Dying chickens

[Weaverfinch]

My chickens are in a coop, screen cloth buried 12" in ground, tarped and surrounded by logs, fed and watered twice a day, can't find any holes in coop, the coop was locked with zip tie last night and one chicken was still dead this morning. WHAT am I doing wrong?

 

[McChooky]

Chickens can't be fed once or twice a day. They have to have food at all times.They will eat enough to fill their crops every day before they go to bed.They also have to have grit for it to digest. If they are going to bed hungry & you aren't feeding them correctly (during the day)they can die from malnutrition and hunger.The same is true about water.You can change it as many times a day as you want but they must have access to water all day.

 

[Weaverfinch]

Chickens can't be fed once or twice a day. They have to have food at all times.They will eat enough to fill their crops every day before they go to bed.They also have to have grit for it to digest. If they are going to bed hungry & you aren't feeding them correctly (during the day)they can die from malnutrition and hunger.The same is true about water.You can change it as many times a day as you want but they must have access to water all day.

They have food buckets out there that are always full and I refill their water bowl every day. It never runs dry.

 

[Weaverfinch]

2, about a month ago

2 about a month ago, figured it was canned corn that killed them. Haven't fed them that, since. Only fresh vegetables.

 

[McChooky]

Apparently you were concerned the chickens didn't like the corn when you posted the question 'Will a chicken starve itself to death if it doesn't like the food?'

How many chickens do you have now and what do you feed it/them?
Please post photos!

 

[Weaverfinch]

The buckets have regular chicken feed in them, the other bag is Purina Start & Grow

 

[cluckcluckhens]

In the summer I change their water often. Two to three times a day if it's really hot. I'm talking about 90 and 100. Feed ours goes through about three fill ups a day but, I have nine chickens. We use Purina feed for the chickens here. Never had any problem with this. What I do is I am always in the run watching their water levels and feed. Remember that squirrels will take the chickens feed always. If it's hot outside I pour all water out and give them cold water. I'm not perfect in the water department but, I did learn the hard way. I used to just fill their containers up on hot days. Don't do this we lost a girl one year by just pouring cold into the container that had hot water. Read all you can on chickens. Feed, water, treats and you should be fine.
So sorry this happened to you. If you're not sure do some searches on the web. I do this allot. Just think of them as your feathered kids. We have these and cats.

 

[Weaverfinch]

It looks like predators are getting inside the coop thru the gaps in the door or the top.
Its got too big of a gap in both the top and the door. If you don't have anywhere else to keep them you might want to keep them inside or re-home them.Predators can get inside any opening less than 1/2". Sorry for your loss!

I put pallets underneath the small chicken coop that's in the large chicken coop and filled it all the way around with cement chunks. Also, put plywood over the pallets inside the small coop to keep the chickens from falling through. PLEASE, tell me that if predators get inside the large coop, they still won't be able to get the chickens if they're locked up in the small coop? I won't put them outside until I've taken down a few coons.

 

[Weaverfinch]

I also thought I would attach tin cans to the gap in the door, adding screen cloth to the roof and putting up the barb wire I have.

 

[McChooky]

Sprinkle cayenne pepper all over the floor so if a predator gets in the run it'll set it on fire.