I have a problem do I need dispatch

[BlindLemonChicken]

Free form means freely avalible to pick at

Ah I see. I misunderstood.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

You have been given a lot of sound advice with a lot of experience behind it. My suggestion would be to buy a bag of organic feed and switch them right away. If they finish the bag and show no signs of improvement maybe it's not your food but the best way to know that is to send a dead bird to your state lab for necropsy. I understand you want to keep their feed and your own food organic and chemical free but the reality is that the world is made of chemicals. Avoiding the harmful ones isnt always easy but they make quality organic feed-some even soy free if thats what you're into-and it beats a flock of dead chickens to something preventable.

 

[NatJ]

Pretty sure birds aren't supposed to be eating dairy

That depends on who you ask.

A century ago, dairy was highly recommended in the poultry books of the time.
For example:
Robinson Poultry craft, published in 1904
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/69879#page/7/mode/1up
Page 99 has several paragraphs discussing milk and other dairy products as ingredients in chicken feed. Many other pages specifically recommend milk as an ingredient in foods for chickens of various ages (including young chicks.)

I know from personal experience that chickens can eat small amounts of cheese and other dairy products with no obvious ill effects. I have never been in a position to give them large amounts regularly, so I don't have any personal experience with that.

 

[Chicona]

Baught a bag of feed but

the next day the 2 poorly chickens spring back into life seem less wobbly and seem fine so I put them back together with their sister
Half way through the day my big chicken sister fluffed up and refused to eat or drink

I fed egg and water mollasses etc all day to try help her
She did not want to expend her neck like she had discomfort

By the end of the day she pecked at egg shell and moved her head looked positive

By the morning she was dead
The weaker 2 are now fit as a fiddle

Being with it coming on suddenly literally woke up to them Iethargic after sprinting round the room non stop for weeks
24 hours of being poorly and then back to life
And now the separated one has done it but not survived

Could they have had an illness like. 24hr bug ? The only difference in my care was that 2days before they got poorly I put them outside in a run for the day to climatize as it wasn’t too cold that day(bare run off ground level nothing in there to eat except good n drink)

Could they have caught somthing ? And passed it to the other one when I put them back together
Only difference is the others still drank this one had to be fed to make drink

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Baught a bag of feed but

the next day the 2 poorly chickens spring back into life seem less wobbly and seem fine so I put them back together with their sister
Half way through the day my big chicken sister fluffed up and refused to eat or drink

I fed egg and water mollasses etc all day to try help her
She did not want to expend her neck like she had discomfort

By the end of the day she pecked at egg shell and moved her head looked positive

By the morning she was dead
The weaker 2 are now fit as a fiddle

Being with it coming on suddenly literally woke up to them Iethargic after sprinting round the room non stop for weeks
24 hours of being poorly and then back to life
And now the separated one has done it but not survived

Could they have had an illness like. 24hr bug ? The only difference in my care was that 2days before they got poorly I put them outside in a run for the day to climatize as it wasn’t too cold that day(bare run off ground level nothing in there to eat except good n drink)

Could they have caught somthing ? And passed it to the other one when I put them back together
Only difference is the others still drank this one had to be fed to make drink

Keep the dead bird chilled, not frozen. COntact your state lab, arrange for a necropsy.

Sorry to hear about your loss.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Baught a bag of feed but

the next day the 2 poorly chickens spring back into life seem less wobbly and seem fine so I put them back together with their sister
Half way through the day my big chicken sister fluffed up and refused to eat or drink

I fed egg and water mollasses etc all day to try help her
She did not want to expend her neck like she had discomfort

By the end of the day she pecked at egg shell and moved her head looked positive

By the morning she was dead
The weaker 2 are now fit as a fiddle

Being with it coming on suddenly literally woke up to them Iethargic after sprinting round the room non stop for weeks
24 hours of being poorly and then back to life
And now the separated one has done it but not survived

Could they have had an illness like. 24hr bug ? The only difference in my care was that 2days before they got poorly I put them outside in a run for the day to climatize as it wasn’t too cold that day(bare run off ground level nothing in there to eat except good n drink)

Could they have caught somthing ? And passed it to the other one when I put them back together
Only difference is the others still drank this one had to be fed to make drink

Hi! @Chicona a 24 hour bug is unlikely, chickens don't show symptoms like we do, by the time you see symptoms there were problems for days. It's more likely that the one that died hid her symptoms until it was too late.

 

[Chicona]

Keep the dead bird chilled, not frozen. COntact your state lab, arrange for a necropsy.

Sorry to hear about your loss.

Local lab says needs 3-5 birds and we don’t have many here the other said as they can’t have it within 48 he of death they won’t do it

 

[CatWhisperer]

Pretty sure birds aren't supposed to be eating dairy

Birds can’t digest dairy.

 

[NatJ]

Birds can’t digest dairy.

What part of dairy do they not digest?

Plenty of chicken books from about 100 years ago were strongly recommending dairy products as a source of protein for chickens.

Either all those books were wrong, or chickens CAN digest dairy, at least to some extent.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

What part of dairy do they not digest?

Plenty of chicken books from about 100 years ago were strongly recommending dairy products as a source of protein for chickens.

Either all those books were wrong, or chickens CAN digest dairy, at least to some extent.

I could be completely wrong. I just always assumed it was like a lactose intolerant person eating dairy. Gassy and kinda painful with not too much benefit