We've been having a run of bad luck this month. In just a little over a week I have lost three hens. Two to illness and one to a predator. (whole different issue) With the first one that was kind of ill I thought it was from a mite problem I was battling for a while. I brought her in right away and tried to give her food and water. She ate a little bit of scrambled eggs and would only take water from a dropper. There were no signs of illness before that day. I've heard chickens are really good at hiding illness until it's pretty bad, but her feathers were in good condition, she was a good weight (not losing), and until that day was alert, eating, and drinking. She died within 24 hours.
Last night one of my very special hens wasn't really herself. The only thing that tipped me off was that she was still in the coop when I came home from work. She was up on the roost just looking out the window. (I let mine free range daily) She was alert, but had a bit of poo stuck to her behind. I was on byc trying to find some answers, but I must not be very good at research. I took her outside and sat in the sun with her for a while and she just kept drinking water. She didn't seem interested in any food and I thought her excessive drinking could have been from being inside all day. We thought maybe I was over-reacting because of the previous two losses so I decided to wait until morning. She was gone before 6 am.
Today also happens to be coop cleaning day and that's when I noticed a spot of bright green poop. It was like neon green. I've never seen anything like it.
I'm wondering if anyone has ideas of what could be going on. Should I look into deworming? The only other thing I have is a probiotic I was given from a local hatchery last week. (part of a free sample of a new product) Its a powder that goes in the water. Would it be ok to try that? I also have two ducks that share a habitat with my chickens and I don't know if I do something for one group is it unsafe for the other.
Everyone else looks normal, but so did the other two the day before I lost them. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Last night one of my very special hens wasn't really herself. The only thing that tipped me off was that she was still in the coop when I came home from work. She was up on the roost just looking out the window. (I let mine free range daily) She was alert, but had a bit of poo stuck to her behind. I was on byc trying to find some answers, but I must not be very good at research. I took her outside and sat in the sun with her for a while and she just kept drinking water. She didn't seem interested in any food and I thought her excessive drinking could have been from being inside all day. We thought maybe I was over-reacting because of the previous two losses so I decided to wait until morning. She was gone before 6 am.
Today also happens to be coop cleaning day and that's when I noticed a spot of bright green poop. It was like neon green. I've never seen anything like it.
I'm wondering if anyone has ideas of what could be going on. Should I look into deworming? The only other thing I have is a probiotic I was given from a local hatchery last week. (part of a free sample of a new product) Its a powder that goes in the water. Would it be ok to try that? I also have two ducks that share a habitat with my chickens and I don't know if I do something for one group is it unsafe for the other.
Everyone else looks normal, but so did the other two the day before I lost them. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
