Help! 3 Dead Chickens!

[wcrittenden]

I lost a chicken about 2 months ago to an illness I could not figure out. We gave her electrolytes, warm baths in case of egg bound, checked her crop, everything. Her only symptom was lethargy, refusal to eat and her tail was down. She died after a couple days.
Fast forward to this week, I had another chicken die of the same thing except they only seemed lethargic for a few hours and then dropped dead. Now another one is acting sick!!
The one that is sick now is lethargic, separated from the flock, and is having white/milky diarrhea that is sticking to her vent area.
None of the birds have had respiratory symptoms or bloody poop.
They get good food, have access to calcium and a nice size coop.
I have researched everything on the internet and found no answers.
Please help me save the rest of my flock!

 

[SmiYa0126]

Hello! Can you post pictures? What are you feeding them? Were they all the same breed of chicken? Where are you located?

 

[wcrittenden]

Hello! Can you post pictures? What are you feeding them? Were they all the same breed of chicken? Where are you located?

They are all reds. About 2 years old. We feed them the typical 16% layer feed. I don’t have any pictures right now but the vent is covered in white poop. No other visible signs of illness. I live in Illinois. The weather has been pretty typical but not too hot so I know it’s not that.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Can you increase their protein? Get all flock and do 2:1 layer and all flock. White poop is urates, their "pee". What do their droppings look like? How do their crops feel at night?

 

[rhode_island_brunette]

I'm sorry I have no good answers for you, because this just happened to one of my chickens. All seemed fine, then went to check on them and she wouldn't get up. Lethargy was the only symptom. Comb/wattle was bright red. No egg stuck in the vent. She died that night. I hope someone else can answer your question. I would think if it were worms or a respiratory illness there would be other symptoms!

 

[mcdze]

im no expert chicken doctor but had chickens for 15 years or so .. in my experience symptoms like that sound like poisoning .. something they got into ..

 

[Eggcessive]

The best way to find out what caused a death is to have your state vet pathologist do a necropsy in their lab. It is worth a call to find out details and how to get a body to them. Here is a list of most state vets:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html

 

[defazzy]

There's many reasons for sudden death. Is poisoning a possibility? Did she have access to algae? Some infections can be devastating

 

[rhode_island_brunette]

Mine might've had access to algae! That might be a good thing to check for! Any standing water? Containers that filled up with rain and then sat?