dying from MOLD exposure???????? Thoughts? (please help)

[lilmama]

Hi, I've been posting on here with questions about why my small flock has been dying off. My strongest last two birds are now getting sick this morning. One has already died, and one is very, very ill. (4 hens in all). Has anyone had experience with mold poisioning? We found a big spot of mold under their food in the coop. We are diligent care-takers and this mold was so weird to see. It was very hidden, but there was a huge spot of it. We have since cleaned it all, of course, but I think it's too late. We may get an autopsy on one of the birds if it's not too expensive to see if that's what is killing them but looking for others thoughts.

Symptoms include: lethargy and paralysis symptoms, weight-loss, sleeping all day, into what finally seems like full paralysis and death. Comb stays red. No signs of lice or worms. The very sick chicken still was laying yesterday. Egg looked fine. Today she will not come down off her roost and looks like she is almost gone. The last two are basically "paralyzed" in the yard, sleeping. What I call an "early stage" to what's bound to get much worse.

By the way, this is so horrible.

 

[dsqard]

I would say that it is quite possible the mold is/was causing your problem. I googled chickens eating mold and apparently they can get botulism from it which seems to explain their symptoms. SOOOOOOOO sorry to hear about the loss of your birds.

 

[jerseygirl1]

I would concern myself more if they ATE it, rather than being exposed to the mold. Also,how old are they? I am a firm believer in vitamins and electrolytes being added to their water in case of a vitamin deficiency.

 

[lilmama]

well, I think they did eat it. Because the food container was on a wood crate and spore could have escaped from the place the mold was (underneath) and poisoned the food bits which had dropped on the ground. They are just 6 months old and finishing their first laying season. I will google botulism. Thank you. I couldn't find much on mold and chickens, though one little info I found said paralysis is a reaction. So weird how it just is happening all of a sudden and one after the other.

My husband wants a toxiology (sp?) report because I reported a neighbor for animal abuse- in which a chicken was involved- and the animals were removed. Husband thinks neighbor could be to blame. I think it's a far stretch, and mold is much m ore likely, but anything could be true at this point.

 

[jerseygirl1]

Quote:
I THINK my hens ate moldy feed once and the vitamins and electrolytes really did help, it's cheap, like $5 for the powder at TSC, 1/4 tsp PER GALLON, goes a long way, I isolated them for a few days, I did lose one, but the others are OK

Good luck!