Our silkies died....Possible Cause?

[Pohoehoe]

Were they eating and behaving normally up to the time they died?

Have you found any dead rats lately? Maybe a neighbor is poisoning the rats and the silkies got a bit of rat poison brought into the run by the rats. There wouldn't have been any symptoms apart from weakness, lethargy or loss of appetite.

Hi BonDEEroo, thank you for the reply. We have not found any dead rats lately besides the one in the tool shed. In the coop, we can only see their feces. Not sure about if neighbor is using rat poison. No sign of the symptoms mentioned.

 

[Pohoehoe]

Im in the Bay Area too. Its not the cold.
1. Did you have a heat lamp on?
2. It could have been a predator. Is your coop predator proof? Some predators leave bodies and you have to look hard for bites that killed the hen.
3. Did their water freeze? In the am when they wake up, chickens cant go long without water.

Hi Kathy, thanks for your reply.
1. We do not have heat lamp and thought its not needed.
2. I think it's predator proof since we have seen cats, raccoon, and possum come and go in our backyard, and didn't do any harm.
3. Water did not freeze completely. They usually alert us when that's the case. Perhaps they died even before that occurs....

 

[Pohoehoe]

Sorry for you loss

Hi ChickNanny13, thank you for your kind words.

 

[ChickNanny13]

 

[Pohoehoe]

Welcome, and so sorry for your loss.
Look hard at your birds, at night, with a light, for any sing of mites or lice. Heavy loads will kill birds, and until you really look, aren't that obvious.
Rats will kill small birds at night, sometimes with small wounds.
Silkies don't handle extreme cold; maybe a sudden cold snap was the problem.
If you see one rat, there are MANY!!!
Fix any places that the rodents are entering; any opening larger than 1/2" diameter is too big.
Rats are very smart, and only poison will eliminate them. Use bait stations where your birds can't get to them, and dispose of any bodies in the garbage. Most rodents will die in their burrows, not out in the open.
Howard E has a couple of useful older Army videos concerning rats; look them up.
Mary

Hi Mary, I looked closely again, the one upstairs has no visible wounds, both eyes closed, and nestled in her usual resting spot. However, the one on the ground level, didn't have noticeable wounds on the body but strange that both eyes were missing. Inside the eyes area, there are these very tiny light yellow color, long-shaped egg looking things, a cluster of them. Perhaps flies got to her after she died?

 

[Pohoehoe]

Possibly pasteurella
see https://tailandfur.com/causes-of-sudden-death-in-chickens/ 2nd page

Hi Boonie, will check it out. Thank you for your reply.