Hens dying every few days...WTH??? No signs of sickness, please help!!

[kgdubois]

I have a small mixed flock of laying hens, no rooster. Every three or four days I go down to the coop & find one dead, sometimes overnight, sometimes when I go down to put them to bed at sunset. They are not showing signs of sickness -- eating, puttering around and behaving as normal. They recently stopped laying, so I'm sure something is going on, but I cannot figure it out. The ones that have died are all healthy, not skinny or droopy at all; wattles stay bright red and upright, etc. There are a couple of girls that I've observed with loose stool, but within a day or two they're back to normal and doing fine. Any ideas??

I got an order of 4 week old chicks, but kept them isolated for two weeks to be sure they were healthy before putting them in with my girls. They are all super zippy, I haven't lost any of them.

I've researched cocci, and other chicken diarrhea stuff, and nothing seems to match. I live in a very rural part of TX, and there are no "chicken vets" anywhere near, so that's not an option. I am at a complete loss, and could really use some help! Thank y'all in advance.

 

[kgdubois]

Just read through this, and it sounds like I only go down to my coop every few days -- oops! I go down there at least twice a day, usually more...I just meant I am finding dead birds every few days. Sorry for any confusion!

Also, I've been watching VERY closely for varmints and snakes, I haven't seen any sign of them at all. There are tons of flies (rainy season in the desert) but I'm putting out fly traps and fly predators to try to combat them. I keep my coop reasonably clean (for a chicken coop) and it doesn't seem to be extra stinky or anything.

The only new animals I've seen near my birds are javelinas, they've been snooping around at night, but I haven't been able to find any research that would lead me to believe that javelinas carry anything that would make my birds sick.

 

[Suzie]

When did you last de-worm your flock?

Have you treated them recently for any lice/mites problems?

These above two potential issues could kill your flock...

 

[kgdubois]

What do I deworm with?

I haven't noticed any mites, but are there things you'd suggest to help with them, just in case?

Thank you so much!

 

[cafarmgirl]

What is a red flag to me is that you have new young birds that have recently moved in with your older birds, if I read your post correctly.

Your new youngsters can easily have carried along a strain of cocci that the older birds are not immune too and so some of them are brewing nice cases of coccidiosis. That would explain the runny poops some of the birds have, they may have been able to fight it off while others were not.

In any case I'd run a course of treatment with Corid, you can just treat them all including the youngsters to make it easier.

After that I'd go ahead and deworm them (the older birds) if they aren't on a regular program. Valbazen or liquid Safeguard for goats are excellent choices. Be sure to do a repeat dose in 10 days.

 

[gander007]

Your in Texas, it is rather warm this time of year are you putting anything in the water like ACV or Electrolyte of any kind as it also sounds like the heat is getting to them and that is normal but I would defiantly go to the feed store and see what they have available as a dewormier ...