Please Help! I have 3 dead chickens in the past 3 days and 6 more that are ill. Is this sickness or heat related?

[lczobrist]

Hi, I live in South Louisiana and we have had record heat this past June, Last week a few days were over 100F and heat index close to 110F due to humidity. I have about 50 chickens, they have about 1 acre to graze in and 2 large runs that are covered with plenty of shade. I give fresh cool water to chickens about 3 x a day, and feed watermelon and grapes to keep cool. Have a large fan in the area also and have been running a sprinkler in the vicinity to cool air some.

So I first noticed these chickens not as active and standing up with eyes closed in the run, then a day or two later they died. I did notice one have green smelly diarrhea.

I now have 6 sick chickens in quarantine area with water, shade and a fan.

Anyone have any suggestions or thoughts what this could be or how to remedy this situation?

 

[DotToDot]

It sounds like a heat-related problem, but could also be something like worms or salmonella.

 

[Rose the Legbar]

What breed of chickens have been dying? It could be a heat related issue like DotToDot said as are unable to cool down due to a small comb and wattles.

 

[lczobrist]

The breeds have died are a Barnevelder, Cream legbar and a black australorp.

The ones that are not doing well are several different breeds as well. Yes it does seem to be heat I would think, Giving them electrolytes and have a fan on them as well in the shade.

Anything else to help them?​

 

[nuthatched]

They could be getting dehydrated from the watermelon and grapes, they have a lot of fiber which cause diarrhea.
What's their diet? Any other symptoms

 

[TillyPeeps]

Green diarrhea usually means that they don't have enough nutrition. Please check their crop to see if it's empty or not. Also, check for food contamination or poison. If there's blood or runny diarrhea in the poo, consider to treat for coccidiosis. When did you deworm they last time? Heavy worm load could cause the same problem too, but usually not so many birds at the same time. You can add ice or frozen bottle water to their watery to help them cool down.

 

[coach723]

How old are the birds? I would give electrolites for 1/2 a day, and then switch to plain, fresh water for the rest of the day. If you can, freeze some water bottles that will fit in your waterers, those will help keep the water cool. I do that when its really hot, and change them out as needed, and freshen water often. If you have shallow dishes that you can fill with water and leave in the shade, they can stand in them, which helps. I use shallow metal livestock feed pans or puppy pans that are about 18" across. The puppy pans are stainless steel, which holds up better than the livestock pans which eventually rust. I got mine from Jeffers Pets. You can also just leave a hose running in a shady spot, the water will pool and they can stand in it, and the evaporation will cool it some. I also do that.

 

[lczobrist]

They could be getting dehydrated from the watermelon and grapes, they have a lot of fiber which cause diarrhea.
What's their diet? Any other symptoms

They free range so have grass, bugs, etc. I also given them chicken scratch in the mornings and then they have Purina layer pellets.

Main symptoms is standing or laying with eyes closed. No panting. Some diarrhea

 

[coach723]

Stop the scratch while it's this hot out, it can increase their body temperature.

 

[nuthatched]

They free range so have grass, bugs, etc. I also given them chicken scratch in the mornings and then they have Purina layer pellets.

Main symptoms is standing or laying with eyes closed. No panting. Some diarrhea

How much pellets are they getting, it should be their primary food. Free ranging maybe encouraging them to yet too much sun