Failing?

[Rochie92]

Hey all second post second problem.

We are feeling like failures.
My last post was regarding a rooster with Breast scab who is still alive (for now anyway)

Last Monday I noticed my second rooster is lethargic and ill looking. He was also being picked on a hen was picking at his comb which was bleeding. I decided separating him would be best. Brought him inside in a large wire dog crate. He wouldn't roost yet he roosted in the coop when i was trying to catch him. He just laid on the floor. He also smelt terrible. he had poop running out of his butt and it looks like it was probably happening for a day or two. I called the vet who suggested worms it had been nearly 2 months since the last deworming. Tried that he died the following afternoon.

but he was sick.

All was well we watched each chicken. until Saturday we went to the coop in the afternoon to find a hen who must have died overnight and fell off the roost. other hens were eating her she must have been dead before this as there was no blood. as gross as it look we said ok its a one off maybe she was egg bound.

Sunday night another hen died she laid a egg and died right next to it her vent was still open there was alittle blood on the egg. Monday we sent this hen in for a necropsy and have no heard back yet

Monday we gutted the coop cleaned out all shavings nesting boxes water etc. and replaced it all. we also watched each hen picked every individual one up and examined her each one had no feather lost nice fluffy butts good weights healthy looking birds on the outside anyway.

Today Tuesday Morning was fine they were checked on twice once at 10:30 am and again just before 12 noon all good running to the door to great you. at 5:30 pm another dead hen.

I am wondering am I going to lose everyone before I even find out whats happening. We are in a extreme cold warning here tonight -18C with a -36 windchill which also has me stressing.

in 8 days we have lost 4 out of our 10 chickens

 

[sylviethecochin]

I'm sorry. That sounds awful.

Have you had a faecal float done? With what did you worm, and at what dosage?
Sometimes, heavily worming animals does more harm than good, because the worms release toxic chemicals when they die. (EDT: That's a lie. Dead worms clog the chicken's digestive system, which causes toxicity. Important difference. Sorry.)

Worms are not the first things that come to mind when I hear "diarrhea." I think of gut infections/imbalances (like coccidiosis or e. coli) or poison. Had you given them anything new recently?

Are you feeding calcium? What breed and age are your hens? (A lot of "production sexlinks" just don't live very long no matter what you do for them, in my experience.)

Did the cold weather come on suddenly? That amount of cold is something my chickens can handle pretty easily, given a draft-free coop, if they've had time to anticipate and adjust beforehand.

Good luck on the necroscopy.

 

[Rochie92]

We did not have a fecal float done I didn't think that was a option. It probably isn't we a e pretty rural.

They are less then a year we got them all as chicks together last April. They are just backyard mixes no particular breed.

They get grit and crushed egg shells.
The dewormer we use we buy at the farm vet I am unsure of the name it is for birds (turkeys chickens ducks etc). It's a white powder 1 and 1/4 teaspoon per 4L of water.

Black oil sunflower seeds are pretty much there only treat other then the scattered bit of lettuce.

The weather has been difficult warm cold warm cold. January we had a could -20 nights we got some + temps this month but the last week has been -5 or lower

 

[ChickenCanoe]

What state are you in and how old are the birds you lost?

Losing that many birds in short order, I would recommend a necropsy and lab work before you lose more to an unknown cause.

 

[sylviethecochin]

We did not have a fecal float done I didn't think that was a option. It probably isn't we a e pretty rural.

They are less then a year we got them all as chicks together last April. They are just backyard mixes no particular breed.

They get grit and crushed egg shells.
The dewormer we use we buy at the farm vet I am unsure of the name it is for birds (turkeys chickens ducks etc). It's a white powder 1 and 1/4 teaspoon per 4L of water.

Any veterinarian should be able to do a faecal float. It's basically just diluting poop in a solution and looking at it under a microscope to search for parasites.

It won't always come up positive if you do have a high worm load, but it generally gives you some idea what you're looking at--and what you need to treat. Different wormers kill different worms, so if you have roundworms and are treating for tapeworms, you may be flat out of luck.

 

[dawg53]

Worms dont kill chickens that quick, not one after another. Once worms are paralyzed by a wormer, they are absorbed as protein or are excreted. The worms feces is toxic when worms are alive, this is what makes chickens sick, weak and lethargic, then death.

Certain strains of cocci can kill quickly, but usually involves bloody feces.
It sounds like you have something serious going on in your flock.
Please let us know the results of the necropsy as soon as you can. I'm sorry for your losses.

 

[dawg53]

BTW, the wormer you used sounds like Levamisole. It's a very good wormer.

 

[Ribh]

I'm so sorry. Sometimes chooks will just keel over for no discernible reason. Sometimes it's a process of working out what is going on & a lot of that comes from experience.

 

[Kiki]

Where are you located?

 

[Al Capon]

Any chance they got into some Poison rat pellets?