Help with chicken deaths!

[Kb0507]

Hi!
I have had my flock for the last year and a half. My flock consists of 8 hens, assorted breeds. We've raised them all from chicks. Everyone has been happy and healthy with no problems, not even mites, until 2 months ago. I spend about 10-15 mins every morning watching them after they are opened, to check on everyone. Making sure poop looks good, they are eating, active, so on. I opened my chickens up one morning, went about my business, and checked on them later. All was well. When I went to close them, I found one of my hens in the run dead. I checked her over, found no signs of trauma, sickness, anything. I assumed some freak accident happened, but kept a close eye on the rest of my flock for the next month. I checked the rest of them all over for mites, lice, body weight, diarrhea. No problems showed up. Another month passed and everyone was perfectly fine. Now, yesterday morning I opened the chickens, everyone was fine, we left for the day and when we returned I found my orpington dead in the coop and another on its way out. Again no sign of trauma, body weight was good, no sickness. I had literally just checked my orpington over the day before because I thought she had something on her foot. I had also filled the feeder at the same time and they all ran to it to eat. I'm at a loss of what's going on. Our coop is large, well ventilated, and clean. Attached to it they have a very secure enclosed run and then a large fenced area, covered in netting, that they can dust bathe, scratch, lay in the sun, etc. They are on nutra feather fixer feed, have access to calcium grit, fresh water, and I give them vitamins in the water. My daughters are beside themselves with this happening. Any thought would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Lauren Kim]

Hi!
Sometimes if chickens don't have enough living space, they can peck each other to death. Maybe they are too crowded. 1 chicken should have at least a few square feet of space. I am sorry for the unexpected loss of your chickens, hope this helps.

 

[azygous]

All chicken deaths have a cause, and we just need to find the clues to know what happened.

Some clues to illness preceding death can be washed out pale combs and wattles, lethargy, tail held flat and low while the chicken is nodding off. Thin watery poop. Lameness. Discharges from eyes and nares.

Sudden death can be caused by exposure to petroleum distillates such as hydraulic fluid and insecticide and paint thinner. These need only contaminate small bits of grit to be fatal. You may see some lameness and balance problems preceding death.

Avian viruses can lurk in healthy chickens for a long while, then tumors can kill the chicken in what may seem a sudden mysterious way.

So think back to the behavior of the chickens you've lost. Anything out of the ordinary? Search the spaces they've been hanging around for any contaminants.

And then there are predators. Some such as snakes can enter even small cracks and kill a chicken with a bite that is very hard to detect in the feathers. Inspect your coop and run for such openings.

If you suspect an avian virus may have killed these chickens, it is best to have a necropsy done on the latest victim. It's important to know if your flock is carrying a contagious disease.

 

[Little Chicken Girl]

Welcome to BYC!

That is strange! I am sorry I can't help you... I am not sure what it could be...
However, do you think it is possible they got poisoned (something in the yard or something they ate)? I know poisoning usually causes symptoms but if the poison is deadly, it could be over quickly...

I hope none of your other girls get issues... I will be watching this post to see what others say about it.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi
When you say you found an Orpington dead and another on her way out, it would really help to know the symptoms of the one you think is dying. Without a description of symptoms all any of us can do is have random guesses.

Knowing where in the world you are would give us an idea of climate and possible prevalent diseases that might flourish in the conditions you have. It's really helpful if people fill in their location on their profile page so that it shows up each time you post and saves others having to ask each time.

Chickens are masters of concealing illness until they are too weak to do so, so it could be they have been sick for a while. I've seen sick birds pretending to eat with the others but pick up and drop the same bit of food if you watch them closely.... and I'm not talking about tid bitting like a rooster or broody hen will do for her chicks.

If you want an answer with any certainty though, the only way is to send the carcass of a recently deceased bird for a necropsy. Veterinary universities and state agricultural depts. should be able to do them. The cost varies, so worth shopping around, but the carcass needs to be fresh not frozen, so something to research sooner rather than later if you decide to go that route.

Best wishes

Barbara

 

[Kb0507]

Hi!
Sometimes if chickens don't have enough living space, they can peck each other to death. Maybe they are too crowded. 1 chicken should have at least a few square feet of space. I am sorry for the unexpected loss of your chickens, hope this helps.

Thank you! I'm pretty sure space isn't an issue. They have a very big area to spread out in and there weren't any marks anywhere on her.

 

[Kb0507]

Welcome to BYC!

That is strange! I am sorry I can't help you... I am not sure what it could be...
However, do you think it is possible they got poisoned (something in the yard or something they ate)? I know poisoning usually causes symptoms but if the poison is deadly, it could be over quickly...

I hope none of your other girls get issues... I will be watching this post to see what others say about it.

Hi! Thank you. We did wonder about that. We live in Florida, which is already humid of course, but we've had so much rain this summer that mushrooms are popping up everywhere. I don't know if mushrooms are poisonous to them or not. I haven't see them eating any, but it did cross my mind.

 

[Kb0507]

Hi
When you say you found an Orpington dead and another on her way out, it would really help to know the symptoms of the one you think is dying. Without a description of symptoms all any of us can do is have random guesses.

Knowing where in the world you are would give us an idea of climate and possible prevalent diseases that might flourish in the conditions you have. It's really helpful if people fill in their location on their profile page so that it shows up each time you post and saves others having to ask each time.

Chickens are masters of concealing illness until they are too weak to do so, so it could be they have been sick for a while. I've seen sick birds pretending to eat with the others but pick up and drop the same bit of food if you watch them closely.... and I'm not talking about tid bitting like a rooster or broody hen will do for her chicks.

If you want an answer with any certainty though, the only way is to send the carcass of a recently deceased bird for a necropsy. Veterinary universities and state agricultural depts. should be able to do them. The cost varies, so worth shopping around, but the carcass needs to be fresh not frozen, so something to research sooner rather than later if you decide to go that route.

Best wishes

Barbara

Thank you. I apologize for not having my located listed. I'm in Florida. It's very humid already of course, but we've had a very rainy hot summer. The chicken that was dying was just weak, lethargic. Could stand but wouldn't walk. She wanted to lay down and fall to the side. She kept closing her eyes and had lost color in her comb. At that point, she wouldn't eat or drink. She was perfectly fine in the morning when we opened the coop. I will check into having a necrosis done.

 

[Kb0507]

All chicken deaths have a cause, and we just need to find the clues to know what happened.

Some clues to illness preceding death can be washed out pale combs and wattles, lethargy, tail held flat and low while the chicken is nodding off. Thin watery poop. Lameness. Discharges from eyes and nares.

Sudden death can be caused by exposure to petroleum distillates such as hydraulic fluid and insecticide and paint thinner. These need only contaminate small bits of grit to be fatal. You may see some lameness and balance problems preceding death.

Avian viruses can lurk in healthy chickens for a long while, then tumors can kill the chicken in what may seem a sudden mysterious way.

So think back to the behavior of the chickens you've lost. Anything out of the ordinary? Search the spaces they've been hanging around for any contaminants.

And then there are predators. Some such as snakes can enter even small cracks and kill a chicken with a bite that is very hard to detect in the feathers. Inspect your coop and run for such openings.

If you suspect an avian virus may have killed these chickens, it is best to have a necropsy done on the latest victim. It's important to know if your flock is carrying a contagious disease.

Thank you so much for the info! They don't have access to anything like that, that I can think of. We live on 5 acres, but only let them out when we can watch them. We have lots of predators around. We did have a snake trying to get in the coop a few months ago. I think it was a rat snake though, which isn't poisonous.

 

[rebrascora]

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.