Dropping one by one

[summerhatch]

Happy New Year! Can someone help with my medical mystery?
So my free range hens seem to be dropping slowly, one by one. I don’t notice anything until they start acting isolated, then loss of appetite, and their bottoms are a bit crusty. No respiratory issues. They had worms a few months ago, but we battled that and they were clear when rechecked. The last one who died (about 5 days ago) showed these symptoms, so I immediately isolated her but she didn’t last more than 2 hours. She was also VERY thin but you can’t see that under her feathers-I only noticed when I picked her up. These hens are only about 10 months old, so it’s not like they’re dying from old age. I’ve lost about 4 like this in the last few months. I now have another who is acting “off”…I offered her scrambled egg and she walked away. NOT normal. Any ideas?

 

[Eggcessive]

What are you feeding? Do you have any compost beds, moldy feed, or poisonous plants they could have gotten into? Did a vet do a fecal float to look for coccidiosis or microscopic worm larvae that cannot be seen in their poop?

What state are you in? Most state vets will perform a necropsy on a dead chicken, if you keep the body very cold, not frozen, and take it in to them M-F. That is the best way to know what is going on in your flock. Here is a list of state vets to contact in your area:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html

 

[Canina]

Happy New Year! Can someone help with my medical mystery?
So my free range hens seem to be dropping slowly, one by one. I don’t notice anything until they start acting isolated, then loss of appetite, and their bottoms are a bit crusty. No respiratory issues. They had worms a few months ago, but we battled that and they were clear when rechecked. The last one who died (about 5 days ago) showed these symptoms, so I immediately isolated her but she didn’t last more than 2 hours. She was also VERY thin but you can’t see that under her feathers-I only noticed when I picked her up. These hens are only about 10 months old, so it’s not like they’re dying from old age. I’ve lost about 4 like this in the last few months. I now have another who is acting “off”…I offered her scrambled egg and she walked away. NOT normal. Any ideas?

I know nothing about birds really so take this with a grain of salt but it seems like a gastrointestinal issue if they're all going off their food and have diarrhea. So what are you feeding them, what kind of feeder do they eat out of and how often is it totally emptied of old food and cleaned, have you changed feed recently, has the weather change recently (feed gone mouldy?), you've ruled out parasites so I guess maybe some kind of bacterial infection or virus or some other parasite not covered by the wormer if it isn't broad spectrum because my first thought is coccidiosis or similar? What did you use to treat the worms? Did you clear the area for toxic plants before letting the free range because I see people grazing their horses in fields with obvious ragwort, nightshade and hemlock everywhere all the time. What's your cleaning routine like and what substrate are they on? Are they drinking normally? Are you giving them extra electrolytes or vitamins in their water? How big is the coop, how well ventilated is it and is there any chance at all you could have any damp/mould? All I can think of sorry if stated the obvious.

 

[charlotte-and-the-bees]

Definitely send one for a necropsy if you can, it could prevent more losses. We just had Leukosis confirmed in our flock with similar declines, but so many things can cause these issues as others have mentioned.

 

[summerhatch]

I know nothing about birds really so take this with a grain of salt but it seems like a gastrointestinal issue if they're all going off their food and have diarrhea. So what are you feeding them, what kind of feeder do they eat out of and how often is it totally emptied of old food and cleaned, have you changed feed recently, has the weather change recently (feed gone mouldy?), you've ruled out parasites so I guess maybe some kind of bacterial infection or virus or some other parasite not covered by the wormer if it isn't broad spectrum because my first thought is coccidiosis or similar? What did you use to treat the worms? Did you clear the area for toxic plants before letting the free range because I see people grazing their horses in fields with obvious ragwort, nightshade and hemlock everywhere all the time. What's your cleaning routine like and what substrate are they on? Are they drinking normally? Are you giving them extra electrolytes or vitamins in their water? How big is the coop, how well ventilated is it and is there any chance at all you could have any damp/mould? All I can think of sorry if stated the obvious.

Thank you! So coop is huge (I call it my poultry palace), treated them all with albendezol liquid, clean their coop pretty well (just cleaned it again the other day), very very well ventilated, seem to be drinking ok, food is constantly refilled in feeder and it’s stored inside so no mold and nothing new other than crumbles vs pellets (same brand), haven’t done the electrolytes so I will work on that one. Not sure of toxic plants but they do get into the compost. I am careful not to put any potatoes there but not sure what else they may have gotten into

 

[Eggcessive]

I would block them from getting into the compost.

 

[Canina]

tHANK

Thank you! So coop is huge (I call it my poultry palace), treated them all with albendezol liquid, clean their coop pretty well (just cleaned it again the other day), very very well ventilated, seem to be drinking ok, food is constantly refilled in feeder and it’s stored inside so no mold and nothing new other than crumbles vs pellets (same brand), haven’t done the electrolytes so I will work on that one. Not sure of toxic plants but they do get into the compost. I am careful not to put any potatoes there but not sure what else they may have gotten into

Thanks for the detailed reply, even if I can't help all the suggestions and details in this thread will be useful contextual info for future readers. Hopefully some vitamins give them a boost even if it doesn't 'fix it'.

Sounds great so far though are you 100% sure there's no chance of mould stored indoors? Only saying this because I am in an apartment where I was unaware of severe rising and penetrating damp for months until it got really, really bad (visible). Has the manufacturer of their feed changed their recipe recently? Have you found anyone else with similar issues on the same brand on Google?

It seems really dumb as chickens are meant to live outside and scratch in dirt but is there the possibility of botulism or other soil borne bacteria in the compost? Botulism is meant to only really occur in anaerobic conditions yet a study found it in something like half of compost containing vegetables so the jury is still out on that one.

I am probably massively overthinking and overcomplicating things though. I think the suggestion of a necropsy ASAP is by far the best next step.

 

[summerhatch]

What are you feeding? Do you have any compost beds, moldy feed, or poisonous plants they could have gotten into? Did a vet do a fecal float to look for coccidiosis or microscopic worm larvae that cannot be seen in their poop?

What state are you in? Most state vets will perform a necropsy on a dead chicken, if you keep the body very cold, not frozen, and take it in to them M-F. That is the best way to know what is going on in your flock. Here is a list of state vets to contact in your area:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html

Yes to compost and they do get into it. But I would think more than one at a time would be affected? We are in NC. Vet did fecal float a few months ago and was cleared. Thanks for the link!