OMG, please help :(

[xera13]

how hot is it? The sweet pea that is toxic is the flower plant not the peas we eat. Is it possiable that you had some kind of cleaner/disinfectant contaminated the scraps from the counter?

 

[featherz]

I feed my chickens regular eating peas all the time. Not rotten/slimy peas, but right out of the freezer, thawed. Never had a problem. I am guessing it was something else OR something was very rotten.

 

[pinkwindsong]

no one had change oil or transmission in one the cars lately.. have they any way they could have gotten into antifreeze coolant could they..

Pink

 

[jackofiver]

Hi - I am believing that mine all died due to the gnats. That seems so crazy, since I was feeling horrible that I had fed them something or they had poisoned themselves (which, still could be part of the problem, but this is beginning to seem more likely). But the only one that i saw symptoms for was kind of lethargic and wouldn't get up or move away from me.....just kind of sat down and just fell asleep. I looked at the 3 I have left, they do have bites/blood marks around their heads, take a peek at some of the ones that have lived to see if
they might be affected by the gnats. I also just let my 3 out to see what they would do, they acted completely terrified and trying to get under anything they could......now that I think about it, when I had them in the tractor in the yard, they wouldn't come down from the second level........also noticed there was some light blood in the crevices of their feet from pecking bugs away, along with head shaking to get the gnats off. If you are able, my only suggestion is to get them inside as soon as possible, I do think this could save them!

Sorry for your loss and understand your kids' sadness....my little ones have been wanting to have blue and green eggs for such a long time and now the girls are all gone.
Please post back if you find any indicators on your birds, would love to hear if it is similar to what I am seeing or if you find other things.....

 

[fifenashia]

I'm leaning more towards the idea of gnats at this point. I have read a few threads of how these particular gnats have killed birds quickly. Let me find some links for you to peruse to see if those help.

*Edited to add links*
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2098190

 

[hd_darcy]

I'm just blown away that it could be the gnats. Would the gnats also make a little slower death too. Like I had a couple that were hanging on and then lost them over time. If it were the gnats suffocating them, wouldn't it be more sudden?? I mean it was sudden considering they were fine this morning and then two hours later I had 4 dead chickens w/ a couple more acting ill and then they were gone. I also thought I read that food poisoning wouldn't show up so fast? Is that true too? I read it can show from 8 - 48 hours, but could it kill them darn near instantly as well???

Thanks again! We still have 4 roosters that seem to be doing okay. Going to go clean the coop and dust like crazy out there w/ DE for now.....

 

[fifenashia]

Here is a link that has some GREAT suggestions for dealing with the gnats.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=185421&p=2

Vanilla seems to work well, like a dab of vanilla extract behind the heads helps. Wind is another thing so putting fans up works well. They only swarm during the day, not at night.

Read through these posts and see if symptoms match up or not.

I'm so sorry you are dealing with this

 

[tellynpeep]

I very much doubt it is the Black Flies (aka Buffalo gnats.) We have TONS of them, and they bother the people more than the chickens. The chickens can get away from them by going inside the coop if they want to. They just don't seem to bother the birds that much..

 

[6chick*start]

Quote:
No kidding! And the melon left out. Who leaves food like that out on their counter for days. Enough to get slimy? Geez, scary.

 

[hd_darcy]

6chick*start :

Quote:​

No kidding! And the melon left out. Who leaves food like that out on their counter for days. Enough to get slimy? Geez, scary.

The melon wasn't slimy, the melon looked fine I should have had it in the fridge (obviously). I keep scraps out so I have something to give for the chickens if my boys want to go outside. The chickens follow me in the run for their treats (and I shut them in), so I like to have treats on hand all the time for them. I didn't have to lock them up the day before. That is why they were left on the counter.

I'm still going back and forth as to whether I think it was the food or the gnats... It was such a small amount of food to have 6 dead, but maybe that's all it takes. Obviously, a lesson learned either way. They will surely be kept an eye on very closely, and nothing but very fresh food from here on out.