I have lost 10 chickens in 4 years

[Curti-D]

10 deaths in 4 years is just more than I can handle and the unknown deaths are so hard. I love them, I love them too much.

I hope your chickens aren’t eating poisonous plants or bugs, when free ranging. One of my chickens died the very next day after I let them free range. The others were ok.

 

[lovescochins]

I have had chickens for 4 years, 24 chickens all together. I've lost 10 in that 4 years.

2 under a year to I think liver ruptures
1 a year to a liver rupture (was necropsied) none that died were overweight
1- (3 years) old to cancer
1 (2 years) to an egg breaking inside her
1 (3 years) to unknown illness
1 (4 years) to possible cancer (had been laying lash eggs for a year)
1 (4 years) to a severe prolapse
1 (3 years) to cancer (last week)
1 (3 years) to unknown illness (last night)

And I have a sick bird pooing out yellow liquid but seems better than she was.

I know they all have different symptoms but am I doing something wrong? Is this normal? I scoop their poop daily. They only free range an hour or so a day then stay in a large pen. They get organic feed and fermented feed, minimal snacks. I feel horrible and guilty. They very quickly became my pets and I really wish I'd never gotten chickens.

Are chickens born and raised by a mother hen on your property less likely to get diseases? I have hatched 3 birds here and they seem to be very healthy.

Hi I am not a farmer by any means. My youngest daughter had a ffa class . Her then teacher raised chickens from incubated to adult. At the end of school he gave them to who ever wanted them. My daughter asked me I said yes to two hens only. I had no idea what breed. Must admit to loving them from the start. What we got were bantam couchin . They were great till the second summer . They were shut in the sunny side of the yard and over heated. One died I could not save her. The other was lonely . As it happened same teacher had chicks again so a few months later we got the runty couchin they had to help out of the shell. That was 2013 . Both are still with us today. They are very old and loved . Spoiled . Fruit , grains Vegies, wormed dust bathed and baths when needed. One terrible injury survived . Possum I think. But the oldest is fading . They roam the yard. To old to lay now . They will be missed when gone.

 

[AngelicaRoss]

I hope your chickens aren’t eating poisonous plants or bugs, when free ranging. One of my chickens died the very next day after I let them free range. The others were ok.

I can't think of anything that would be that poison around here. Most of them, with exception of Fern, didn't die that quickly. 4 of them went to the vet and she never suspected poisoning. I'm sorry about your chicken.

 

[AngelicaRoss]

I don't think the scratch killed them, but that's a lot of scratch to feed everyday.

I don't feed them much scratch. I feed them Scratch and Peck. It's a whole grain layer feed.

 

[AngelicaRoss]

I totally understand how you feel! I started my flock about 4 or 5 years ago and my chickens are my pets. I take them to the vet when they’re sick which has been very expensive. I keep their coop incredibly clean. I’ve had to rehome a few unexpected roosters and have driven over an hour to deliver and make sure their new home was up to my standards. Invested in aviary netting to protect them from the large hawk population in my area. Give them frozen treats and watermelon on days when it’s unbearably hot. Made sure they get very high quality feed. Ect. It has been devastating when I loose one to illness. I’ve learned so much over these years though. I know how to tube feed, give injections, give pills, get rid of mites, what to do for worms, and how to treat and bandage a bumble foot. I even tried an implant on a hen with consistent laying issues.
Despite all these efforts and the amount of work put into them, I’ve still had many losses. Necropsies at my state lab have resulted in things like renal failure, cancer, reproductive organ infections, and even have been inconclusive once or twice.
I can honestly say I have been extremely diligent in researching, educating myself, and have done everything in my power to give them the best home possible. It kills me to see them sick or suffering. I already regret the 8 new chicks I got this past fall because I’ve already become so attached to many of them. It’s hard to resist developing those feelings when they follow me around like a shadow and gather around and fight to see who gets to sit on my lap or beside me. I don’t care what anyone says, in my experience chickens are definitely affectionate and develop complex relationships. But, as much as I have loved having them, I’m on the same page as you. You are not alone in how you feel. When my current feathered babies pass, that’s it. No more.

I love the excitement of new chicks and I too then get that awful gut feeling. I can't keep doing this to myself amd I can't afford it. Too much work, money and heartache. I have 4 roosters and maybe they'll live a long time? Maybe I'll just have a bachelor pad. Such a curse. It would be hard to live without them.

 

[3KillerBs]

I don't feed them much scratch. I feed them Scratch and Peck. It's a whole grain layer feed.

Many people have found that chickens end up with nutritional problems on whole grain feeds because the dominant birds eat all the "chicken candy" components -- unbalancing their nutrition -- while the subordinate birds end up with too much of the vitamin pellets, etc -- unbalancing their nutrition.

It's often recommended to feed whole grain feed fermented, or at least wet, so that it's harder for the hens to pick and choose and so that the vitamins get stuck to the grains so they can't be missed.

 

[AngelicaRoss]

I

Many people have found that chickens end up with nutritional problems on whole grain feeds because the dominant birds eat all the "chicken candy" components -- unbalancing their nutrition -- while the subordinate birds end up with too much of the vitamin pellets, etc -- unbalancing their nutrition.

It's often recommended to feed whole grain feed fermented, or at least wet, so that it's harder for the hens to pick and choose and so that the vitamins get stuck to the grains so they can't be missed.

I do feed it fermented. My vet recommended not feeding fermented grains in case there was any mold and to not feed whole grains at all because they may pick at it. I plan on phasing it out of their diet and just feeding layer pellets.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I

I do feed it fermented. My vet recommended not feeding fermented grains in case there was any mold and to not feed whole grains at all because they may pick at it. I plan on phasing it out of their diet and just feeding layer pellets.

You could also feed grower, all flock, or flock raiser, since it lacks the extra calcium that can be harmful in the long term for non-laying birds.

 

[ChickensRsmart]

I have had chickens for 4 years, 24 chickens all together. I've lost 10 in that 4 years.

2 under a year to I think liver ruptures
1 a year to a liver rupture (was necropsied) none that died were overweight
1- (3 years) old to cancer
1 (2 years) to an egg breaking inside her
1 (3 years) to unknown illness
1 (4 years) to possible cancer (had been laying lash eggs for a year)
1 (4 years) to a severe prolapse
1 (3 years) to cancer (last week)
1 (3 years) to unknown illness (last night)

And I have a sick bird pooing out yellow liquid but seems better than she was.

I know they all have different symptoms but am I doing something wrong? Is this normal? I scoop their poop daily. They only free range an hour or so a day then stay in a large pen. They get organic feed and fermented feed, minimal snacks. I feel horrible and guilty. They very quickly became my pets and I really wish I'd never gotten chickens.

Are chickens born and raised by a mother hen on your property less likely to get diseases? I have hatched 3 birds here and they seem to be very healthy.

I don't have years of experience with chickens, but I can tell you that raw garlic would help a lot for some of the problems you're having. I watched raw garlic save my hen from ascites, and my duck hen from egg yoke peritonitis.
My hen was overweight - a meat chicken, and I reasoned that the ascites was probably from fatter liver disease - so I put her on a restricted calorie diet and added raw garlic - at first she hated the garlic, but soon began to like it. I've also watched raw garlic keep Marek's disease at bay...it's not a cure obviously, but I know raw garlic will help control many of the complications caused by the disease. One hen with mild signs of Marek's stopped producing eggs for about a year. Adding raw garlic to her diet (and changing nothing else) - after 7 days she began laying eggs again.
My duck hen stopped laying eggs for a few days, and then I noticed when she did lay an egg again, that there was a hole in the egg - the egg was fine, but the shell didn't form in one spot...then she layed another one, and again, there was a hole in the shell of the egg- in the same area as the previous egg...then I noticed on a later egg, that instead of a hole in the shell of the egg, there was extra shell on the outside of the egg shell - like a cone of extra egg shell...and on another egg, there was small bits of loose (not stuck to the shell) egg shell all over the egg...as if it was fragments of a previous egg that did not form correctly...still on another egg, there was yellow egg yoke on the outside of the shell. Putting her on raw garlic returned her eggs to normal over the course of 2 to 3 weeks...she's still producing eggs almost every day, and they're all normal.
Garlic will dramatically improve the health of your chickens!

 

[AngelicaRoss]

You could also feed grower, all flock, or flock raiser, since it lacks the extra calcium that can be harmful in the long term for non-laying birds.

Pretty sure all but one, one that is currently on antibiotics, lay. And they don't have very thick shells.