lost another one, bad food?

[lady chicken whisperer]

I went out yesterday morning and found my standard blue cochin dead in the corner of the barn. After examining her we think she might have hemorrhaged laying an egg or something, because her rear was very bloody but didnt show any signs of attack.

I was too upset to get anything accomplished yesterday when I found her so I went back out later to collect the eggs. One of my barred bantam cohings was laying in the middle of the floor kinda hunkered down. I thought that she just wanted to lay under the heat lamp because molly wasnt on the roost either. Well this morning we found her dead.

What do you think is killing my birds???? Could we have bad food? Ive never lost so many birds so fast!!

 

[chickenlady]

Im so sorry to hear about your losses. This should really be under emergencies. Bad feed is a possibility. Put it aside and get a new bag ASAP! Clean out your feeders. If it was bad, it may be too late. What does the most recent poop look like. I cannot explain the blood on the cochin and these deaths may be unrelated. This is a tough one. Is the last one to die very skinny? Sudden death can be caused by different things, among them are definately eating something toxic or poisonous and cocci. Cocci doesnt always give blood in the poop but the bird may feel skinny.

 

[lady chicken whisperer]

She wasnt skinny at all, very plump actually. When I went in last night, she didnt look like she was sick at all, just like she wanted to be under the heat lamp where its cozy. My other birds havent been acting differently at all. I havent noticed anything odd. I just dont know what steps to take, but im losing all of my layers!

 

[chickenlady]

Since there are no sign of illness, I would start by removing the food and getting new. Also look around for anything else they could have gotten into that may be toxic to them. Whether it be plants or open containers or standing water or rotten hay.