Pullets mysteriously dying

[chicknmania]

I have one hen who hatched seven chicks in October, and another who hatched two in October. Our hen who had the seven chicks lost two to sudden death in early November, (at about 4 weeks) and then another one got sick in mid November (at about 6 weeks). We brought that pullet chick in to the house where she died in a couple of days despite our efforts to save her. The two chicks who died of sudden death showed no symptoms at all, except one had slight lethargy one day. The pullet chick who lasted a few days was very lethargic, had lost weight quickly, and was not eating well. and also died. Because of her symptoms, we suspected Coccidiosis, and treated the flock with Corid for five days, although the rest of the flock seemed healthy. About ten days later, we had a mink get into the barn and it killed two hens, and stole a pullet chick from our hen who had the two chicks. Afterwards, the weather turned very cold. The mink did not return but obviously the flock was very stressed and the cold did not help. The remaining pullet chick, whose brother was killed by the mink, was very traumatized and stressed for several days after, was constantly on her mother's heels and peeping continuously. She seemed healthy though and was eating and drinking. She was about ten weeks old. I found her on her back about a week after the mink visit. I brought her in the house and we examined her. She had a full crop and was of good weight. No discharge, nothing to see, no evidence of diarrhea, but she kept having convulsions, and died within hours. IN mid December, another pullet chick from the brood of hen # 1 (with the seven chicks) began acting lethargic, and we also had a peahen who had some diarrhea but did not act sick. We suspected Coccidiosis again, and treated the flock with Sulfamethoxine for seven days. The peahen's diarrhea cleared up immediately, and the pullet started acting better. Two days off the Sulfa, and the pullet was lethargic again. I confined her to an enclosed hospital pen with heat light, and started her on Corid once more, and also probiotic powder on her food. She improved quickly, ate and drank well. After five days I stopped the Corid and put her on Vitamins/ Electrolytes in her water. She continued to eat and drink well. I had been thinking of getting a fecal float done, but since she seemed to be improving, I decided it wasn't necessary. This morning, two days after stopping the Corid, she was dead. We have never had a serious problem with Coccidiosis before, although the flock had a mild case of it last spring (we also had a mink attack last spring at around the same time they had Cocci). What the heck is going on? Could this be Coccidiosis complicated by cold and stress? I have researched everything else I can think of, but no symptoms match exactly. We have three chicks left out of the original nine....and I think two of those are cockerels.... So, of the five chicks that died, we had one with no symptoms, two with lethargy but no other symptoms. one with lethargy, poor appetite and weight loss, and one with no symptoms, but convulsions. I'm not even sure if they all died from the same thing, or not, but it is coincidental that they all died so close together....anyone have any thoughts?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I do have thoughts but need more information.
I didn't read in your description about what type of feed they are on.
i.e. starter, grower, finisher, all flock or layer.
Protein % and calcium % of the feed?

If you still have the one that just died or you lose another one send it to your state poultry lab for necropsy and lab tests. The mystery will be solved definitively.
Here's your lab.

Ohio Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory


Ohio Department of Agriculture

8995 East Main St., Bldg. # 6

Reynoldsburg, Ohio 43068‐3342

Phone: 614‐728‐6220

 

[chicknmania]

When they were small chicks with their Mother, before they joined the flock, they were on Purina Chick Starter and/ or Dumor chick feed or Dumor premium feed for chicks mixed with Chick Starter.This was until they were six or seven weeks old. I believe the chick feed was 20 % protein, calcium would be minimal for obvious reasons. After they joined the flock, they have been on Purina Flock Raiser, (which I believe is 17 % protein) plus some scratch or cracked corn occasionally. I have always fed all our birds the same thing, and have never had this issue before. I do not feed layer if we have pullets under 5 months old in the flock. I do offer oyster shell free choice, but not all the time.

Yes, I'm fully aware I could have a necropsy done, but I choose not to, for a couple of reasons. For one, it's very expensive in Ohio. Secondly, the Ohio Ag department acts like they detest backyard chicken owners. Third, you have to have a referral from a vet before they'll even consider doing one. The last time I was down there, which was several years ago, they were very rude and unfriendly. The vet that I met with prior to the necropsy told me all the horrible things he thought it could be, and probably was. He terrified me. As it turned out, the bird died from a worm infestation. That's when we found out about Capillary worms. I paid over $100.00 to find out something that I could have found out from a fecal float, but the vet did not even suggest worms as a possibility. Also, they would not release the necropsy results to ME...only to our vet...who is not even a poultry vet!! I'm now older and a whole lot wiser about things that can go wrong with poultry. It's too bad too, because when we first got chickens, we had a problem with ILT, we had a necropsy done back then, which was 12 years ago, and at THAT time the Ag department vets were very friendly and supportive. I found that they still had very little knowledge, especially back then, about chicken anatomy. For our bird with ILT that had the necropsy, they originally said they thought she'd been attacked by a dog, because her throat inside was in tatters. So they are not especially experts either. Later they did figure out it was ILT. Anyway, their attitude has all changed in the past seven or eight years, probably because there are so many backyard chicken flocks, and Ohio is a fairly big egg producing State, we have a couple of huge factory farms. The State figures backyard flocks carry diseases and that's a big threat to them.