Please help! 2 healthy pullets passed away out of nowhere

[Hloren]

Ivermectin isn't used anymore for treating worms as its effectiveness has diminished and not considered a dewormer by most here. That's not saying it didn't kill the roundworms had that been what they had, but you can't be sure. Ivermectin for chickens is mostly used to treat SLM (scaly leg mites).

How cold are they in your coop? We keep ours at 40°F, but I know they can take it colder than that, as they're outside at 20°F with zero issues.

If you want to try deworm them with something that'll for sure work, most use:

Safeguard (fenbendazole)
Either the Liquid Goat Wormer or the Equine Paste, both 10%. Dosage is 0.23 ml per pound of body weight, given orally (undiluted) for 5 days. That will treat roundworms, cecal worms, gape worms, and capillary/thread worms. There is a 14-day egg withdrawal.

If they are molting, you shouldn't use the Safeguard, but instead can use Valbazen/Albendazole. Dosage is 0.08ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeated in 10 days.

Thank you, I’ll try the dewormer.
For the silkie is was low of 38 F at night, with the polish it was 40s.

 

[Hloren]

I always provide food/water during waking hours. A "fast" is not really necessary when treating crop issues and could cause dehydration and weakness.

Birds can be sick for a while before ever showing symptoms, they are pretty good at hiding things. Sour Crop won't kill them overnight, but it can fester for a long time before it gets bad enough for some birds to exhibit distress.

You mention everyone is Fat. If your hens are overweight, this can lead to disease like Fatty Liver Disease or excess fat around the organs which in turn can cause various symptoms. Without necropsy, it's just a shot in the dark at trying to figure out the cause.

I'd consider giving mealworms and/or scratch sparingly a few times a week if you are currently giving those daily. Mealworms are a great source of protein and calcium too, but are quite high in fat. Scratch is like a treat.

Ivermectin may still help eliminate Roundworms, but it's lost some of its effectiveness. Using Fenbendazole or Albendazole to treat most worms that poultry can have except for Tapeworms would work better.

Thank you for all the info! I’ll reduce the scratch. Someone told me silkies needed additional protein during the winter which is why I had upped the scratch.

They have food only during waking hours in their run. They’re locked in the coop at night with no food/water. They have a large area to run around during the day but I think the higher protein food is just too tempting. They’ve been on it since September when they started to molt and lay less eggs.
I couldn’t find any one to perform the necropsy when the last one died. If this happens again I’ll try to save it to send to the state lab.

 

[Debbie292d]

Thank you, I’ll try the dewormer.
For the silkie is was low of 38 F at night, with the polish it was 40s.

They shouldn't have been cold then unless they were sick. Even our molting and frizzle silkies do fine at around that temp. We heat to about 40F in both coops, and those in growout pens have a cozy radiant heat panel in their coops, since it's already subzero some nights here.

 

[Debbie292d]

20% layer

Is that an all-flock? Our feed is Kalmbach's Flock Maker crumbles, which is 20% protein. Lower calcium though so good for chicks and roosters. Oyster shell dishes for the hens.

Thank you for all the info! I’ll reduce the scratch. Someone told me silkies needed additional protein during the winter which is why I had upped the scratch.

I don't do anything different for these in the winter than I do in the summer, albeit some warm mash on the coldest days.

You could try a trick a few of us do for scratch. Get a bag of Kalmbach's Henhouse Reserve and use that instead. That is a complete layer feed, so healthy for them, and 17% protein, better than scratch has! Most of us found just feeding that to them caused too much waste though, so it becomes their "scratch" as they do love it!

For other treats, we mostly stick to just occasional scramble eggs. Those are high in protein, too.