I think my chickens are killing eachother

[AmaiahTH]

We converted a former dog house into a chicken coop. It's waterproof and well ventilated, the floor is concrete covered with sand.

During the day they free range on the back side of our property, which is about 1000m2. (10.000 sqft).

 

[AmaiahTH]

I just realised that I forgot to mention another factor that might be important: all of them reached maturity and started laying eggs very recently (within the last 2 weeks).

 

[AmaiahTH]

So a little update:

After the second death last week we got our flock a rooster and put the Chickens inside our small outhouse while we worked on predator proofing the chicken coop (mostly filling all the larger entrances that a medium sized snake could fit through). In the meantime the Geese stayed out at night and we left chicken eggs in the coop as bait for snakes, as a result, nothing happened for a week.

Two days ago we got done with the coop and were confident enough to but the Chickens back in (the geese stayed outside for now). The first night nothing happened, but this morning we found 1 chicken lying face down in the floor, still alive with no sign of injuries at all. Upon letting the other chickens out, one of them didn't want to leave the coop either and looked a bit weak, after a bit she lied down with her head on top of the ill chicken, it looked both adorable and sad at the same time.

So for now we've put them both in quarantaine and are trying to see if there's a vet anywhere around here that can take a look at them today so we can find out what's going on.

Our 2 main theories were that it was the other chickens, which we now know 100% wasn't the case, with the alternative theory being a constrictor snake, which seems highly unlikely as well given that the second chicken seems ill but has no signs of being constricted, not to mention the fact that it would be virtually impossible for a snake to enter in the first place.
The geese are also no longer suspects as they stayed out tonight.

A disease is the most likely problem here, but it's still strange that it only strikes at night, only when they stay in their coop at night (During the week that nothing happened they all went into the coop during the day to lay eggs and eat and drink), and how they went a week without anything happening or any symptoms. I hope we manage to find a vet that can take a look, as we are now even more confused that we were last week.

 

[NatJ]

Is the coop a different temperature at night than the outhouse? But I would expect that to affect all the chickens, not just one or two per night

Could there be a spider or something with a venomous bite?

I'm trying to think of what else is active at night--bats, mosquitos, some other insects. None of those seem likely. Snakes you've already thought of and checked for.

I'm glad you found out it isn't the chickens or the geese doing the killing, but this is getting more and more puzzling!

I agree that taking the chickens to a vet is a good idea, because disease is definitely one possibility.

Maybe have the vet check for internal parasites (worms) as well. I know they can cause problems for chickens, although I have never heard of them causing THESE problems.

 

[AmaiahTH]

The temperature in the coop is the same as it is outside as it has 2+ meter high ceilings and air comes in from all sides (low to mid 20s celsius at night). If anything I was worried they'd get ill in the outhouse as the air there felt very stuffy.

There's no spiders either, I checked every nook and cranny for anything, all I found were some medium sized geckos. There's currently a problem with bats carrying some virus that came over from zebras that were imported from Africa, but from what I understood this really only affects horses and not chickens.

Some locals have suggested it might be the rain that's making them sick (rain season started a month ago), but I was never aware that rain would be an issue for chickens, they always have access to shelter but voluntarily stay out when it rains.

Thankfully we found a vet that can take a look at them so hopefully we'll have answers soon.

 

[AmaiahTH]

Vet has examined them, they think it's either a bacterial infection or avian influenza. They started antibiotic treatment on all of them and observe the results, tomorrow a specialist will come in and take a further look. They've taken stool samples as well and will be sending them to a lab for further examination.

I've found that many chickens get ill and die around this time of year here in Thailand (start of rain season), especially the 'import' breeds like RIR's.

We'll have to see what happens next. Just before we left for the vet I noticed another Chicken acting strange so we took her along as well, all 3 got some medicinal shots including antibiotics. One of the Chickens has already died (taking in the body for biopsy tomorrow) and another one appears to be very ill as well. The third chicken however seems to be doing a bit better so perhaps there's some reason for mild optimism.

 

[NatJ]

I'm glad the vet is able to help figure this out.

I've found that many chickens get ill and die around this time of year here in Thailand (start of rain season), especially the 'import' breeds like RIR's.

That's interesting--might be a reason to go with a local breed that has some resistance to whatever the issues are, for the future.

 

[iwltfum]

Some locals have suggested it might be the rain that's making them sick (rain season started a month ago), but I was never aware that rain would be an issue for chickens, they always have access to shelter but voluntarily stay out when it rains.

I was going to ask if it had been raining alot. Damp chicken coops can be a breeding ground for problems, especially - like you mentioned- with the hybrid breeds. I would focus on creating a dry, covered place for them to get out of the rain and stay dry if you're in the middle of a rainy season.

 

[AmaiahTH]

I was going to ask if it had been raining alot. Damp chicken coops can be a breeding ground for problems, especially - like you mentioned- with the hybrid breeds. I would focus on creating a dry, covered place for them to get out of the rain and stay dry if you're in the middle of a rainy season.

That's interesting, while the coop is covered and the floor is dry from rain, the air isn't, especially during the night we currently have a lot of mist and dew. That might also explain why they didn't get sick last week when they stayed in the outhouse, which has no open windows etc. We also called the local govt office and they said that the fact that we covered the floor with sand might cause issues as well.

We'll likely keep them in the outhouse for the time being while we wait out the results of the samples and the biopsy.

I'm just hoping that we have some chickens, and the geese, left after all this is over. Not really what we expected when we got into poultry a month ago.

 

[iwltfum]

That's interesting, while the coop is covered and the floor is dry from rain, the air isn't, especially during the night we currently have a lot of mist and dew. That might also explain why they didn't get sick last week when they stayed in the outhouse, which has no open windows etc. We also called the local govt office and they said that the fact that we covered the floor with sand might cause issues as well.

We'll likely keep them in the outhouse for the time being while we wait out the results of the samples and the biopsy.

I'm just hoping that we have some chickens, and the geese, left after all this is over. Not really what we expected when we got into poultry a month ago.

Could be. Just a theory though at this point. I have never used sand in a coop or run, but it seems to me like it might work better in dry climates better than wet ones. And I've also seen alot on here about people who use sand having very specific requirements when it comes to the type of mineral the sand is made of and how fine it is. You could try and changing the bedding to a wood or fiber product (like wood shavings or coconut fiber). We get alot of mist and fog in Maine and it's generally a wet climate and we used wood chips and shavings in our coop and it works pretty well, but when we have a very wet couple of weeks, I usually see an increase in mortality. I have a flock of more than 100 laying hens so it can be pretty easy to notice if something is going wrong and loosing one or two every once in a while is not a big deal, but with a few hens, it's obviously alot more of an issue if you loose one or two.