Lost 5 chickens, any ideas what is going on?

[jywel417]

Middle of last week I came home one evening to find one of my pullets dead in the coop. She was extremely thin and I know they have had plenty of food and water. I did not think too much about this since the rest of my flock was acting fine (she was an EE about 4 months old and is in a flock of about 35 chickens ranging from 2 months to 5 months of age) The next day I came home mid day to check on the kids and found my EE roo (same age) laying on his side in the coop. With sugar water and canned cat food he perked up and was walking around by saturday, but he crshed sunday night and I lost him at work yesterday (monday june 29th) When I found him laying in the coop that first day his entire rear was covered in poop. I washed him off in the tub to get him cleaned up and discovered he had bloody feces washing off. Friday of last week I found my silverlaced OEGB in poor shape sleeping in the coop and lost her within the hour, lost a d'uccle pullet sunday, and just lost a bantam EE pullet about 10 minutes ago. They are all extremely thin, have occasional bloody diarrhea, sometimes no noticeable blood, sometimes looks like it is only blood. I had started wondering if they had gotten cocci since moving out into the coop and started treating with albon for the very sick ones I had in the house and sulmet for everyone else out in the run. Tonight one of my doctors I work for at the vet had me start the EE pullet and my belgian d'anvers on amoxidrops as well. The EE pullet also seemed to have some signs of neurological distress right before dying, something none of the others had shown (to my knowledge) The very odd thing is that everyone so far that has gotten sick/died has been out of the batch of 10 chicks I got from Tractor Supply back in March. I am seeking any ideas of what might be going on. . . Dr. Maria at work has been searching for ideas on VIN (a veterinarian forum) but I honestly am baffled by this. They seem to be fading one at a time and so far only from the batch of TSC chickens. . . . They are also midrange of my age groups, so it isn't like it is only affecting the youngest ones, or the oldest ones. Signs shown before death were weakness, inabilty to stand upright due to weakness, messy vent areas with occasional bloody diarrhea, pale coloration, extremely emaciated, and neurological signs (only in the last one that I know of)

The one I lost just a bit ago was standing up, chasing her sister for bread at work earlier, she was doing GREAT compared to when I found her on Sunday, then within a few hours just crashed totally. Anyone have any ideas or suggestions? I don't want to keep loosing the kids like this . . . .

 

[HennysMom]

I'm sorry about the loss of your birds.

Could be cocci - but could also be Mareks or a number of host of other things as well, its just really hard to tell. Bloody poop isnt good. Is there any way you could have a necropsy done on one of the dead birds?

Best to treat the entire flock with antibiotics to be safe, but getting the right one is the key. Have your birds ever been wormed or vaccinated against anything at all? Checked for mites? Ticks?

Hopefully someone else will pop on and post.

 

[pips&peeps]

Don't just treat your birds with antibiotics please.

Take a poopie sample to the vet and have it checked for cocci. If your vet is not avian knowlegeable, just tell them that cocci is cocci and pretty much looks the same in all animals. (per my local vet)

If no cocci, send a bird in for necropsy. Find out what is wrong and the correct, most efficient way to deal with it from a professional.

 

[jywel417]

I work at a vet and have been here for 9 years now, we have done a fecal, they are being treated, and I have the one I lost last night here today for a necropsy. We have 5 vets on staff, two of which are exotics vets and we have a LARGE avian client base

We are just new to chickens and so I was looking for any ideas I might be able to find here while the vets I work for are looking for answers from their resources. They are on antibiotics per an article on a veterinary resource page that one of my doctors found while searching for answers. Sorry, I wasn't that clear in my first post

 

[HennysMom]

what did the fecal float show? It had to show something if you put them on antibiotics, although I dont know if amoxicillian is hte best antibiotic to be using since it doesnt have a wide range. Have you tried using Ampro / Sulmet / Corid instead of amoxidrops? I'd think a wider range antibiotic would work better, but first you need to know what it is you're dealing with.

Necropsy would be the best answer to find out.

Keep us posted.