Mysterious Deaths

[casportpony]

Sorry for your losses.

We have four necropsy labs in California. If you're close to Davis, Turlock, Tulare, or San Bernadino you can drop them off. Necropsy fee is $20. If you aren't close you can use their fedex number and overnight them. for less than $20.

This is how I ship mine:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/how-to-send-a-bird-for-a-necropsy-pictures.799747/

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

What else has changed in the last few weeks? Feeds? Closing things up? Anything different?

Chickens can get the bird flu. They generally get a very dark comb and are dead within 24 hours. Generally every bird dies pretty close to each other, and the government wants to know.

Wild birds can bring in diseases but generally it's a bit and miss thing. Your best bet is to get a necropsy done on a recently deceased bird to find out what is going on.

 

[casportpony]

Here is the California submission form. Cost is $20 for 1 or 2 birds.
http://cahfs.ucdavis.edu/local_resources/pdfs/submission forms/StandardSubmissionForm_11-16_BYF.pdf

 

[sourland]

Great suggestions from Casportpony. We all can guess away, but they have the capability of accurately diagnosing your problem.

 

[casportpony]

@Peaky , is this hen still alive?

Picture from this thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/help-hen-has-something-strange-on-backend.1195961/
I ask because it looks like this hen has a severe lice infestation. Her belly also looks funny, but hard to say what that could be from.

I strongly suggest that you go to Tractor Supply and get some permethrin spray and treat the birds and their coop.

 

[Peaky]

one of the two hens died shortly,after posting yesterday and I ended up taking the other one to vet to get euthanized. She was going down hill,fast and was making sounds like she was feeling pain. I suppose I could send,the corpse to the vet school north of where I live but the expense may get too much. I'm just hoping that the other 6 don't get sick and die. Time will tell

 

[Peaky]

@Peaky , is this hen still alive?
View attachment 1239987
Picture from this thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/help-hen-has-something-strange-on-backend.1195961/
I ask because it looks like this hen has a severe lice infestation. Her belly also looks funny, but hard to say what that could be from.

I strongly suggest that you go to Tractor Supply and get some permethrin spray and treat the birds and their coop.
View attachment 1239995

That gen was treated with diatametous earth 2x daily and is now perfectly fine. Luckily none of my other birds got the lice

 

[casportpony]

one of the two hens died shortly,after posting yesterday and I ended up taking the other one to vet to get euthanized. She was going down hill,fast and was making sounds like she was feeling pain. I suppose I could send,the corpse to the vet school north of where I live but the expense may get too much. I'm just hoping that the other 6 don't get sick and die. Time will tell

Sorry for you losses. If $20 is too expensive you could ask to speak with the head of the department and ask if they could waive the charges. Next time you have one that needs to be euthanized you can take it to one of the labs and they will euthanize it *and* do a necropsy for $20.

 

[casportpony]

That gen was treated with diatametous earth 2x daily and is now perfectly fine. Luckily none of my other birds got the lice

I suggest that you check each of your birds thoroughly for lice and mites, then treat with permethrin.

 

[DwayneNLiz]

bringing the dead bird to get a necropsy done is a sure-fire way to tell what is wrong with the birds and how to treat them