Help with chicken deaths!

[Kb0507]

Does the sick chicken show any signs of respiratory problems.... open mouth breathing etc.... Aspergillosis (a fungal infection in the airways) can kill quickly and with warm humid conditions like in Florida, that may be a possibility.... I read a thread on here a while back where someone put some wood chips down in their run and they lost nearly half their flock to it, one bird suddenly dying after the next. It was discovered on necropsy and the source of aspergillosis was found to be the wood chips..... autumn is the time for fungi to thrive.

Hi! That morning I didn't notice any open mouth breathing. When I found the one dying, she would breath with her mouth open on and off. She died over night

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry for your loss.

If you still have her body, consider refrigerating her and sending her to your state lab for testing - this will give some answers. Here is a link to your state lab http://www.freshfromflorida.com/Div...on-Animal-Disease-Diagnostic-Laboratory-BADDL

If sending her in is not possible - then try to take some fresh poop samples to your vet for testing of worms, Coccidiosis and bacterial infection. Hot, humid weather with lots of rain can cause any of these to get out of control quickly.

Watch to see that they are all drinking well, that their water stations are kept clean and that your food is staying mold free - dry feed molds fast in the type of weather you have. Even here in NC it can mold in a matter of days in Summer.

Keep us posted.

 

[Kb0507]

Thank you so much, everyone, for all the helpful information. Unfortunately, my husband buried both chickens. I wasn't home all day and he didn't know. So, no necropsy. I'm going to collect a poop sample and take it to a vet to check for any issues. We also tore apart the coop, sanitized everything, and put in fresh shavings. Our remaining 5 girls all look good. Alert, eating, drinking, active, good comb color, solid poop, and good weight. Hopefully we can get some answers and the rest of our flock stays healthy.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I hope all goes well for you.

 

[williamsingr1]

Check their poop and take a sample to the vet for detection of coccidiosis, its been a terrible year for all birds and a deadly killer striking quickly if not detected early. Cure and treatments are listed here in various places

 

[williamsingr1]

If one has it they all have it and you need to treat them all as it is contagious and spreads around easily, generally caused by eating earth worms and pooping it out and it gets in their poop and they re eat it and it mutates into back head and then you got a bigger problem even more deadly as the protozoan are very hard to kill and your whole pen has to be sterilized as the protazoan can live in the soail for 3 years infecting your birds over and over. However once treated , chickens generally develop an immune to it as chicks when given the medicated starter feeds with amprolium

 

[Kb0507]

So, we think we found the problem. Death cap mushrooms. They've been popping up all over our yard and we didn't realize what they were. I've removed all that I have seen but they keep popping up. Is there anything that we can treat the ground with, that's safe for the chickens, and will keep them away?

 

[azygous]

Right off the top of my head, how about trying a garden fungicide? It would be sulfur based. Mix it up and spray liberally all over the area the chickens range. But you still need to do a mushroom patrol several times a day to be sure none are still popping up.

I've had the same problem here. I was trying to identify the many mushrooms and I gave up and just dug up all of them while keeping the chickens confined during the damp period.

 

[Kb0507]

Right off the top of my head, how about trying a garden fungicide? It would be sulfur based. Mix it up and spray liberally all over the area the chickens range. But you still need to do a mushroom patrol several times a day to be sure none are still popping up.

I've had the same problem here. I was trying to identify the many mushrooms and I gave up and just dug up all of them while keeping the chickens confined during the damp period.

Thank you! I will go to the store and get some. Yeah, they are everywhere, since it's been so rainy and humid. I haven't let them out since we realized what they were, but they are popping up where our girls can get at them.

 

[sbhkma]

How can you identify them? I'm now very worried, as after the flooding from Harvey we have mushrooms springing up.