Mother hen dead, Chicks still surviving. What precautions to take? Please Help!

[Sarevan]

I am sorry that you lost all of your chickens. Who said best way to remove the contamination by burning? Do you now know what it is that killed them? Some illnesses won't affect ducks. Anyone else in area have the same illness in their flocks?

I' m sorry to say that depending on what it was that killed them it can survive in the enviroment for years, even if you clean the coop and remove all old bedding etc. Cleaning the waterers, feeders too, no way to be sure you got the "bug" that caused the illness. Could come in the air from down the road or miles away from another flock or carried by wildbirds to your home.

You could try with chicks in a month or two, I would try to find local birds as maybe they were exposed to it already and have immunity(?). I would also check the feed carefully for any contamination, clean water regularly, give them beak to tail exams often to try to detect any problems early. Check the area where the previous flock roosted (in the tree?) For any parasites.

Walk and check my property for anything that the previous flock may have gotten into, dead plants, dead rodents, stagnant water, chemicals, any oil spills or chemical films visible on puddles. Watch wild birds for any signs of illness , or any other animal that can access the property.

I am sorry I can not be of more help, I really would like to know what it was that made them so sick. Best of luck rebuilding your flock.

 

[zom23gangte]

I am sorry that you lost all of your chickens. Who said best way to remove the contamination by burning? Do you now know what it is that killed them? Some illnesses won't affect ducks. Anyone else in area have the same illness in their flocks?

I' m sorry to say that depending on what it was that killed them it can survive in the enviroment for years, even if you clean the coop and remove all old bedding etc. Cleaning the waterers, feeders too, no way to be sure you got the "bug" that caused the illness. Could come in the air from down the road or miles away from another flock or carried by wildbirds to your home.

You could try with chicks in a month or two, I would try to find local birds as maybe they were exposed to it already and have immunity(?). I would also check the feed carefully for any contamination, clean water regularly, give them beak to tail exams often to try to detect any problems early. Check the area where the previous flock roosted (in the tree?) For any parasites.

Walk and check my property for anything that the previous flock may have gotten into, dead plants, dead rodents, stagnant water, chemicals, any oil spills or chemical films visible on puddles. Watch wild birds for any signs of illness , or any other animal that can access the property.

I am sorry I can not be of more help, I really would like to know what it was that made them so sick. Best of luck rebuilding your flock.

Thank you so much again for taking time to reply. I'm so sorry to reply so late but I had a lot on my plate. I did ask around and my neighbour's 2 chicks died a week before my flock was affected. However, I cannot be certain that it was from them as only my alpha roo hangs around at their place and he died much later than the first casualty. I would also like to add that my guineas, who are confined are healthy and fine. And, one more thing, I did cut the turkeys open for a closer inspection of their insides and it was greenish and the liver was very pale. I don't know whether if it was cause of the time of death or because of a disease. I am also planning to tread carefully when I introduce my new flocks (maybe in a month or so) and would love to hear from you even then. I think there is also a rat infestation as I could see a lot of burrowing activity and I even caught a sight of a large rat climbing the walls of the chicken hut

. I'm hoping against hope that this was a one-off thing and never happen again (at least, not in this proportions)

. Thank you once again for your chicken wisdom and counsel

Btw, what's the best way to dispose off a suspected dead bird?.