Did cows kill my birds?

[Harris14]

Could the poults have died of pneumonia? They were thriving and doing so good. They would fluff up and eating and drinking good. Then the neighbors cows came up close to the fence line right behind were the poults were and they were sick. The cows had brown runny stuff from there nose, Breathing hard and slobbering a lot. I looked it up it said the cow prob had pneumonia. Raining every day and temp fluctuations prob not helping. The poults would be fine then the next morning dead. Two days later another one. Another two days another one dead. If it was pneumonia from the cows, how long before I can use that kennel again? Would removing the top layer of dirt help or should I just move the whole kennel to another area? How long does pneumonia live in the ground?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

When birds die in short order for an unknown reason, the appropriate course of action is to have a necropsy at a poultry lab. That is the only way to know for sure.
What state/country are you in?

 

[Susan Skylark]

Most bovine viral pathogens don’t affect birds and vice versa, most bacterial pneumonias are stress related (opportunistic bugs already present get out of hand under stressful conditions). While it is theoretically possible the cattle passed something to your birds, a necropsy and lab work up are needed to verify. A more productive approach would be to look at environment (hot, cold, wet, dust, wild birds), nutrition (mold, change in feed, access or lack there of), housing (new birds introduced, wet/dirty conditions, dirty water, air circulation, drafts/over heating), and potential stressors (predators, sudden changes in weather or management, parasites, poor nutrition, over crowding…). Diagnosing sudden death in a flock is complicatwd and multi factorial, and a necropsy is the first and best clue, not the neighbors cows!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

HPAI was found to have made the jump between birds and is now present in (dairy) cattle in several states across the US.

Necropsy may be free or affordable depending on your state if in the US.. a link with contact info follows..

https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html

Sorry for your losses, hope you find answers!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

HPAI being Avian Influenza. Look it up and learn how to be careful not to infect yourself. I don't think it's likely but I do believe it's possible. However, as @ChickenCanoe observed, the only way to know for certain if this is what you are dealing with is to have a bird necropsied (animal autopsy). Do not freeze the bird, but double bag it in plastic bags and refrigerate it before sending to the appropriate state lab. Good luck to you.

 

[Harris14]

I can’t necropsy. The birds all died and not here anymore. The poults cage was right next to the fence. I have at least 75 chickens. They are all fine. The poults were doing great. Then just started dying. One every 2 days until all were dead. They were raised here. No new birds were introduced. There cage was made so wild birds can’t get to them. Only explanation was maybe the cows. Which are still sick with whatever they have. Or the weather. It is hot then rains and temps drop drastically. It’s been raining off and on. At night the poults were put in there house cause they wouldn’t roost in there by themselves. I’ve raised turkeys here before just fine.

 

[Harris14]

Thinking back the only symptom I seen was stumbling when walking. They would start to stumble then 24 hrs, dead. No coughing. No sneezing. No pus or drainage. One had green runny poop before it passed. This is driving me nuts on what it could’ve been. The rainy weather? The cows? I’m racking my brain and searching possibilities.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Could the poults have died of pneumonia? They were thriving and doing so good. They would fluff up and eating and drinking good. Then the neighbors cows came up close to the fence line right behind were the poults were and they were sick. The cows had brown runny stuff from there nose, Breathing hard and slobbering a lot. I looked it up it said the cow prob had pneumonia. Raining every day and temp fluctuations prob not helping. The poults would be fine then the next morning dead. Two days later another one. Another two days another one dead. If it was pneumonia from the cows, how long before I can use that kennel again? Would removing the top layer of dirt help or should I just move the whole kennel to another area? How long does pneumonia live in the ground?

Or the weather. It is hot then rains and temps drop drastically. It’s been raining off and on. At night the poults were put in there house cause they wouldn’t roost in there by themselves. I’ve raised turkeys here before just fine.

Thinking back the only symptom I seen was stumbling when walking. They would start to stumble then 24 hrs, dead. No coughing. No sneezing. No pus or drainage. One had green runny poop before it passed.

I have at least 75 chickens.

It's time to get a necropsy.

You are talking about Turkey Poults correct?

Wet, rainy, hot, cold - drastic temp fluctuations...

Coccidiosis. Getting wet/cold.

Did feed get wet and mold?

NO respiratory symptoms. While it's possible, AI is something I would consider last.

How old were these poults anyway?

 

[Harris14]

It's time to get a necropsy.

You are talking about Turkey Poults correct?

Wet, rainy, hot, cold - drastic temp fluctuations...

Coccidiosis. Getting wet/cold.

Did feed get wet and mold?

NO respiratory symptoms. While it's possible, AI is something I would consider last.

How old were these poults anyway?

Yes turkey poults. They were around 9 weeks old. Fully feathered. They usually ate the feed before the rain. I never feed while it’s raining. They never had any respiratory symptoms. They would be fine then one would start to stumble over itself. Then about 2 days later we would go out and it would be gone. The last poult had runny green poo which the others never had. There poo looked fine.

 

[Harris14]

Yes turkey poults. They were around 9 weeks old. Fully feathered. They usually ate the feed before the rain. I never feed while it’s raining. They never had any respiratory symptoms. They would be fine then one would start to stumble over itself. Then about 2 days later we would go out and it would be gone. The last poult had runny green poo which the others never had. There poo looked fine.

It’s been a while and the poults are all dead and gone. But it just aggravated me that all these babies died and I don’t know why. I’ve raised them before in the same pen with the same feed and so on. I don’t know what happened so I’m scared to get any more turkeys now.