Is this normal?? Getting discouraged

[Apopka Cluckers]

Hello,

This spring is turning out to be a lot harder than I thought it would be.

I have a flock of 30-35 chickens are many different breeds. I have 2 golden buff hens, 2 RIR hens, 2 black sex link hens, 1 blue americauna hen, 6 americauna hens, 2 japanese bantam hens, 1 mille fleur d'uccle hen, and two roosters (1 blue americauna and 1 japanese) all in a 140sq chicken coop. These chickens are all doing well for the most part and I'm thankful for that other than the fact I can't seem to hatch an egg out of this coop.

In another coop, smaller, I have 5 serama chickens and 4 RIR chicks. These are where my problems are showing. I initially had 5 RIR chicks but one died after having paralyzed wings and feet. The next day another started showing symptoms so I removed her from the coop and flew to the internet to find out what was going on. I narrowed it down to botulism and started treating for that. I'm thankful that she seems to be recovering althought she hasn't regained full use of ther wings or legs.

Just today I found one of the three serama chicks in the brooder was dead and it appeared to be pasty butt. I removed her and am checking on the others almost hourly.

I also have rabbits that we have for meat and I have to say that I've had a hard time keeping kits alive but have learned valuable lessons along the way. My wife and kids wanted to breed lionheads to have some cute pets and maybe sell some. Today I came home and found the my doe was dead in the pen, apparently during birth. The first baby came out breech.

I recently bought an incubator to hatch eggs from both coops but I can't seem to be able to. I bought one with an egg turner and dialed it in to the instructions but I can't hatch anything. The eggs I leave under the serama hens hatch just fine but not in the incubator.

Now that my complaining out of the way I just have to ask .... is this normal??? To lose so many animals? I do my best to make sure everyone is happy and healthy. I research the best food, I overbuild everything, and it pains me when they die. I have never had a spring like this but, I must admit, that I have many more animals than the last years.

Any advice would be greatly welcomed.

 

[aart]

How long have you had chickens and rabbits? There's usually a steep learning curve with livestock. Sounds like you have ALOT going on. Maybe just too much too soon? There's a saying, when you have livestock, you have deadstock...it's inevitable and part of the cycle of life to have some unplanned losses.

Disease can come from combining animals from different sources without quarantining or from not giving them adequate nutrition and/or living conditions. You probably need to take one situation at a time and investigate it thoroughly to discover what's going on in each case and how to improve it.

Sorry for your losses, I hope things get sorted out quickly for you and that you have better luck in the future.

 

[Apopka Cluckers]

I have had chickens for a few years now. I figured out that the botulism came from rotten feed and I rectified that situation rather quickly.

I haven't had much issue with the pigs at all. Very hearty and fun to raise.

The rabbits have been a very steep learning curve. I read so much about them before getting any but all the reading in the world didn't prepare me.

I've never heard that saying before but it makes sense. I've lost a girl to a coyote once which prompted me to fortify the coop to Ft Knox levels. I guess losing three animals is a small number but every loss bothers me.

 

[donrae]

Your losses sound pretty normal to me. Some years are worse, especially when you start out with new stock.

I once read where someone said rabbits think dying is a hobby. They're not the hardiest creatures over all, there's a reason why they breed like.....well, rabbits........and have tons of babies. It's the only way to keep the species alive!

So, with the chickens you've lost 2 out of 40? Really, not bad, especially with new chicks.

The incubating I can't help you with, I'm waiting for a hen to go broody. If I had an incubator I'd be dangerous---if I could get the thing to work! I do know we have a good section on incubators if you haven't checked it out for some advice.

 

[BGMatt]

I agree, if two baby chicks are the worst of your chicken losses, that's actually very good and well within' the normal range.

 

[Ceilismom]

I've got no advice on the rabbits, but on the chicks, some folks have good luck treating/preventing pasty butt with some apple cider vinegar in the water. As for the incubating, I'd suggest making a separate post about that in the incubating section (if you haven't done that already), and give details about what kind of incubator you have, what temp you've got it set at etc. Off the top of my head, I'm wondering if your thermometer might be inaccurate.