One dead chicken, what should I do to protect my flock

[andrealondono]

Hello everybody.
This is my first time getting chickens. I had 14 chickens going strong, 10 weeks now. I started seeing one of them behaving kind of somber, quiet for about a week or week and a half. Suspected something was wrong, but did not removed her from the coop. (again first time flock owner). I came home to find her dead in the run. Very sad!! Pecas died. I would like to know if I should do anything to prevent the rest of my girls from getting sick... should I administer antibiotics to the rest of the chickens? anything else I should do other than cleaning everything?, what should I clean the coop and the feeders with?
Thanks for your help!!!!
Andrea

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

If you see no signs of illness in any of the other birds, I'd do nothing for now.

Sometimes birds just have something internally that's not quite right. They look fine from the outside, but can't grow to adulthood. They just die with no other signs. This may be one of those, since you say there's no symptoms in the other birds.

Just watch your flock carefully and if you see another bird acting strangely, then you'll need to do some research or take her to an avian specialist (most vets have absolutely no clue about poultry) to see what's wrong in your flock.

Please don't randomly give antibiotics to any animal. That's how you make antibiotic resistant bacteria. It is a terrible practice. Only give antibiotics when you have a disease causing organism confirmed by an actual test. And when you have the test done, the professional will be able to recommend the proper antibiotic and dosage.

 

[donrae]

What Sunshine said. Sometimes birds just die and you don't know why. If it's a one-off, I just keep a better eye on the rest of the flock for any changes in behavior.

Please, please don't give antibiotics shot-gun style! If a specific bird is ill, separate and medicate IF APPROPRIATE.

I've had birds for 20ish years and occasionally a bird just dies. Sometimes they're "off" for a few days, sometimes there's no warning at all. Just dispose of the body and go on.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

donrae is right about sometimes, medication simply isn't appropriate. Sometimes, the best you can do is cull the bird(s) and move on. With our flock, for example, we don't try to medicate or find out what's wrong if a single bird shows respiratory symptoms. We simply cull her/him immediately. That's because respiratory illnesses are extremely contagious in fowl, and there are often no good ways to cure the bird--they may look better, but will never lay as many eggs again, for example. So with chickens, sometimes it isn't appropriate to medicate even when there is a medication that will make the bird better for the time being.

We've never been in the situation where the entire flock had respiratory symptoms, thank goodness. If that were the case, then there is an avian specialist nearby that would take a look and give us advice on what to do next, including culling the flock and starting over.