Overnight-Dead hens and some are weak

[Jferlisi]

This does not sound good. I would take a good look over the coop and make sure there isn't any problems in the coop. Is there feeder off the ground cause rodents will come in at night and eat from it and that could spread disease to them too. Look for mouse poo, also like others have asked do both pins get food from the same bag? Make sure you are not using anything hazardous around the coop cause they will eat it and that could have done it. Do you clean out there coop regularly and does it have good ventilation. If not it could be ammonia build up in to coop which is bad for them. If i can think of anything else ill ask.

 

[jason_mazzy]

sounds like poison. has anyone complained about your chickens? are you close to anyone that might be offended? are there any young idiots running around? Has anyone been using rat/mouse/fly/ant bait/poison?

 

[Elphaba2140]

Sorry we lost our internet all day yesterday. Thanks for all the suggestions. I will try to answer questions.

First an update-The 1 year old hen is still unable to stand or move. Drinking only and very alert-enough to reprimand a chick for stepping on her. LOL. She will not eat

. The younger birds seem much improved (there were two of them). They are moving around but do not stay standing for any great length of time. All are eating and no new ill birds. There is mass confusion regarding hierarchy!

I don't use any products in our yard. -Now that I think about it the neighbors do though. Crud. Can they get ill if weed products are sprayed - you know via air? Then why only certain birds? The birds in the shed are closer to their yard. We don't have rats or mice so no traps for that.

re-Food. I was just finishing a bag that was new-bought last week. I had bought two. I brought in the other bag from the car and put it in the plastic bin that night and woke up to find millions of tiny (barely able to see) greyish bugs all over and in the bin. There was none on my other bin of cracked corn that has been open for weeks. I have no idea what they are. Left open to the sun they went away.

I had cleaned out the coop a week ago and did so again that day. Scrubbed the floor with soap and water and left in the sun all day. Put down new shavings (pine). I carefully looked at old shavings. They were dry except right under the roost area. Nothing unusual. continue to look for strange droppings but nothing looks out of place.

I do have a neighbor that quit being nice after we bought the birds but really can't get in the yard-have a very tall wooden privacy fence. He is miffed because we can legally have them. He was afraid of noise and smell which I try my best to control both. No roosters but there is some loud egg songs occasionally. We back up to a strip mall which is tons louder than the girls. The only strangers we have had have been landscapers and such in to look at the yard so we can move the shed and build a new coop. My husband was out there with them though. The other side never has complained and most time they are never home.

 

[Elphaba2140]

Here is an update-The only older hen that was ill is still alive. I would go out there every few hours and lift her and she would drink heartily for a few days. I would leave food in front of her on the ground. Then she started refusing to drink. One of my little Brahmas began to pick on her something terrible so I took her out and put her outside their pen. That Friday. Got her to eat a few cooked peas and some egg. Shaking her head at the water. she seemed however to be moving around with her wings as I found her facing the other direction. She is still very alert. She still seems to have no use of her legs but I think I am seeing toes starting to move. She has had no stools since Friday until this morning and let loose with a huge liquid green stool. Not foul smelling. I have her in the shed now since it was raining here on the weekend. She still doesn't want to drink but picked at her food this morning. She has had no eggs since she became ill. Is that normal? Any other ideas?

 

[happyhensny]

Have there been any herbicides or fertilizers on your lawn or neighboring laws? Mouse or rat poison-if they birds find a dead mouse or rat they may eat it. Sorry.

 

[TeamChaos]

I am so sorry for the loss of your birds, I agree that it is quite a mystery... it might be too late in the game now, but I've used a molasses flush on birds in the past that I've thought might be dealing with a poison/ toxin problem (moldy food etc.), maybe consider that to help your hen pass whatever might be in her system. Best of luck!

 

[Elphaba2140]

Thanks for responding. I think someone asked about the herbicide. My neighbors do use them-I don't, ever. No problems with rats or mice. We do live back up to an alley that runs behind a strip mall (our house was built first), but there is a huge fence and a berm between us. What confused me even more is that only 6 of the 1 year old's became ill or died. I had 14. A couple of the babies seemed weak but have recovered nicely. I can't even tell which ones were sick. I have about 18 12 week old's.
There is still much confusion about the pecking order now that we have lost the higher up girls. Life goes on.

 

[BooBear]

Quote:
It sounds like you got a bad bag of feed. Those mystery bugs are your clue. The bugs could also indicate possible mold that you did not see. If you are still using the contaminated feed then you will probably experience more losses. Switch out the feed. If you see bugs in the unopened bag do not use it. You need to report the bad feed to the store you bought it from.

 

[kelar]

Sounds like a poison to me too - I'd suspect the feed since so many were sick/dying at one time & so suddenly. So sorry for your loss.