Help My Hens Are Dying!!!

[tarillow]

Quote:
No there's no way I have 'em against any rules we live in the mountains. If I don't have any luck with a vet I'll check into the ag thing.

 

[speckledhen]

Haven't read the entire thread, but that many acting that way and the liquid draining out makes me wonder if you got some moldy feed. That will kill a bird very quickly, pretty much kills the crop function. Do the crops feel "doughy"? Empty? Hard? Gassy?

 

[chickenzoo]

The OP said they keep the feed dry, but I know on one or two occasions I bought feed and when I opened it , it had mold in it already.....towards the bottom. Please, if you can, dump your feed in a plastic pale and inspect it all the way through...... it can be hard to tell. That could be the problem.

 

[speckledhen]

Yes, that just happened to me for the first time ever. Didn't see mold till they'd eaten most of the bag. Lost two hens to that problem when their crops ceased to function.

 

[tarillow]

Well Bossy is doing better. I've had her in for about 2 days now. And she's up and walking around normal now and not breathing so funny. And she's eating and drinking really good. Last night I gave her apple cider vineger and I think that mighta done the trick. All the other girls seem to be fine. I'm starting to think that my rooster Black Jack is being to hard on the girls. 'cause tonight when I was feeding and checking them over I found that one of my ee hens has a bald back like all her feathers have been ruined. So I think I'm gonna have to figure out how to seperate him or get rid of him.

Thanks,
Shane

PS: Thanks to everyone for their get advice and help. You've all been wonderful. Be safe and have a merry christmas!

 

[ruth]

You mentioned you feed/water them twice a day and in another post you said they have feed available at all times. Do they have water available at all times - or - on the times that you found one dead between feeding/watering were they out of water? They can literally drink themselves to death so it's possible if they were out of water and you watered them that one of them drank too much, died, and when you returned to the coop you found it dead with water running out of its beak (just taking a wild guess). You did mention that they run up and start drinking while you are refilling so that leads me to believe they are running out of water.

How many chickens do you have and how large is the coop/run? If you buy the 5 gallon water fonts they shouldn't run out of water in a matter of hours.

 

[tarillow]

Quote:
They do have food and water at all times. But I have to add water twice a day to keep it from freezing or running out when I'm not home. And I use a big plastic tub for their water. The same goes for their feed. And they do come running sometimes when I'm adding to either one because the water is warmer and they want the better part of the feed before the other chickens. And I watch my chickens alot when I'm home and they don't over drink. I have around 30 or so chickens but 14 are younger ones. And the hen that had water out of its mouth I found it outside in the run.

 

[chickieeee]

we are having the same problem!!! we live in ontario canada, finding our birds laying there still alive but barely and within half hour they are dead!!