I've got an awful lot of chickens dying....

[Big C]

Quote:
I was referring to the original poster, the reason we're here, who says McMurray says something she was doing with alfalfa could have caused chick deaths and thus they reimbursed her. Perhaps she had them on alfalfa hay, or...... well I'd really be guessing.

Thanks,
We used alfalfa hay bales for insulation of all our new chick pullets from where ever they were purchased from. Never had a problem with it at all. Also this was old hay that was not suited for horses or cattle. Still use on a regular basis.
Was just wondering about the deleterious affects of using it.

 

[Chickenmaven]

I must agree: Your swap chicks are carriers & you should not expose any more chickens to them. Period!
Send them off to live in your mother's shed or call & cancel the order for new chicks.

 

[threehorses]

I'm wondering, too. Maybe the poster will inform us.

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
Incidentally, I have horses and my chickens are always in the alfalfa that gets dropped or where our old bales were in the hay room. So I suspect it was something unusual. Although I can't imagine what would happen in one day.

 

[LynneP]

I have one hen who would stuff her crop with alfalfa- the others paid no attention. Had to deal with severe crop impaction. So now I use shavings in the nest boxes because of her.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=7693-sick-hen



I guess it depends on the individuals in the flock!

 

[maizie]

The forum concerning MG says that it can be passed from hens to eggs so if your swap birds are okay but your Mcmurray chicks are dying then possibly your swap chicks have MG.

 

[maizie]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=197413