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

[MrRushed]

Sounds like a lot of genetic problems from hatchery stock.
What would cause that?
Over breading bloodlines like with dogs?
I bought all my chickens from local farms out of a CO/OP. They look great and have been very heathy too.

 

[Judy]

All but one of my hatchery birds were lost to predators, about 15. The one is unknown but I suspect eggbound or similar -- didn't do a post, wish I had.

 

[Illia]

Quote:
To me, everyone's got their own opinions of health and looking great. Most hatchery stock defects are quite likely due to two things:

One is the conditions of the parents you got your chicks from. Crooked toes, Feather growth issues, leg issues, etc are all due to problems in the parent stock. I for one have NEVER seen what conditions the parent stock have been through, so I'm pretty sure that with the hatchery's ability to sell so many chicks, the conditions are pretty poor. I'd love to crack some eggs from a hatchery to see how pale the yolks are.

Two, I'd believe is from overbreeding to production quality. Hatcheries have the main goal of looking for the hens who lay the most eggs, not hens with a good amount of meat or good standards. Ever notice the low rate of broodiness in hatchery birds? Or the lack of gamey intelligence in their American and Oriental Gamefowl? This focus in production leads to short lasting birds, eggbound issues in birds, birds with weather intolerance (since they aren't bred to tolerate anything but their confinement) and lack of room for internal organs. Since the birds are thinner in body type, there is less room for adequate lung, heart, and digestive spacing.

Just my opinions; Nothing backed up by a lot of evidence, as I've yet to see hatcheries come out to their customers on how their brood stock is confined, treated, or bred.

 

[centrarchid]

Illia,

When it comes to genetics, I am inclined to agree, but also will expand problem to how we do our show strains. It is very difficult to breed at a single facility for characteristics of productivity, soundness and appearance. Requires too many birds. Part of fix would be increased rates of swapping brood stocks between hatcheries and those breeding for other purposes. Constraint to better gene exchange is bio-security.

 

[Beekissed]

I lost some, say 4-5, a few years ago to what appeared to be heart attacks.....just dropped off the roost in the middle of the night and displayed purple combs and wattles. These were Black Stars and a few Dominiques...all from Meyer's via MPC.

Lost two to hawks sometime last winter/early spring~my good LGD was getting too old to be vigilant anymore.

Lost a few chicks to a black snake the first batch I got on this land about 4 years ago.

Lost one Red Star hen someone had given me to a drowning...tried to drink from the dog's bucket and fell in.

None to any kind of illness~unless you count the cardiac problems~ or reproductive problems.

 

[2many2count]

I have to say we havent had health issues to cause problems yet but the coyotes were horrid for 2 yrs now we have a wild ferrel cat that thinks my chickens are lunch.

 

[mississippifarmboy]

Haven't noticed a difference in the numbers of hens versus roosters. I've lost more hens, but then again I have more hens.

We hatch out (or buy) around 300 chicks a year and I'll usually lose a few before they are a week old. maybe 3 or 4 all together, so around 1% to 2% chick loss. I lose a few to predators each year (Only one I can remember this year so far) and I found a 5 month old Jersey Giant hen dead in our big cull pen shelter last week. We had a cold snap and I think she just got "Squished" as I still have several that are just too dumb to use the roost and sorta pile up under it still. No signs of sickness or injury, so just a mystery death.
We have lost more chickens over the years to stray dogs and 'coons than any other reason. I guess we've been lucky, I never feed medicated feed and only medicate when I see sure signs of something going on. Most springs we will have just a few get a runny nose or something, but unless it's serious I just let it run it's course. So far no problems. We don't let people go in our pens when we have company or visitors and I always seperate any new birds for at least a month (Sometimes longer if I don't need that coop at the time).

 

[seminolewind]

In 3 years of chicken ownership, I've lost 3 hens.

white silkie 1 yr old, no idea. Just dead one morning. From breeder.
Clarisse, was my 1st hen, a BO, hatchery, 3.5 years old. Comb turned blue, she was real tired, and died. I'd have to say cardiac or production hen old age.
Olivia, Blue Orp, 6 months old. Although I always saw her eat, she never ate enough. Under all those fluffy feathers was just skin and bones.

I don't think chickens, ESP hatchery chickens, were ever bred to live long, just produce like mad. Clarisse laid 6 eggs a week for 3 years. Even the day before she died.
Cynthia, like you, I still miss them terribly.

 

[Tam'ra of Rainbow Vortex]

I would say DOG is the biggest killer I have known in my flock.
I have also lost:
2 to hawks (white silkie roo, BLRW pullet)
3 to illness, all at different times, with different symptoms, and no one else got sick. (1 BLRW roo, one SPW hen, one BR hen)
1 mysteriously keeled over dead (Speckled Sussex pullet)
1 had an infected wound (breeding project roo)
3+ vanished chicks I blame on cats
1 broody died from heatstroke/not eating or drinking enough... she just wouldn't leave the nest and I didn't realize because she and her twin sister were both broody together and I thought both were taking care of themselves.

All But the breeding project roo were hatchery birds.

 

[chickenzoo]

I have lost over the past six years, including today.... A few bantam cochins to some unknown issue. Seem fine, walk past their cage a few mins later, flipping over, eyes shut, ...death.... No symptoms.... Lost a few to egg binding. . Have had a RIR hen run to me and then drop and die.
Lost a few Silkies to worms I think, one to egg binding... Some to unknown
my beloved Sophie, at six years old, a house chicken... To some unknown after recovering from Pox.
Lost a Serama hen to sudden death when being picked up.....
some in the beginning of my chicken raising to respitory illness, before I knew better....
Ran over two with a golf cart.....