My Chickens keep dying.

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

Sorry to hear you and your neighbor are both having issues. All questions that follow are in attempt to help and NO judgement for any answers... Please know this is a friendly questioning.

You say last 9 months... when and where did you get your birds and at what age where they? How many in how much space? Did your neighbor get their's at the same place or time? How old are your birds now? What do you feed including treats and supplement? To be honest what I read says you might be killing them with kindness.. minerals specifically can be VERY deadly when out of whack. Fresh veggies doesn't benefit much except enrichment.

Did you have a fecal float to make sure you were treating for the RIGHT worms, IF you even needed to? ($25 at my vet) Worming is poison can be very hard on the system, especially if they are already having an issue that isn't worm related.

Over 9 months... indicates it is NOT weather related, though it could have started out that way. Please tell how far apart are these birds passing? Also where are you located? When they lay down, have you got them back up to walk... or where do they lay down at? Do they stay there until they pass?

Skinny breast bones, seems only relevant to me if you know what they are like before that. But it's an area I'm still learning in. When you start to see them get lethargic, is time for immediate action as things happen so fast with chickens and they HIDE anything just as long as they can so they don't become easy targets for predators and even their own flock. What that immediate action is though, can be so variable. Almost always making sure they are getting fluids. Sometimes with electrolytes or vitamins added in. They won't starve to death, but dehydration is deadly fast. So I think that is most important. Which leads me to the next question... was their appetite gone when they did lay down?

In California, necropsies are only $20 for two chickens.

Where? I was told $40 at UC Davis for 1 bird, last season? It did used to be free for individuals but not anymore. And they did provide their commercial FED EX (only shipper of dead birds I think) shipping account to reduce my cost of shipping and said they would bill me afterwards.

Info to help facilitate necropsy...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/how-to-send-a-bird-for-a-necropsy-pictures.799747/

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/nahln/downloads/all_nahln_lab_list.pdf

I believe on the live you bird you might be able to do a gram stain (float) to tell you if their is a bacterial infection and which type would be the correct antiboitic, gram positive or negative... this again is another place I am still learning...

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Also, @Sal2249 , you mentioned "minerals" in your post. I have found fast acting vitamins like Nutri Drench straight out of the dropper to be remarkably helpful, especially as you are in a "mystery illness" stage yet.
Corid and Nutri Drench = Most used items in my chicken first aid kit.

But Nutri drench has thiamine and Corid is a blocker. I use them, but not at the same time as that defeats the purpose of the corid IMO...

 

[EggSighted4Life]

One thing Nutri drench has that other vitamins DON'T is amino acids.

 

[casportpony]

Where? I was told $40 at UC Davis for 1 bird, last season? It did used to be free for individuals but not anymore. And they did provide their commercial FED EX (only shipper of dead birds I think) shipping account to reduce my cost of shipping and said they would bill me afterwards.

It says on their website that it's $20 for 1-2 birds.

 

[orrpeople]

Where? I was told $40 at UC Davis for 1 bird, last season?

Their info states $20 - I sent a bird in just this last October.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Their info states $20 - I sent a bird in just this last October.

Thank you. Both of you, I appreciate the team work! I will have to review the information I have written down and see, if for some reason my brain is including the shipping.. Or where my wires are getting crossed. $20, though hard for some, is very affordable (more so than the 40+ shipping, that I had in my head and was sharing ) for real answers... And an awesome price is what I meant to say, when I asked where. Cost me more than that to get a float.


I learn SOOO much by participating in these threads... and leads me to another question regarding dosing info by @casportpony ... Corid being for cattle and treating many strains (not all is my current understanding?) of cocci... but are cocci species specific meaning can your goats get it from your chickens, or your chickens from your cows... or are they carrying different strains or carrying many strains, but only one (or some) effects their own species even though they will passing the others still in their droppings? If you can make sense out of that! And, do you know which strains it is that actually effect the chickens or how many out of those 9? I've been curious about this a long time, but if it's to irrelevant to the thread, my apologies!

 

[Boonie Stomper]

@Sal2249 this is crazy thread

For the last 9 months my chickens have been dying and I don't know why. A neighbor of mine is having the same problem. She took hers to the vet and they charged her $280.00 and told her they didn't know what was wrong with them. We have both been researching the problem and have tried everything. I have removed the top two inches of dirt from their pens and put all new bedding in their boxes and changed their diets. Put lime down, de-wormed them. Add minerals to their water. Went to my local veggie farm and got fresh veges for them.They don't show any symptoms until they lay down and then they usually die with in 1-3 day. I had my husband build me a hen hospital were I was hand feeding and watering them to see if it would help but they are still dying. The only physical sign I can see is their breast bones are so skinny. I even went so far as to cut one open to see if there was something I could see was wrong but found no worms or food in their little throats, or no egg stuck. It breaks my heart to watch them die but I don't know what else to do. I did read on here about having lab testing done. I have one sick right know if she dies I'm going to try them and see if they can figure out what is wrong. I am open to any suggestions.....

PLEASE POST some further details or you just get tons of stuff.
A few pictures of coop setup and birds goes a long way.
If this has been going on 9 months you should have lots of info for us.
What your feed is.
Supplements provided.
Space provided.
Schedule for their care, etc.
How many what type and how old.

 

[casportpony]

Corid being for cattle and treating many strains (not all is my current understanding?) of cocci...

Just did a quick search and it looks like cattle get:

• E bovis and
• E zuernii
• E alabamensis

There might be others, and I'm not sure if Corid treats all three or not.

but are cocci species specific meaning can your goats get it from your chickens, or your chickens from your cows... or are they carrying different strains or carrying many strains, but only one (or some) effects their own species even though they will passing the others still in their droppings?

Species specific means that chickens get chicken coccidiosis, ducks get duck coccidiosis, peafowl get peafowl coccidiosis, turkeys get turkey coccidiosis, cats get feline coccidiosis, dogs get canine coccidiosis, goats get goat coccidiosis, etc.

If you can make sense out of that! And, do you know which strains it is that actually effect the chickens or how many out of those 9? I've been curious about this a long time, but if it's to irrelevant to the thread, my apologies!

Some strains of coccidia are resistant to amprolium (Corid), so some vets suggest using amprolium *and* a sulfa drug like Sulfadimethoxine (Albon or Dimethox)

Chickens are susceptible to at least 11 species of coccidian.

The most common species are Eimeria tenella, which causes the cecal or bloody type of coccidiosis, E. necatrix, which causes bloody intestinal coccidiosis, and E. acervulina and E. maxima, which cause chronic intestinal coccidiosis.

above quotes are from:
http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex4616


From the Penn State Poultry Health Handbook
http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/agrs52.pdf

 

[3riverschick]

All this over 9 months begs the question ....if it's a sickness why aren't all the birds dead by now? they seem to be dropping off one at a time which leads me to suspect this might be something in the environment .could could it be E coli in water standing only after a rain ?something that doesn't happen all the time? A poison flower living or dead that blooms at certain times? something just doesn't seem right here that these birds are dying but they're not dying all at once. But one of the time over 9 months.
An environmental toxin building up a tolerance until it reaches a threshold and the bird dies?
Best,
Karen

 

[Sal2249]

I live in southern Arizona. My chickens range from 4 years old to 6 months. They have a 8 foot by two foot coop with a 8 foot by 16 foot yard off of their coop. I have four of these and I live on 10 acres and let them free range during the day and at night I put them up except when I have to work which is three days a week. When all of this started I was feeding them lay crumble with a little scratch mixed in to the older ones(I forgot I would put out a little oyster shell for them also). The younger ones I gave grow crumble and a little scratch. And during the three days I work I would put some food scraps out for them since they could not free range those days. I have Buff Orpingtons, Bard Rocks, Ameraucanas and Rhode Island Reds. My friend has Bard Rock and Silies and Leghorn. I also have Turkeys, Ducks, Goats, Pigs, dogs and cats. Did have rabbits until my neighbor's dog decide to go on a killing spree and killed all 13 of them. All of my chickens I bought from the same feed store where they got them I don't know. My friend on the other hand bought hers from different places. And by the way my friend and I live about five miles apart.