PLEASE HELP?? Adult, glossy, fat hens DYING. Why?

[InLuvWLife]

No, I do not regularly use bleach. In case it was contamination in the waterer, I scrubbed it our thoroughly with hot water and a small capful of bleach. I have never had to do that before. It was a precautionary measure.

 

[seminolewind]

I really truly think that 2 of mine just dropped dead overnight because they ate a dead mouse that was 5 days old. I had forgotten to throw the trap out, and it was enclosed in an empty pen, and my husband had let them into the pen.

If you are in doubt about the feed, throw it out.

Are you sure they are plump and healthy? Have you actually felt for their breastbone and it was snuggled into fat or sticking out?

 

[InLuvWLife]

Hey all- Just to complete the thread for anyone else havng this trouble. I still have no idea what may be killing the gals, but here is what I did:
-thoroughly scrubbed out the waterer with bleach water and rinsed well
-scraped every scrap of bedding out of the coop and hosed it down with detergent and orange essential oil. I would have preferred to use cedar oil which is very effective on bugs of all kinds but so many think cedar is harmful to chickens.
-Let the coop dry out, then mixed up a LARGE batch of Red LAke DE, wood ashes and a cup of boric acid. Put a heavy layer of this mix down on the coop floor, the roosts, and the part of the yard they dust in most.
-Waited until they went to bed, and powdered their butts with the DE/wood ash mixture. Oiled up all their legs too, as one gal's legs looked slightly lumpy- just in case of leg mites.
-Mixed up some oatmeal with a LOT of red pepper, garlic and an herbal worming blend. They loved it BTW

Crossing my fingers! Thank you all for your comments and advice, It is wonderful to have such an active forum to turn to for help and advice!

 

[seminolewind]

I think I would try some Sevin, some commercial wormer. From what I've heard those natural ingredients help prevent infestations, but not cure them when they are there.

I'm not sure if Borax is toxic to chickens or not. All I know is for insects, they walk thru it and ingest it cleaning themselves, and die.

I read some post somewhere that someone used garlic in chick water, and was having problems with chicks dying. But don't know if it was related.