Lost 3 Barred Rock pullets this week and need help IDing cause pls

They are kind of old for coccidiosis, but that could still be a possibility if their immune systems were compromised...but I wouldn't make that my first guess. Here is info anyway: http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/coccidiosis.html

Were there any strange poos?

Any problems with moldy or wet feed lately? Or other poisoning possibilities?

Do your hens still smell sweet? Or do they smell like poo? (Normally they should smell fresh and sweet.)

Here are handy charts at the bottom of this common poultry diseases webpage-
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

Hopefully someone will be along who will nail it for you!

 

Hmm, maybe they ate something in the pen. Check under feeders and waterers and in corners for wet, moldy feed, first of all. If it's just this pen and they aren't symptomatic, that'd be my first thought. Did you change shavings brands/types recently? Check their feed itself by smelling, looking for greenish/grayish mold, etc.

 

I agree with cocci. People often ignore this in more mature birds, but it is much more common than most realize. If you have moist soil or a recent heavy rain, this is the most likely culprit. There is also a chance they had an overload of worms and from the recent worming a sudden dispersement can cause internal stress on a bird. I'm leaning more towards cocci tho. The only other thing I can think of in birds this age would be reproductive hemorhage. A little odd in multiple birds at once though.

 

How about lice/mites? Seems there's a bunch of that going around this time of the year.

 

Oh Scott, I have no ideas to help you, but my sympathy you have- I hope you figure out what it is and put a stop to it!

 

Awwww, Scott, I am so sorry to hear this. I wish I could be of any help, but am clueless with this stuff. I keep reading and trying to research some of these poultry problems .... illnesses, diseasese, accidental things (poisoning, botulism, mites, lice, worms, etc) and I still can not figure it all out!

Since it is happening all in one pen though, it leads me to think it may be some mold or something like that. I have treated botulism successfully (and unsuccessfully). Seems it always happens after we have rain. Food particles on the ground get wet, then mold, or something I think.

Wish I could help. Just here for moral support....

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marek%27s_disease

This is a diease that can slip up on you. Sometimes you get it from bringing in a new strain of birds. I have had friends who had to vacanate for it ever since they got it. Sometimes you can get it from just showing them as the judge can bring it to your birds on his hands.

I dont know under the fit of the fittest princilple the strong survive and you breed from them and they get stronger. I have had problems with fowl pox in the past from the little bugs bitting my chickens. bob

 

How are they?