Lost 2 Chickens

[Farm_gurl]

I have light brahmas 4 females one rooster. I just gave our rooster away 2 weeks ago, and just learned he had a heart attack. I didnt think anything about it till I found one of my females dead tonight. She had lost weight, this last month or so. I could feel she was very light when I picked her up.
I have been using oat hay and alfalfa for the bottom of hen house and boxes....sometimes i use shaving.
They are on the feed stores regular laying pellot feed.
I have 3 hens left but one has a hurt leg (in joint) she gets around ok but she is why i got rid of the rooster I didnt want him to hurt her.

Is there anything I should do so i dont loose my other hens?

 

[tammye]

not sure, sorry you have to go through this as a new egg. You can check thier poop for worms, either asume they have them and worm them or bring a sample to the vet for about 20 bucks they will check out the poop. Check them for lice/mites, lots of info here about all of these things. I would at least give them some electrolyte solution in thier water to give them some strenght. Also maybe increase their protein in take by adding sunflower seeds. Keep their water clean, always have food available for them, keep them warm, at least away from drafts. Nothing you could do about the heart attack, I see that happens sometimes, just like in humans.

 

[Zoey]

It might be cocci ...

 

[Farm_gurl]

Ok i will get wormer. Also are the lice/mites easy to see......I hold and love on my chickens everyday...could I get it as well?

If it is the cocci, is that curable and how did they get it........I just want to make sure they are getting everything i can give them for their health and safety.


Their water jug allways gets algae I clean it all the time, could this have made her sick?

Thanks for all the help. My vet is just Large animal for our horses, pigs and goats. so I will reseach for someone local who does chickens.

 

[fiberart57]

Sometimes in the winter they may become pretty desperate for greens and might eat some of the grass hay you have for bedding. It's possible that your hen had an impacted crop which would have prevented her from getting nutrition and would have caused the weight loss. Long, indigestible grass is a major cause of crop impaction.

You could offset this with greens from the produce section of the grocery store: lettuce (mine like Romaine), cabbage, kale, collard greens. I also buy a bale of good horse alfalfa and give them a flake so they can pick out the dried leaves.

Mary

 

[Zoey]

Your vet could do a fecal float test on a few of the chickens poop, a fresh sample, just put a few poops into the same ziploc baggy , and have him check for coccidiosis, if present it must be treated quick, as it is a fast killer of chickens ... only one kind of cocci produces blood in the feces, there are more than 7 kinds of cocci...