Help loosing a bird every day or two

[Cindy2348]

I have some 10 week old meaties and every day or two starting about a week ago one dies. It seems fine at one part of the day and then later it is just laying there not looking well, eyes closed and then by later it is dead. We did one in the other day before it died, it was just laying there eyes closed not moving much at all. When we cleaned it his crop was empty and seemed very full of fluid. One died this morning and another is not doing well again tonight and will be dead by morning. We disposed of the one we cleaned the other night as we did not want to eat it if it was sick. Any ideas what is going on and what we can do to save the rest of the flock till it is their time to be butchered? Should be just butcher them all now? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Cindy2348]

Anyone?

 

[canada-goose]

I know almost nothing about meat birds but....
It could be fluid in the body cavity. Here is an article on ascites: www.millerhatcheries.com/InformationFactSheets/Disease_Info/Ascites (waterbelly)_in_Meat_Chickens.htm
Basically, reduce feed intake if this is the problem.

 

[MandyH]

How old are they?

 

[canada-goose]

Quote:
Ten weeks old.

 

[henningheather]

Ok, we raised Cornish Cross meat birds this spring and are again raising them now. We butchered all of the roosters at 8 weeks and they dressed out at 5 to 6.5 pounds. The rest we butchered at 10 weeks and they dressed out at 6 to 8.75 pounds. After much research, we decided to feed our birds 12 hours during the day and then take their food completely away for 12 hours at night. We did not lose any of the first 51 and are on week 7.5 and haven't lost any of the current 42.

Do you feed yours around the clock? If so it could simply be that they eat around the clock and growth is so great that their systems cannot keep up and they spontaneously die. This is the reason we chose to feed 12 on and 12 off. I am still new to raising meat chickens but have so far been successful. I did tons of research first and that helped me to make decisions that have been good for us.

Are your birds moving around much or are they too big to walk very far? If so, it is time to take them to the processor or butcher them yourself. They are considered a terminal bird from day one and trying to keep them alive beyond the harvest time will only lead to heartache. I also read that they tend to die from 7 weeks on, and more so every week from there.

Hope this helps some and I am sorry about your losses. Good luck with the rest!

 

[sammi]

what bedding are you using?
could they be eating the bedding and getting obstructed?
what are feeding?

describe the droppings in detail..color and consistency..
meaties can be prone to cocci..

as henningheather posted...meaties are fed differently then layers with butchering early..otherwise they can start to have health problems from weight.
how much do your's weigh?

 

[henningheather]

http://www.millerhatcheries.com/InformationFactSheets/Disease_Info/Ascites%20(waterbelly)_in_Meat_Chickens.htm

Then entire above link need to be copied and pasted into your browser to pull up the link even though only part of it looks like it should be there. Good luck!

The link didn't work when i clicked it so I found it and am trying to repost it for you.

 

[Cindy2348]

Quote:
Yes I got it to work earlier. Thanks so much for the info that is exactly what is wrong

 

[Cindy2348]

Quote:
Thanks so much for the info that is exactly what is going on.