hens cant stand??????

[dollie]

i have a question to ask new joined today for this reason.. in the past 6 months i have had 4 hens go down cant get up and eventually dies. we just checked one this morning to see if she was eggbound i followed ya'lls directions with the oil and all nothing. they can move their legs, head, eat and r pooping, but tailfeathers are droopped to the ground and cant stand up? i went ahead and put her down. they have no sniffles, no bloody stools, eyes clear no sores feathers are nice and shiny no mites they r free range i lock them in the barn at nite and open it in the daytime. they have fresh water, eat scratch and anything else they can find on 3 acres. i got rid of our aracauda rooster he was bought with the hens 14 months ago. he rode them pretty hard. some including this hen had lost feathers on their backs and necks do to him. he was huge i thought he was hurting them but he's been gone a week now. this last hen went down 3 days ago.
please help....

 

[gumpsgirl]

Is the feed you are giving them fresh, free of mold, and rodents? Are they standing around with their heads tucked and are any of their feathers ruffled? Are they getting into any poisonous plants, flowers, or weeds? I would check all of the above, because I'm suspecting that it is something they are eating.

BTW, welcome!

 

[dollie]

scratch is fresh...they look fine sratching in the georgia clay, fluffing feathers in sand, sunbathing, running around... none look or even appear to look sick. thats why i thought it was eggbound. i found her 3 days ago when i opend up the barn she had fallen off the roost and was belly up in the feed pan i picked her up and put her in the off the ground pen we built. made sure she had water and food

 

[gumpsgirl]

Are you feeding anything other than scratch, besides what they are picking up free ranging?

 

[dollie]

they get bread, the eggshells in the morning after we have breakfast, they eat almost everything they help scratch in the manure froom my 2 horses, they eat worms i've had chickens for 10 years here and nevr encountered this problem. oh, no rodents we keep poisen out for them inside the tack room which is kept closed. besides i heard rat poisen doent hurt chickens. i never see any rodents

 

[gumpsgirl]

Okay... That might be your problem. They really do need more than just scratch. It has very little nutritional value to it and no protein, which is a big nutritional requirement. They need to be fed a good layer feed and scratch should be fed in moderation, meaning that scratch should not make up more than 10 to 15 percent of their total daily food consumption.

Here's a link to a great article put out by Oregon State University's extension service about chicks and chickens nutritional requirements. http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/html/pnw/pnw477/

Hopefully this will help solve what has been going on with your girls.

 

[dollie]

thanks for the link will go to town and get some appropriate food. i just assumed since they ran around eating worms and such they were getting what they needed. guess not!

 

[BarnSweet]

Waiting to hear how they do...

Until then, I have a few questions (let me know if I should post these somewhere else, please).

What breed of chickens, if you've had chickens for 10 years and this is first time you're having problems it sounds like it'd be something other than the food (unless you've got a different breed than before)?

What's scratch?

Is there a book or reference for what plants are toxic to chickens and ducks? (I have the horse toxic plant book and make sure pasture doesn't have them , but this will be first time fowl shares their pasture).

 

[WalkingWolf]

If they are free ranging and scratch is given in moderation, then it may be something else. Are there any dead animals around in the area they free range on? Has it been raining a lot, and there coop or run area wet? This sounds like botulism C. They can get it from damp ground, or from eating maggots from a dead rotting animal. Poultry plants treat it with iodine, but I don't remember the dosage per gallon of water. ACV is a good preventative for it. If it was me I would cut back the scratch, and use it for a treat, or bribe. Feed a maintenance feed with the free ranging, add ACV and vitamins to the drinking water. Check area for dead animals, especially near a water source.

If your property abuts a golf course or a manicured lawn/landscaping they may be getting poisoned by the chemicals also.

 

[dollie]

yes it has been raining ALOT! and, it is possible for them to eat maggots if there is something dead i havnt found in the woods. uh, should i destroy the eggs and not eat them? i looked up and read a little just now on type C it said we cant get it but.....