Zach66
In the Brooder
This is my first time with chickens so this is all very frustrating. I'm hoping to get some information to help me figure out what disease they have because I'm convinced they have something. I had 6 originally and likely in the next hour I've lost my 4th in the last 4 weeks. I had rationalized the death of the last 3 to something but now this forth had similar symptoms to one of the others. So now I believe they have something. I'm looking for any help in preventing death to my last 2, who as of now seem healthy.
My background....I got 6 chickens from a local feed store in late January so they are all about 5-6 months old. They have been laying for about a month or so. We lost our first one about 4 weeks ago. The underlying summary of all of them is that they have developed symptoms and died all within 24 hours or less, so very quickly! That was the case with her. She did not have any symptoms other than lethargy. I found her in my yard just very lethargic late in the day. No visual signs and wasn't shaking or anything. I just picked her up and put her in the coop that night and she was dead by morning.
The 2nd one we thought died from chocking...this was just last week. She was doing what we thought sounded like coughing/gagging. Her mouth was watering with saliva dripping down. We tried to give her some olive oil but she wouldn't swallow. We brought her inside in a bathtub and over the next 6 hours just kept getting worse until she died.
The 3rd happened a few days after the 2nd. I saw her that morning and she seemed totally fine. I got a call from my wife about 4 PM that day and said my daughter had found her face down in the yard. They brought her inside and tried to give her water but she wounldn't take any. We thought it was heat exhaustion since we live in the Phoenix area. However, the others were fine. There are many people with chicknes in Phoenix and you don't hear of too many heat exhaustion cases. We do put ice out and run sprinklers to help. But we still thought she just got overheated. She had laid an egg that day.
However, our last one just happened this morning. She was totally fine last night and went to bed fine in the coop. However, we heard her doing a similar coughing noise, or something that didn't sound like her regular noise. I went out to check on her and she was clearly not well. She let me pick her up. Her legs were shaking. Her mouth was watery with saliva. I didn't notice watery eyes, (I didn't recall seeing watery eyes with any of them). I checked the coop and she had just layed an egg. Over the last hour she's gotten worse and she may be dead as I'm writing this. Her neck was drooping and she isn't moving. Her symptoms seem somewhat similar to the 2nd that died...which makes me certain that they have something. Also, I'm assuming it isn't normal to lose so many so quickly. They have not all had the exact same symptoms but it has got to be, right?
So I'm asking for any help in figuring out what is going on. I did some quick searches online and didn't quite see anything which was obvious. Whatever it is, it is hitting the extremely fast. All the cases they've gone from perfectly fine to dead very quickly. I now only have 2 birds. This really hasn't been enjoyable seeing so many die so quickly. I'd like to save our last 2 somehow, although they seem fine as of today.
Thanks everyone. If there is any other information that would help please let me know.
My background....I got 6 chickens from a local feed store in late January so they are all about 5-6 months old. They have been laying for about a month or so. We lost our first one about 4 weeks ago. The underlying summary of all of them is that they have developed symptoms and died all within 24 hours or less, so very quickly! That was the case with her. She did not have any symptoms other than lethargy. I found her in my yard just very lethargic late in the day. No visual signs and wasn't shaking or anything. I just picked her up and put her in the coop that night and she was dead by morning.
The 2nd one we thought died from chocking...this was just last week. She was doing what we thought sounded like coughing/gagging. Her mouth was watering with saliva dripping down. We tried to give her some olive oil but she wouldn't swallow. We brought her inside in a bathtub and over the next 6 hours just kept getting worse until she died.
The 3rd happened a few days after the 2nd. I saw her that morning and she seemed totally fine. I got a call from my wife about 4 PM that day and said my daughter had found her face down in the yard. They brought her inside and tried to give her water but she wounldn't take any. We thought it was heat exhaustion since we live in the Phoenix area. However, the others were fine. There are many people with chicknes in Phoenix and you don't hear of too many heat exhaustion cases. We do put ice out and run sprinklers to help. But we still thought she just got overheated. She had laid an egg that day.
However, our last one just happened this morning. She was totally fine last night and went to bed fine in the coop. However, we heard her doing a similar coughing noise, or something that didn't sound like her regular noise. I went out to check on her and she was clearly not well. She let me pick her up. Her legs were shaking. Her mouth was watery with saliva. I didn't notice watery eyes, (I didn't recall seeing watery eyes with any of them). I checked the coop and she had just layed an egg. Over the last hour she's gotten worse and she may be dead as I'm writing this. Her neck was drooping and she isn't moving. Her symptoms seem somewhat similar to the 2nd that died...which makes me certain that they have something. Also, I'm assuming it isn't normal to lose so many so quickly. They have not all had the exact same symptoms but it has got to be, right?
So I'm asking for any help in figuring out what is going on. I did some quick searches online and didn't quite see anything which was obvious. Whatever it is, it is hitting the extremely fast. All the cases they've gone from perfectly fine to dead very quickly. I now only have 2 birds. This really hasn't been enjoyable seeing so many die so quickly. I'd like to save our last 2 somehow, although they seem fine as of today.
Thanks everyone. If there is any other information that would help please let me know.
