Need help sick chickens please!!!! long post!!! stopped laying!!!!

[the4heathernsmom]

We have a multi fold problem here. background-we had a few barred rocks one road island red several game hens one game rooster and ee's .....we then added about 5 weeks ago 25 guineas (in their own seperate pen enclosed) a brown leghorn herd several spangled hamburgs, a barred rock rooster for the hens, and some ancona hamburg looking chickens of unknown breed 3 of those. The game and most hamburgs and ee's are in a large enclosed area pen with a coop off of our barn, has mulch bedding with hay on top of that homemade wood roosts and milk crate nests. We let this group out occasionally to forage in the pasture. ok next group is the leghorns with some spangleds they are super wild and stay in a much smaller coop area with a run feeder filled with hay and nest boxes and mulch for bedding area with hay on top. ok same thing with barred rocks and the ee's together mulch for bedding have half barrels for them filled with hay for nesting again small coop with run area and they are let out about every other day in pasture to forage because theirs is the smallest area. whew with all that being said we have major issues going on. ok first we lost about three weeks ago two of the spangled hamburgs....they just became sickly no drainage no obvious symptoms other than lethargy and not wanting to eat just kinda laying around we thought stress new place adjustment issues they will turn around nope they died. ok so we treated the whole flock with antibiotic in water thinking maybe we had an outbreak of something. everybody seemed ok then about two weeks ago we went from 15-17 eggs a day to 5 now and have only been getting 5 for two weeks now. There are two of the spangleds combs that are so pale ....... but they are acting fine......ok i am thinking worms so i wormed everyone. Still no ijmprovement on the egg laying. Now we have the game rooster he went down on me 5 days ago. I had nothing on hand but goat serum so gave him some to try and help him through the night he was better the next morning then bad again the next evening. Treated with antibiotic and just making him confortable. His comb and wattle turned from a bright red to almost purple color. He is gasping for air opens mouth and reaches upward for air. He is better one day and red color comes back to comb then back down again. No nasal discharge no puffy eyeballs no face swelling he eats a little and drinks cannot crow at all. he is able to be caught so not up to par at all he is a difficult chicken. gapeworm is all i could find that might fit symptoms but now i am thinking do i have some kind of dreaded disease or something? The new birds were all vaccinated and were from murray mcmurray, the guy i bought them from no longer wanted chickens they are almost two years old he never had any other chickens but he raises guineas. Called the vet took dead bird-not newcastle not marek not coryza not any of the major chicken illnesses....they were not much help and then said we don't really do birds.
Can anybody help me? I can send pictures of the rooster if you want and the pale hens. I have hand me down makin do setups for my chickens but we are clean and clean waterers every other day now daily since we are medicating. we clean our pens. We feed a laying ration with scratch and cracked corn that we give the goats. The chickens get egg shells from the house fresh when we eat them and kitchen scraps fresh nothing old or moldy. we have two new little pigs but they are way seperate from the birds. we have goats that mingle but only three of them. Have two kittens and a dog. I don't know what to do !!!!!! Oh I live in East Tx extremely hot here we dampen the ground at least once mid day for all animals it is so hot.....has not rained in over a week....and I do not have standing water anywhere near chickens....nobody near has chickens other than me but one county road over there are chicken houses like broiler houses ..... not really close enough i don't think to be an issue. Anyone????

 

[meriruka]

Well, you have ruled out most of my ideas already. Hopefully someone else can help. Hope they recover for you.

 

[the4heathernsmom]

We lost the rooster this morning. I just don't want any of the others becoming ill. Anyone have any clues? I have been all over the net and reading old posts on here. I have to get these girls bac laying again !!!!!!!

 

[kathyinmo]

What is their diet? What kind of food and treats, etc? What about the hay you use ... any chance it is moldy? What kind of mulch? Have they had access to toxins, fungus, mold, rotted vegetation, etc? What is your weather like there? Wet, dry, standing puddles, etc? Any information you can think of is helpful.

 

[cardsyourway_us]

I've had similar issues this summer with my hens. I posted the most recent details on this topic thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=229028

They haven't been laying more than an egg every few days for the last few months! (We used to get 5 eggs a day, every day!) A couple weeks ago one of my girls died, I think from dehydration. And now I've got another one, super sluggish and won't eat!

I'm really worried and looking for advice.

Thank you!

 

[threehorses]

I suspect the bedding. It's mulch, which is designed to keep moisture in. You want bedding that keeps moisture OUT - dries everything up. Moisture in the bedding is a sure source of quick illness and death. Horse-stall type pine shavings from the feedstore, the medium/small ones - not the huge ones (as they don't absorb as well). I hear TSC has great shavings at a good price. 4" of bedding will compress to 3" of bedding.

Honestly, it wouldn't hurt to use agricultural lime (not regular but specifically agricultural) or sand under the bedding when you put it in to wick away the moisture that is left there from the mulch on the ground.

Also, please don't feed egg shells back. Try oyster shell (Crushed, not pelleted) free choice. Make sure all hens are eating laying pellets as 90% of their diet or more. The other 10% can be more of the same, good kitchen scraps, treats, and grains. That way your cal/phos balance is correct for good eggs. Egg shells aren't very bioavailable sources of calcium, not readily absorbed. Oyster shell is when it hits the gizzard.

The gasping to me was indicative of bedding issues as there was no other respiratory issue symptom. The blueing of the comb was a lack of oxygen. I doubt it's gapeworm as they usually fling their head, and cough, to try to expel the worms.

I would replace all the hay and mulch with pine shavings. As a horsewoman, I know that hay has mildew and mold spores that on even slight contact with moisture become active. Birds are very sensitive to that and will easily come down with non-symptomatic or typical respiratory disease. And if an of the mulch was cedar at all, it was toxic.

I would pick up and check all the hens and roosters, their weight. Rule out parasites (lice/mites) by checking them thoroughly.

I would do that immediately, particularly because of the type of heat we're having here in Texas. I think this will immediately help with the respiratory issues. I think providing laying feed and oyster shell will help with the laying problems (unless your birds are in molt). Also be sure that they all have cool areas and use them (some have cool areas but stay in the coop where it's more hot). Heat will cause birds to stress and not lay.

For the next two weeks, in addition to the above, I would spray their feed twice weekly with either cod liver oil, or fortified wheat germ oil that is sold for horses in the feed stores. Make sure it says "fortified". The A vitamin in that oil form on the feed (not in the water so much) will help with respiratory issues, the D vitamin will help them get up to stuff on their calcium absorbtion. Use a hand-held travel sized sprayer like you get in the cosmetic section. Keep in a dark cool place except when using. Just heavily mist the top of their feed twice a week.

I would also feed them all some yogurt mixed in with their pellets (made into crumbles in the blender so that they absorb moisture better) and with some water once daily for a week. Antibiotics deplete good bacteria and that can cause problems. This will also boost their immunity.

SUMMARY:

Replace mulch bedding with compressed horse-stall type pine shavings.
Make sure diet is at least 90% laying pellets or crumbles.
Provide oyster shell free-choice to all flocks.
Spray feed 2x's weekly with cod liver oil or fortified wheat germ oil.
Make a damp mash out of yogurt/crumbles/water for a week.
Examine their body condition and droppings and report your findings.

 

[Mrs MIA]

Have you checked for lice/mites?

 

[the4heathernsmom]

ok yes checked for bugs none found - I am calling this mulch but it is more like wood chips similar to shavings but courser and much bigger - no it is not wet here at all and their coop is dry even with their wastes which we clean out weekly. ok on no eggshells feeding back - will try the yogurt. will update this evening on what we have found. it is extremely hot today I have to mist the pen and run areas or they will just be way too hot only way I have to help them stay cooled off. Thanks for the suggestions we are trying everything we can.

 

[purpletree23]

What product did you worm with? What type of anitibotic did you use and for how long?

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
I'd suspect that heat is a good bit of it, probably. I still would consider removing hay and the bigger wooden chips as the bigger wooden chips still aren't very absorbant, still have a lot of their oil - I think i know what you're talking about though. Definitely not the usual decorative mulch type mulch. Or just put the shavings on top of it. That would probably be easier, more economical, and still help. It really is hot right now though, isn't it?

you could also consider using poultry electrolyte powder in their water to eliminate the possibility of heat stress.

No possibility of feed that got wet, mildewed? Or got at all damp, anything at all that could be bad that they could have gotten into?