I had eight 14 week old RIR runts - they just weren't growing, weren't feathering out completely, just kind of weird. I had seen it happen with individual chickens, but not whole groups. I went out yesterday and found 4 of them dead, we assumed it was a snake b/c one appeared to have been swallowed up to it's wings, then spit out. I did a quick clean out and retro fit of my other coop to pen up the last 4 under the nesting boxes so they would be a bit safer (concrete floored building vs. hoop coop on bare ground). I went out this morning to check on them and one was extremely lethargic, wouldn't really wake up. I let them out into the run hoping that might perk them up a bit, but no luck. Came home from church and only 3 were left and were starting to stumble around. I have some medicated feed for my Guinea Keets that I put out there b/c I don't know what else to do at this point. I did find one site that in brief said that it can happen sometimes when older chicks aren't exposed to soil soon enough b/c it's naturally occurring. I wasn't able to get them outside until a couple weeks ago b/c I didn't have a coop available, but even then at 12 weeks they were small. I just don't know what the deal is and am afraid I am going to lose my other three. And then if I do, will my older (3 years old) hens get infected with whatever it is? Do I need to even bother with more chicks this year?? I was planning on some Aracaunas (sp?) the end of the month but won't bother if they are just going to die, too. What do I do at this point? What is going on with them? I inspected the poop from the coop they were in up until yesterday afternoon and it looked normal to me... not runny, no blood, etc. But all the other symptoms line up with cocci.
I haven't done too much research on it yet, but a friend asked what color their eyes were and the three remaining have a blue/green tint around their pupils. I'm guessing that's my answer. Now to find out if that means guaranteed daeth for my remaining three (stunted growth, irregular feather growth - one is still totally lacking a tail at 14/15 weeks old)... then also what to do for any future flocks or if my 4 oldies are at risk at all.
. I have 3 guineas I would like to put in the hoop coop that they were in. Pretty much wire, minimal amount of wood for the bottom frame, and bare ground with some weeds left. I know I need to douse everything with bleach water - what else? The keets are on medicated feed now. Is that enough or what can I do to ensure their health the best I can?
