HELP my meat birds are dying!

[JaxChickenHouse]

I had a group of 18 meat chickens in outdoor housing. They were doing great, looking great! We went away for the weekend and they still looked fine when we came home.

Last night they looked fine. They were all alive this morning. When I got home 8 were dead, and three look like they are going to follow. The ones that look poor that are still alive are kind of crouching and looking lethargic, two of them have started to eat once I put feed right in front of their face, but one will not eat.

Not sure where to go from here. I don't want to lose the rest. They are about 4.5 weeks old, we were going to butcher them on May 9th... I have some antibiotic but have not started treating the others. They were sneezing at about 3 weeks but we gave them a round of antibiotics and they seemed great, energetic and healthy. I know they can die of heart problems but considering the three that look ill, I think some bug has swept through the flock. Any thoughts would be great!

Thinking I will dissect one or two of the dead ones, what would I see that might indicate illness.... I know what looks normal but, is there anything in particular I should look at when doing my un professional PM?

Thank you!!!

 

[vonrow]

Bloody stools / vents/ cloaca could point to coccidia, a nasty parasite that tends to cause all sorts of mayhem to your flock at about the 4+ week stage. A "runny nose" or a "sneazey" bird/s might point to a flu-like virus. Fetid water can wipe out a flock pretty fast too.