Experienced Chicken Keepers-What Are You Losing Most of Your Hens To?

[speckledhen]

A year and a half after I began this thread, we still have not lost any to predators, which is an absolute miracle, considering where we live. We have lost more to internal laying and other reproductive issues, including ovarian carcinoma.

Zane, my handicapped rooster, died suddenly of what we believe was a heart attack at the age of four-and-a-half years. He was crowing his heart out in his cage, then was just gone. He wasn't ill, nothing wrong, no symptoms, he just left us.

Still, no contagious respiratory illness here, though we battled fungal infections in a few of the older birds during that last brutal summer with its protracted heat/humidity they weren't used to, brought on by constant wetting of the pens to keep them cool.

 

[suebee]

First off...I only have silkies (9 years).
All free range.

0 Predators
8 internal laying
1 heat stroke
1 pendulum neck
2 poisoning of some sort~organic.

The rest unknown because I sold them.

 

[aoxa]

A year and a half after I began this thread, we still have not lost any to predators, which is an absolute miracle, considering where we live. We have lost more to internal laying and other reproductive issues, including ovarian carcinoma.

Zane, my handicapped rooster, died suddenly of what we believe was a heart attack at the age of four-and-a-half years. He was crowing his heart out in his cage, then was just gone. He wasn't ill, nothing wrong, no symptoms, he just left us.

Still, no contagious respiratory illness here, though we battled fungal infections in a few of the older birds during that last brutal summer with its protracted heat/humidity they weren't used to, brought on by constant wetting of the pens to keep them cool.

I'm there with you. Never lost a single one to predation.

Lost 1 from egg binding.
Lost my first 5 (all from the same breeder) from something that made them all very weak. Nothing contagious, as they were with the rest of the flock and only those five were affected.

We aren't talking chicks are we? We're talking full grown chickens..

Breakdown:

First 5 died - were weak and kept getting skinnier and skinnier (despite many attempts at worming, dusting, etc for pests), Two of these five could have been from internal laying. Both had a hard time starting back up after their moult, 3 never laid, even though they were all over 6 months, and all under a year old.

1 silkie was killed by my LGD who was 3 months old at the time.
1 BO - Egg bound, prolapsed (possibly from uterine infection from the ordeal. The egg itself was expelled).

 

[MA Mama]

Lost 2 by hawks and one by an unknown disease I am still trying to figure out, maybe Mareck's.

My question fo ryou all is this? So clearly hatchery stock is not the heartiest or healthiest. But then again, they are easy to get vaccinated. (I am bitter at mareck's right now.) What's the answer? Where can I get robust birds that will actually live and not break my heart?