Hello Everyone!

Hi everyone,

I am very excited to join the community and learn about chickens. I do not know very much. I have 4 older chickens, 3 years old, and 6 new Columbia rock cross chicks.
Unfortunately, I have lost 2 chickens due to illness. I do not know what happened and would like to be more knowledgeable. Is it normal for chickens to die of illness? How long do they live?
Thank you so much and hope everyone has a great day.

 

Thank you so I much for the welcoming. I appreciate all the responses. My chickens are a red sex link, a cross between a a rhode island red crossed with a leghorn. We bought them 3 years ago this March. They started laying in late July and each would produce 1 egg a day. Then last summer, we went away for a week and when we came back I noticed that there was ones that did walk, did eat nor drink. She was just lethargic. her poop was very runny and dark. I treated with liquid, yogurt, srambled eggs. I did not notice any wrong with her breathing, no mucus. We thought she an egg stuck and gave her warm baths. Nothing worked, she was ill and died. I did not worry about the rest because I did not see anything contagious. The remaining five were fine, but then the production of eggs declined and we would only get one egg a day. I can't kill them so I decided to keep them as pets. My children are little and they also like the chickens.
We got 6 new chicks on Tuesday morning and they have been in a homemade incubator. They are doing fine. This morning I went to give the older chickens food and water and gave them some veggies. When I went back at noon to let them out of the coop, I noticed one of them did not go out. She just stayed in a corner laying down. I picked her up, inspected her. No hard areas I her body, no wounds, but her breathing was heavy and her eyes were half closed. I got her out of the coop, put her in a box and she had seizures and died. It was all so sudden. I cleaned the coop, clean water, new food and hope the rest will be ok.
Anyway, i hope my new chicks are healthy, they are called, Columbia white rock cross.
I hope everyone has a wonderful week,

 

Thank you for great welcome messages. This is like the beginning of a journey. A never-ending journey into chicken country. I am happy the rest of my chickens are healthy. The chicks are growing and getting feathers. I think they are ready for life outside the coziness of our kitchen. I was wondering about the save-a-chick powdered packages they sell. Are they good for the summer when they start getting hot? I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend.