HELP!!!

[tarheel4lif3]

I am raising araucanas and they are about 14 weeks old. There living conditions are good. But all of a sudden one will die. I dont understand. They aren't acting like they are sick, no animal can get in the pen. For example went out yesterday morning about 9 to feed them and they were fine. Went to work came back and one was just laying there?! I dont know what to do!!

 

[ole-crone]

Check the yard to make sure there aren't any poisonous plants for one thing. Look around to see if it got into anything else it shouldn't have. Good luck - something like that is so frustrating!

 

[kstaven]

Araucana's can be problematic. Many of the genetic lines are stretched rather thin and have little diversity which leads to a less than thrifty and hardy chicken. Sorry to say this, but losses are not uncommon. It is a challenging and sometimes frustrating breed to work with. You will also find that many "araucana" advertised out there are not as advertised.

If you are planning on breeding I would suggest a book titled "Rings in their ears" A lot of good information on the breed and the challenges that go along with them. A search on the net will find some good information and A LOT of misinformation on the breed.

I wanted to add that unless you managed to get VERY good stock hatch rates will be very low and egg production is maybe half of other standard breeds.

With young araucana you can help cut losses by providing daily fresh greens and cooked egg to the diet. Unlike many other breeds they just don't flourish on standard chicken feeds when they are young.