Hens dying and not sure why????

[deeschicks19]

In the last couple months I have lost 5 girls. One being my favorite. I have no clue why. They seem fine one day and then they start looking bad. Their crops are fine and I don't feel any eggs like if they are egg bound. But their combs get very light color and they get kinda lifeless and then they die. Just lost another one this morning. We have dewormed them a couple of times and checked for mites too. I have never found any mites or worms. Out of 14 girls (13 now) I have only been getting 3 to 7 eggs a day. I have fans in their coop for them at night. They get plenty of fresh veggies and fruit along with their feed. And they have fresh running water all the time.

Besides the fact that I don't want to lose anymore of my girls I also have 16 new babies that are 6 weeks old and I don't want anything to happen to them. As of now they are kept totally separate from the big girls so I don't worry about them yet.

I started putting antibiotic in their water this morning just as a precaution and I think we are going to worm them tonight just to be safe. Or do I need to wait to deworm them after they are off the antibiotics?

The rest of them seem just fine. But then so did the other ones.

It is so sad to lose one of them. I love my girls.
Any help or advise please give me.

Oh and they are 27mths old. So not even old. And they were my first girls so I do not have allot of experience.

Thanks

 

[deeschicks19]

Oh and the one I lost this morning didn't feel good two days ago but yesterday was just fine and when I went to close them up last night she was on the roost. And then I found her on the floor this morning.

 

[chicmom]

Has anything changed in their environment? Could they be eating something poisonous? Anybody nearby get a lawn fertilizer treatment or could they be getting exposed to bug sprays or anything like that?

Any changes with their water source? Do you have well water? Maybe you could have a sample analyzed by your local health dept?

Is their poop looking normal? I don't know if I'd worm them again.......Wild birds can spread diseases...

I'm just grasping at straws.....Wish I could help.......

 

[deeschicks19]

No one spraying anything. I am on 100 acres so no one around. And they have a huge fenced and covered yard.

Yes it is well water but they same water that we use.

I am just dumbfounded. I wasn't real comfortable with worming them again so I think I will wait.

they do seem to get watery poop allot but I keep reading that that could be heat and I live in southern Louisiana so heat is here.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would have a stool sample checked for worms and cocci. What did you worm them with, and how long ago? Many people use Wazine (piperazine) that only gets roundworms, but other worms can really do some damage, such as cecal, capillary, gapes, and tapes. SafeGuard liquid goat wormer, Valbazen are the better wormers to use on chickens, they are given individually so each chicken gets a proper dose, and for certain worms a higher dosage for 4-5 days may be required. Enteritis is another disease in the soil that your vet may be able to test the stool for. There must be some symptoms they are showing such as diarrhea or weight loss, besides the pale comb. I would look at stools or for color or anything abnormal.

 

[deeschicks19]

Ivermectin is what I wormed them with and it has been 3 mths or so.

The problem with vets is I haven't found one here that will help me with my girls.

Only one of the girls got real skinny. She was just bones but yet she ate and drank allot of water. And she love watermelon. The other girls never really lost any weight.

 

[Eggcessive]

Ivermectin is no longer good for worms in chickens because worms have developed resistance to it. Many online links still recommend it, but they are outdated. You can buy SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer at TSC and most farm stores for $20 or less, and it goes a long way. The dose is 1/2 ml orally, and repeated in 10 days. Eggs should be tossed out for a total of 24 days. Valbazen dosage is the same. Which antibiotic did you start them on today? Many antibiotics will treat enteritis, including penicillin, amoxicillin, bacitracin, neomycin, lincomycin, and chlortetracycline. Here is some info about it: http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/101/necrotic-enteritis

 

[Fancychooklady]

With the pale combs , they could be aneamic . I would worm them with valbazen if you can get it and worm them at least twice in a 10 day period. Mites and lice are extremely hard to eliminate and require not only treatment of the birds , but the coop needs to be emptied out and sprayed with a pesticide.

Parasites internal or external don't mess around.

http://www.sprcentre.com/sprc/Worm_Control_in_Poultry.htm

https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/valbazen-500ml

 

[ronott1]

I would have a stool sample checked for worms and cocci. What did you worm them with, and how long ago? Many people use Wazine (piperazine) that only gets roundworms, but other worms can really do some damage, such as cecal, capillary, gapes, and tapes. SafeGuard liquid goat wormer, Valbazen are the better wormers to use on chickens, they are given individually so each chicken gets a proper dose, and for certain worms a higher dosage for 4-5 days may be required. Enteritis is another disease in the soil that your vet may be able to test the stool for. There must be some symptoms they are showing such as diarrhea or weight loss, besides the pale comb. I would look at stools or for color or anything abnormal.

Ivermectin is what I wormed them with and it has been 3 mths or so.

The problem with vets is I haven't found one here that will help me with my girls.

Only one of the girls got real skinny. She was just bones but yet she ate and drank allot of water. And she love watermelon. The other girls never really lost any weight.

If you have access to a microscope you can do a float test at home. Treating for worms and cocci would be a good first step.

@ two years old a lot of egg laying related problems can come up. You can actually tell some of these things yourself if you do a Necropsy. Look for an infection in the reproductive system and tumors.

Mareks cancer also happens at two and also fatty liver disease can crop up in good layers on hot days. They will look perfectly fine and then the liver will rupture on a hot day. I had two Australorps die that way.

 

[Ila88]

I am so sorry to hear about your hens. I have also lost two recently so am following this thread with interest.