Cornish Question

[bigredfeather]

I lost one today. It was one of the bigger ones. It was laying right next to the feeder, almost flat. I'm guessing it was trampled to death. I guess it could have been the flip thing. I have been letting the feeder go empty everyday. When I feed them, it's a mad house in there.

 

[greyfields]

They get trampled post-mortum.

 

[bigredfeather]

Can they die of a heart attacks at less than 4 weeks of age?

 

[greyfields]

Yeah. But they can die of a lot of things at 4 weeks of age. 21-28 days is usually when the first wave of coccidiossis takes out the weak ones.

 

[bigredfeather]

Is there always blood in their poo if they have it? I make it a point to check everyday for blood, and have not seen any. I doublt I would miss it.

 

[greyfields]

The blood may not necessarily be visible. The only way to be sure would be to take a fecal sample to a vet.

The bottom line is that broilers die for no apparent reason and through no fault of your own.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

If you lose another one in the next few days you can do a necropsy to see what's wrong. At this age, unless your losing a lot everyday, can only be a handfull of problems.

First open the bird up.... if lot's of fluid comes out the cavity (yellowish) than it was flip.... If this is the case keep an eye on the others and possibly restrict the feed. Best way to do this is at night and simply turn the lights off. If it's too cold to turn the lights off use a red bulb at night.

If no fluid.... go straight for the liver... When you stick your hand in it's the first thing on top just below the heart. Grab it and pull it out... if you see little pin marks on the liver or white spots it could very well be cocci... It could also be a handfull of other diseases as well and only a culture can verify which one. Your closest State University can run the test for under 30 bucks.

Jeff

 

[chickenma]

What do you do with the birds that flipp? Compost / trash?