Lost 2 chickens and #3 is on her way out

[Fabidon]

The end of December I had a chicken (Sex Link; 3 years old) start acting sick. She kept her feathers puffed up and was lethargic. I isolated her but within 2-3 days she died on Jan 3rd. Then another started with the same symptoms and I treated her with antibiotics I had on hand added to her water....she lasted several days but on Jan 12th, she died. I called my vet but he told me he would not be much help because he was not good at anything to do with chickens (failed Chickens 101, I guess); so I checked back with this forum and purchased some Corid to treat for what I diagnosed as coccidiosis (there was yellow froth near their droppings and some loose stools). Started them all on that Sunday, Jan 19th with today being day # 4 of the 5-day treatment. Yesterday I noticed another chicken staying on the floor of the coop with her feathers puffed up but then acting normal outdoors later. Today I isolated her with a heater and treated water in hopes to get her better but it appears she is headed in the same direction as the other two. I started with 9 chickens in this coop and yard and am down to 7 with this one being questionable for survival. One last thing, we treated their coop and yard (which is 80' x 80') with Diatomaceous Earth on Sunday because I figured after 3 years it needed to be "disinfected". Is there something else I should use for it, what about Lime? Also, how do I find out what to do next to save the remaining chickens since my vet has bailed out on me?

 

[HEChicken]

Check with your state - many states allow you to send in a dead bird and they will necropsy it for you and tell you for sure what it died from. It doesn't help the one that died, but if you know for sure what it is, it will help with prevention and treatment for the remaining hens.

 

[casportpony]

Some labs in the US
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/nahln/downloads/all_nahln_lab_list.pdf

-Kathy

 

[Wyandottes7]

Were any of the birds that became lethargic/puffed up laying eggs? And, what breeds were they? Its possible that they had some sort of problem in their reproductive tract. Sex-Links, and other high production birds, usually don't live very long because they put so much energy into laying eggs. They often get things like internal egg laying, egg binding, and Egg Yolk Peronitis.

Still, I doubt that this could be the reason for both of the deaths-- if it was just one bird, it would be understandable, but its unlikely to cause several birds to die within a short period. Have you ever dewormed the birds? Worms can cause lethargy, though it doesn't usually come on this suddenly.

Does the currently sick bird's crop feel normal (is it squishy, or hard?). Have they been fed any different feed/food lately?

 

[casportpony]

How to send for necropsy
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/799747/how-to-send-a-bird-for-a-necropsy-pictures

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

If you're using Corid powder the dose is 1.5 teaspoons per gallon (4.536 grams). The liquid is 2 teaspoons per gallon.

Kathy

 

[casportpony]

This explains how to use Corid.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/818879/updated-corid-and-amprol-amprolium-dosing

-kathy

 

[Fabidon]

Wow, what great responses. I will answer the questions:
I know my state will necropsy because my now retired vet discovered bird flu in the state by sending in a dead bird he found on the highway. We have a U of Florida ag center 2 miles from here so I will contact them to learn what I have to do. Thanks for the tip; I never would have thought of it.
My affected chickens are Sex Link (Rhode Island Red X Leghorn) and are 3 years old. They have been excellent egg layers with the 9 chickens giving 4-6 eggs per day and most jumbo sized and larger. I have seen no signs of distress regarding their vents so don't think there is any bound eggs. They have dropped off in production during this colder weather to where we are getting 2-3 eggs per day from the remaining 7 chickens. I don't think the puffed up chickens were laying eggs at that stage as they stayed in the corner of the coop on the floor and did not use the nest boxes during the day that I could tell.
There diets are unchanged and crops feel normal. I do believe they are experiencing fevers as the body temperatures seemed high to me....feet were cold but bodies very warm. That alone made me think infection but there was no sign of discharge from eyes or mouth. The two I lost did have loose stools.
Kathy, we have dosed the Corid per the package and perhaps it was not enough? We could not get the liquid and the instructions on the list were to use the 9.6% so with using the 20% powder we diluted it to be as close to 10% as we could make it and that turned out to be 6.5 grams per 6 gallons of water.....a lot less than you have listed above. If I open the link you provided it warns me that I might lose what I have written here so I will send this before I open the link. Maybe we are not using the proper dose?????
So far as worming the girls, I give them DE every week with their ration of cottage cheese, yogurt, canned dog food and apple sauce.
I know they will stop producing eggs and that is fine because we are fond of just having them around anyway. It seems strange to me that three would exhibit the same behavior prior to going out of egg production and then die. Don't chickens live beyond their egg production.....at least a little? They are not old and have been extremely healthy till these three and is why I am thinking some kind of virus.
Does this added information help?

 

[HEChicken]

Fabidon, this isn't really a reply to yours but just a tip about opening links. If you hold down the CTRL key on a PC or the command key on a Mac, before clicking on the link, it will open in a separate tab and that way you can open it to read without losing what you are doing in the original tab.

 

[Fabidon]

Thank you for the tip , I will try it next time but need to tell you I am not a whiz on these things.

The third chicken has died. I have a call into the State Agent but I did make it a point to feel their crops just now. Most of them are not as full and hard as usual. I don't know if that means their appetites are diminished and they are in the early phase of what took the other three or what else it might mean. I have never known them to have soft or empty crops so I am very concerned. I will have to research what this might mean and what I might do at this stage and thank you all for bringing this to my attention.