from the floor. So I filled glass jars with very warm water and put them along the bars and they would huddle up with them. It worked well and was very safe. On a couple particularly bad nights I baked a giant brick in my fireplace, wrapped 3 sides of it in foil, and put it along the wall facing the birds with little foil shields to direct heat.

I just gave their coup a thorough cleaning today and there were no bugs to be seen. They all got some free-ranging in and took some DE baths. I haven't been able to let them free-range too much, because of some Bald Eagles we've been having hang around the chickens.

All of them seem to be acting healthy, but I've thought that before. I'll have to get them some probiotics and vitamins. Maybe I'll add a little more ACV to their water as well. I've only got one of the young ones left, so we'll see how she does. She's a Polish crossed with a mysterious white hen (White Rock?). She's very pretty.

 

[aart]

What all and how exactly do you feed?

Curious what their diet is.

I like to go back to the basics of good feed and plain water before adding a bunch of supplements.

took some DE baths

Are they breathing this stuff?

 

[AGirlAndHerChickens03]

Curious what their diet is.

I like to go back to the basics of good feed and plain water before adding a bunch of supplements.

Are they breathing this stuff?

They have a consistent diet of layer crumbles with some grit mixed in. They will get some seed, cracked corn, fruit or bread once in a while as a treat.

The ones that died did not breathe any DE in. I try my best to keep the others from breathing any in, but I'm sure they end up breathing some in. DE is fossils from an underwater creature. It works to kill the lice from the inside when they eat it, and can mess with a chicken's respiratory system. I've done the research on it.

 

[aart]

It works to kill the lice from the inside when they eat it

Ummm...nope.

 

[AGirlAndHerChickens03]

Ummm...nope.

Posts differ. Some people say it kills them from the inside, and some say from the outside. I've found ones that say both.

 

[Cayuga momma]

Food for thought
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/21673156/

 

[aart]

Food for thought
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/21673156/

Interesting study, actually read the whole thing, not just the abstract.
Study was done for 2 types of commercial egg layers and increased their 'value' by 6 and 3 cents per bird per day.
DE/Clay mix added to feed reduced some internal parasites but did not eradicate them.
Dusting with same also reduced but did not eradicate, even with the subsequent study conducted on birds already infested with NFM.
Most interesting is that it worked better on one breed than the other.

Supports my conclusion that DE might help as a preventative,
but will not take care of an infestation.

It works to kill the lice from the inside when they eat it

Ummm...nope.

Posts differ. Some people say it kills them from the inside, and some say from the outside. I've found ones that say both.

People say...SMH....don't count on it.
If you see any sign of lice, use permethrin once a week for 3 weeks.

 

[Cayuga momma]

Interesting study, actually read the whole thing, not just the abstract.
Study was done for 2 types of commercial egg layers and increased their 'value' by 6 and 3 cents per bird per day.
DE/Clay mix added to feed reduced some internal parasites but did not eradicate them.
Dusting with same also reduced but did not eradicate, even with the subsequent study conducted on birds already infested with NFM.
Most interesting is that it worked better on one breed than the other.

Supports my conclusion that DE might help as a preventative,
but will not take care of an infestation.





People say...SMH....don't count on it.
If you see any sign of lice, use permethrin once a week for 3 weeks.

I read the whole study too after I found the abstract. I also thought it was interesting if how it worked better on BB (internally).
I think there will need to many more studies with DE for me to feel confident enough to use it.

 

[aart]

I think there will need to many more studies with DE for me to feel confident enough to use it.

I think any more studies would reach the same conclusion.
People will still tout it's supposed effectiveness
(usually those who have never had pests to begin with),
except the ones who have used it and still had disastrous infestations.

I can't count the number of threads(dozens) I've read about internal or external pest infestations that include the line 'but I used DE'.

The only thing I am sure DE is effective for is with grain mites in feed bags, which is why many feeds contain it.