Hens Dying But Not Roosters ...no symptoms of illness

[bleggett77]

Hi...my husband and I have 2 year old birds. This past summer, our hens were spontaneously dying. Approximately 2 hens every week or so. We thought it might have been from the heat, as we live in Louisiana and our summers are hot and humid. All the hens have been found dead inside the hen house. Like they died while roosting. Only 2 hens have been found dead in the nesting boxes. Things tapered off and we didn't put much thought into it after that. We had about 60ish, but are now down to about 25. All my hens and several roosters are not leaving the house. We aren't aware of any predators and none of my hens had wounds like they were attacked. I figure if it is a disease, my roosters would be dying as well. Any ideas what could be wrong? There is no way that many hens were egg bound. And no one has pale/discolored/inflamed combs or waddles. No depression, no dropping wings, no yucky butts, no sneezing, no coughing, no frothy pus out of eyes. They all appear normal...

Thanks in advance for you responses.

 

[Eggcessive]

Are they still dying, or has it stopped? Losing 35 birds to me sounds like either a terrible sudden illness, or that they could not tolerate the heat. What breed of birds are they? Were any recently added when you started losing them? Coccidia will wipe out a lot of birds that fast, but they would have shown symptoms of lethargy, poor appetite, and diarrhea (sometimes bloody.) I would contact either my county extention agent or state poultry vet for a necropsy on the next bird that died. Refrigerate the bird--do not freeze--and ship it to the state lab. Here is a link for finding your state vet: http://agr.wa.gov/FoodAnimal/AnimalHealth/statevets.aspx

Here is info on shipping a bird for necropsy: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/799747/how-to-send-a-bird-for-a-necropsy-pictures

 

[bleggett77]

Thanks. It has pretty much stopped. It was very weird, but no new birds. Like I said there were absolutely no signs of illness just BAM, dead and all appeared to die while roosting. I am thinking it was the heat. They are large birds...RI Reds, Barred Rocks, Buff Orpingtons, etc.

 

[bleggett77]

And none of my roosters have died. If it was a disease, they should've been affected.