Laying hens dying in my flock. Help!

[7-hen-jones]

I have lost several laying hens recently. NO obvious symptoms, lethargic then dead next day. Another today. I called my vet. He is not a chicken guy but prescribed SulfaMed-G to put in the water. The guy at Tractor Supply recommended Tetracycline. Should I treat the water with both to cover all bases? Help please.

 

[dawg53]

Use one medicine or the other, not both at the same time.

 

[7-hen-jones]

Thank you. I just got back from taking the sulfa medication to treat the water and the hen I isolated earlier was dead. I am so terrified of what this might be. The weather has been terribly humid and pretty hot here in southern Indiana, but was not necessarily that way when my first hens died. I have lost about 6 in all. I still have about 28 left, which includes some youngsters 15 weeks old. Also 1 mature rooster and one 15 week old.

 

[Dartanion]

Ok,I think you should treat the water and clean your coop with bleach water and let it dry out before you put your chickens back in.Also keep them out as much as possible if there not out already.Finally you need to get the younger chickens out of there,they are more susceptible to disease.And it wouldn't hurt if you cleaned all the feeders,waterers,nest boxes,and roosting poles.Also check you feed for parasites.Keep me posted.

P.S.It sounds like something my friend went through with her chickens,and we did this and it helped tremendously!

 

[enola]

Have these hens been wormed? If they have been wormed what did you use? also, check them for mites and lice.....

 

[7-hen-jones]

Thank you. Great information. I have a 900 sq ft outdoor chicken run that is secure from predators. The hens are out all day and go into the henhouse (which is a corner room of the barn) through a window to roost at night and lay eggs in the nesting boxes. Sometimes they roost in there during the day for a break.

I had a makeshift tarp henhouse in the outdoor run for the youngsters when they first got added to the Big Girls run. Since I found one hen dead in there I have closed it off. I will tear it apart. And I will attack the barn henhouse as you suggested.

We have a few logistical issues...We don't have running water at our barn so hosing everything down is difficult. We collect rain in barrels for their drinking water. I will figure out a way to clean the henhouse. I use DE in the roosting boxes regularly and in their mudbath holes in the chicken yard but I will check for mites, etc.. I wormed the girls once several months ago when I thought something was up.

I am thinking of letting everybody out of the 900 sq ft run into the (unsecured) pasture (risky) while I clean roosting posts around the yard and dirty surfaces in the feeding storage area. In the Hoosier National Forest we have everything from fox, to raccoons to coyotes to mountain lions. But I think I will weigh the risk against the illness/contamination alternative.

I really appreciate your detailed response. I will keep you posted. Btw, when I took the medicated water out there I also took old bread and buns and soaked them in it to provide a treat and thereby rapid medication. Worked like a charm.

 

[Dartanion]

Here in Tennessee we have all those predators along with black bears.If I was you I would take a 5 gallon bucket of hot water and put 3 caps of bleach in the water.Then take a bristle brush and some steel wool and scrub it out.Then take another 5 gallon bucket and take some rain water from the barrels and splash it around some(no hose needed).Clean the feeders and waters with just plain water then put the out in the run and close the chickens off to the run.Don't put your chickens where they won't be safe.Do you have any other animals close to your chickens?

 

[7-hen-jones]

I forgot to answer your question about other animals. I have 2 horses in the next pasture over and I have 5 guineas running loose outside the run (they still think of the area as home since I raised them with the hens before cutting them loose a couple months ago).

This morning when I went out to the barn everyone was alive. A couple weeks ago we were given 6 beautiful laying hens by a friend who had grown tired of the responsibility. Two of those hens are among my casualties, but a couple deaths of my other hens occurred prior to their arrival. Nevertheless I have a separate area that I have moved 3 of the 4 remaining new hens. Having trouble catching the 4th as she seems very brisk and healthy. Stay tuned. I figure having them in a small area where I can expose them at close range to the medicated water and medicated water-soaked bread, it can't hurt.

 

[7-hen-jones]

Update:
After 2 1/2 days sulfa antibiotics I think we are out of the woods.. Everything cleaned. Pictured here is my beloved Honey Bunny, one of my original 7 hens that died. Thank you all for your help.

 

[Dartanion]

Well I'm glad.But I hate that any of your chickens died.She was a pretty chicken.What breed was she?