My chickens are dying.....Please help!

[Princefarms12]

So once again I went out to check on my babies (6 month) RIR and I had another hen dead. This time I noticed that her comb and face were very pale. Then I noticed that I have two more hens with pale combs, and they are doing a lot more laying around.

I have wormed them, given vitamins and electrolytes, feeding the layer crumble and I on occasion give them a treat from the garden of squash.
I am starting to feel very defeated right now, and I don't know how many more I can stand to loose.

I NEED HELP PLEASE

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

So once again I went out to check on my babies (6 month) RIR and I had another hen dead. This time I noticed that her comb and face were very pale. Then I noticed that I have two more hens with pale combs, and they are doing a lot more laying around.

I have wormed them, given vitamins and electrolytes, feeding the layer crumble and I on occasion give them a treat from the garden of squash.
I am starting to feel very defeated right now, and I don't know how many more I can stand to loose.

I NEED HELP PLEASE

What specific process did you use in de-worming them? (include name of drug used, dosage, method and whether there was a repeat dose given/when) Have you examined them thoroughly for external parasites? What brand of feed are you giving - how much are they consuming (an easy way to answer that is to consider how many days a bag lasts compared to the number of birds in the flock). Did you ever give a feel to their overall condition, prominence of the keel, etc - if so, what did you find?

 

[Joecool1994]

Hey Princefarms! With the pale comb and face that usually leads to dehydration. Have you noticed any behavior differences in the top hen or has there been a change in the top hen? Some chickens that may have been knocked down the pecking order may refuse the whole change and they will basically starve themselves.

Have you also felt around their "poop-shoot" to see if maybe there's an inbound egg, stuck in there? I don't think the passings are all connected with the info that you have given.

 

[Princefarms12]

To be honest with you i don't remember the brand of wormer I used that was a couple weeks ago. I didn't give another dose due to the fact that I didnt notice any worms on the ground right after they would poop. We go through a 50 pound bag of feed every 2-2 1/2 weeks. with the last bag I was feeding 19 chickens. But since I bought a new bag I have sold 7 of them 5 being roosters. But I always make sure that they have feed in the container and water in their for them.

I have felt the keel bone and they are not a thin as they used to be. Besides laying around and being pale they seem to be fine.

I do have one hen in a completely different area that I am just figuring out has mareks. So I am not even sure what to do for her. This is so frustrating.

And I haven't noticed them being egg bound but I can go check again.

I wish I would have been warned about how difficult it is to raise chickens.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

To be honest with you i don't remember the brand of wormer I used that was a couple weeks ago. I didn't give another dose due to the fact that I didnt notice any worms on the ground right after they would poop. We go through a 50 pound bag of feed every 2-2 1/2 weeks. with the last bag I was feeding 19 chickens. But since I bought a new bag I have sold 7 of them 5 being roosters. But I always make sure that they have feed in the container and water in their for them.

I have felt the keel bone and they are not a thin as they used to be. Besides laying around and being pale they seem to be fine.

I do have one hen in a completely different area that I am just figuring out has mareks. So I am not even sure what to do for her. This is so frustrating.

And I haven't noticed them being egg bound but I can go check again.

I wish I would have been warned about how difficult it is to raise chickens.

For 19 birds going through 50 pounds of feed in 2 1/2 weeks is not great consumption, especially given that you had recently stopped free ranging them so that the feed was their sole source of nutrition. On average you plan for 1/4-1/3 pound of feed per bird, per day - meaning for 19 birds you would expect 50 pounds of feed to run you 8-10 days give or take. Were the cockerels you recently moved out of the flock harassing your pullets? For 5/19 to be male you can run into issues of abuse/overmating/stress of the females. Do you have just one feed station or more than one? The fact that the remaining birds are gaining condition leaves me to wonder if there was an issue of some of those who have been removed from the flock having been dominant and claiming the feed station - causing the low consumption rate of feed and the underweight/poorly conditioned birds.

 

[Mygirls615]

I was just wondering same thing, I have 6 hens and go thru 40 -50 lbs every 4 weeks, with some free ranging, and fruits and veggies. Also 2 gallons of water per day for 6 hens.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

I forget if you can eat the eggs while worming them or not and how long if you cant?

 

[Joecool1994]

For 19 birds going through 50 pounds of feed in 2 1/2 weeks is not great consumption, especially given that you had recently stopped free ranging them so that the feed was their sole source of nutrition. On average you plan for 1/4-1/3 pound of feed per bird, per day - meaning for 19 birds you would expect 50 pounds of feed to run you 8-10 days give or take. Were the cockerels you recently moved out of the flock harassing your pullets? For 5/19 to be male you can run into issues of abuse/overmating/stress of the females. Do you have just one feed station or more than one? The fact that the remaining birds are gaining condition leaves me to wonder if there was an issue of some of those who have been removed from the flock having been dominant and claiming the feed station - causing the low consumption rate of feed and the underweight/poorly conditioned birds.

I wouldn't say it's too bad of a consumption rate. I have 6 hens and a 50 pound bag could honestly come close to lasting almost 2 months for us. We do give the cracked corn daily and either bread, veggies or fruits. I do believe with the last passing of the chicken is something to do with a behavioral problem, but it could very well be a mix of things and not just behavioral, I'm not very familiar with the diseases they can encounter.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I wouldn't say it's too bad of a consumption rate. I have 6 hens and a 50 pound bag could honestly come close to lasting almost 2 months for us. We do give the cracked corn daily and either bread, veggies or fruits. I do believe with the last passing of the chicken is something to do with a behavioral problem, but it could very well be a mix of things and not just behavioral, I'm not very familiar with the diseases they can encounter.

Are your birds free ranged or contained? The amount of forage available to the birds is key in the expected feed consumption. Additionally, excessive amounts of other food stuffs offered may cut the consumption but can also have a serious negative impact on the health of the birds. Bread, fruits, veggies and cracked corn are all very low in protein and protein is a key component in maintaining a healthy flock. Treats are all well and good, but when they become the primary component of a bird's diet vs. a supplement to it you start to create imbalances that can have serious short and long term implications.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

I get a a fifty pound bag of scratch and a fifty pound bag of crumbles (mix flock raiser/ starter) and i go through that in two weeks at least sometimes faster we have 23 birds. They free range pretty much 24/7 expect when they go in their coop and sleep. They also get treats (my girls dont like the corn in the scratch just the bird seed/grains)