Question on chicken death expectancy?

[MallardBay]

Good evening—I’m writing a little bit concerned about my flock, or more so questioning my abilities to manage one.

We started with 10 chicks last year. Since then we’ve lost one to a dog attack, one mysteriously disappeared, and just tonight one suddenly died while broody.

Is it normal to lose 30% of your birds in a year? They’ve got a covered run much larger than needed and a coop that is definitely adequate. I think I’m doing all the right things, but now I’m concerned I’m just not cut out for it.

We added 6 chicks this year (currently in the process of slow integration) and I’m worried at this rate I should expect to lose at least 1-2 more.

How do you know what’s normal or if you’re just not doing it right?

 

[rosemarythyme]

There is a bit of a learning curve when it comes to chickens, so the important thing going forward is making adjustments to ensure that things that went wrong the first time, don't happen again. Example: predator attacks can take out 1 bird, or the whole flock - but if you've since improved predator protection in your set up, you shouldn't have that issue again from the same type of predator.

As far as the broody, was she actually hatching eggs, or did you just leave her to sit until she broke on her own? It's rare, but sometimes broodies will sit until their bodies can no longer recover from parasites or lack of nutrition, so if you weren't hatching it's best to break them immediately rather than let them sit.

 

[Lemon-Drop]

I've lost 4 birds. I currently have 16.

I am so sorry for your losses

I am not exactly sure what the death rate in my flock is as I have had chickens for 3 years and have added new hens each year (except for in 2019)

I know that broody hens can sometimes die if they werent hatching eggs. I had a broody (that sat on un-fertilized eggs, or anything really, even a rock or just plain shavings) and she sat for a few months ( I kept kicking her out, over and over and over again to make sure she was eating)

I eventually resorted to the broody cage method, and it worked (though she is broody again)

I'm sure you are doing it correctly, but can I see a photo of your coop and run?

How did the hen die to the dog attack? Were they free-ranging or did it somehow slip in?

For the one that just disappeared, do they free range often? I had a silkie just disappear once after free ranging unsupervised. We searched for hours, but didn't find her.

I now when free ranging always supervise, and put them in even if its just to grab a glass of water. Do a headcount when they come in from free ranging. And when you lock them up for the night.

I am really sorry for your losses. I hope I didn't sound rude or insensitive.

 

[MallardBay]

I've lost 4 birds. I currently have 16.

I am so sorry for your losses

I am not exactly sure what the death rate in my flock is as I have had chickens for 3 years and have added new hens each year (except for in 2019)

I know that broody hens can sometimes die if they werent hatching eggs. I had a broody (that sat on un-fertilized eggs, or anything really, even a rock or just plain shavings) and she sat for a few months ( I kept kicking her out, over and over and over again to make sure she was eating)

I eventually resorted to the broody cage method, and it worked (though she is broody again)

I'm sure you are doing it correctly, but can I see a photo of your coop and run?

How did the hen die to the dog attack? Were they free-ranging or did it somehow slip in?

For the one that just disappeared, do they free range often? I had a silkie just disappear once after free ranging unsupervised. We searched for hours, but didn't find her.

I now when free ranging always supervise, and put them in even if its just to grab a glass of water. Do a headcount when they come in from free ranging. And when you lock them up for the night.

I am really sorry for your losses. I hope I didn't sound rude or insensitive.

You definitely don’t! The dog attack was an error of family member supervision, and I shouldn’t have trusted them—my brother in law had his dog over and hadn’t counted the chickens and one was still outside the run when they let the dog out to the bathroom. The dog has been since been banned from our house, the run has been upgraded, and everyone is better about tracking the chickens.

I’ve attached a photo of the run—it might be hard to see but there is hardware cloth on the bottom and chicken wire on the upper sides and top. (There’s one panel missing on top that has since been added.) That dog is not the attack dog; it’s our lab that is more guard dog than anything else with them. You can also see how the baby chicks were cordoned off in their own area for a little while before being introduced to the full run (I put them in their brooder at night still.)

The one that disappeared got out of the old run and I didn’t notice until after dusk. I searched everywhere but at that time of day she could have hidden anywhere and then got lost or taken by a predator. Also why we redid the whole enclosure.

The broody hen (a buff Orpington) was sitting on eggs that I removed everyday. With our silkie is broody removing them sort of wakes her up and she goes on her with life until the next day when she starts sitting again. I had thought that’s what the buff Orpington was doing but unless she was egg bound, she clearly wasn’t. I can’t rule out disease or parasites, but there is no evidence of mites, they are all vaccinated, and she wasn’t showing any symptoms. We didn’t check for her being egg bound, but we did examine her and she didn’t have any of the eye discharge or other facial symptoms I read come with many of the diseases.

I did just add a layer of diatomaceous earth underneath the laminate cover, on top of the wood floor, in their coop hoping it would cut down on roaches. (It hasn’t.). I wouldn’t think that’s the issue because it’s beneath hay and the laminate cover, but maybe because she was in their all day every day she was exposed to too much?

 

[MickWithChicks]

Honestly? Sometimes it's out of your hands, sometimes you stuff up, sometimes a predator takes one or more, sometimes you have a great run and don't lose any.

Chickens are prey animals. When they're sick they hide it well; often to their own detriments. By the time you notice they're sick it can be too late to do anything about it.

Chickens are prey animals. Predators want to eat them. Predators will eat them. Sometimes you won't even know a predator has eaten them - they'll just disappear.

Chickens are quite dumb. If they get trapped under a bucket or in a gap in your coop, they won't scream and carry on, they'll sit there silently until they die. Chickens are quite dumb. They'll scream and shout when they lay and egg to let all the predators know where their next meal could come from.

Don't sweat it. Keep them safe. Keep an eye on them. If you lose one, it happens. In your case, they were all different circumstances; none could really have been foreseen (except maybe the dog attack). You'll learn and adapt, and depending on how many chickens you go through over time (and if you hatch them), you'll learn to adapt to their deaths too.

 

[Lemon-Drop]

Honestly? Sometimes it's out of your hands, sometimes you stuff up, sometimes a predator takes one or more, sometimes you have a great run and don't lose any.

Chickens are prey animals. When they're sick they hide it well; often to their own detriments. By the time you notice they're sick it can be too late to do anything about it.

Chickens are prey animals. Predators want to eat them. Predators will eat them. Sometimes you won't even know a predator has eaten them - they'll just disappear.

Chickens are quite dumb. If they get trapped under a bucket or in a gap in your coop, they won't scream and carry on, they'll sit there silently until they die. Chickens are quite dumb. They'll scream and shout when they lay and egg to let all the predators know where their next meal could come from.

Don't sweat it. Keep them safe. Keep an eye on them. If you lose one, it happens. In your case, they were all different circumstances; none could really have been foreseen (except maybe the dog attack). You'll learn and adapt, and depending on how many chickens you go through over time (and if you hatch them), you'll learn to adapt to their deaths too.

I agree with all of this, except about chickens being dumb.

Chickens can recognize a hundred faces or more, they have a pecking order, unique personalities, and can count.

 

[Folly's place]

Loke everyone else, chickens are smart about some things, and stupid about others. And some individuals are more careful, and all learn about predators after having bad experiences.
Free ranging anywhere is always a risk; sometimes one bird will be lost, sometimes a large number, all in a short time. And having a very safe coop and run can take time to develop, as our learning curve can depend on bad experiences too.
Do check at least a few birds, at night with a flashlight, for mites and lice, maybe weekly. The wild birds bring them in, unless your flock never gets outside.
And any opening larger than 1/2" diameter will let in rats and weasels!
We keep 35 to 40 birds all year, with more in summer, and do loose maybe one or three to various reproductive problems, and the same number (bantams and youngsters) to hawks, because we do free range.
Twice we've had disasters outside; once ten hens to a fox, another time over two dozen to our own dog, when our fencing failed. Bad stuff happens!
We also had losses when rats found their way into our coop, through a crack in the concrete foundation.
Constant vigilance!
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

We've had young birds die because of reproductive issues; once a six month old pullet!
How do sick birds look and act? They look fine until they just can't pretend any more, and by then the bird is very sick.
Nearly nobody selects for longevity when choosing breeder; most chicks come from birds one year of age, sometimes slightly older. This is a big deal, because the birds still healthy and producing for several years, at least, just aren't in most breeding populations. Economics! Best egg production and fertility is in those one year olds, so it's cheaper to remove older birds and breed those younger individuals.
Mary

 

[Acre4Me]

Sounds fine. You know that 2 were taken by predators. A dog, and one unknown-but an escaped chicken is often a dead chicken. Your broody died unexpectedly-but it happens.

we had one keel over dead in the run mid-step on their first birthday. Another dead after falling off roost in middle of the night (had been struggling to breath for a couple of days). Another died after a few days of weird diarrhea. But, no other chickens sick at same/similar time. So, they can have internal issues that are congenital, but we don’t know about and they die. Sometimes they develop an internal issue and die. Sometimes they get stuck and die.

you’ve learned a lot in your year of chicken keeping! So, keep on learning, don’t give up!

 

[rosemarythyme]

I’ve attached a photo of the run—it might be hard to see but there is hardware cloth on the bottom and chicken wire on the upper sides and top. (There’s one panel missing on top that has since been added.) That dog is not the attack dog; it’s our lab that is more guard dog than anything else with them. You can also see how the baby chicks were cordoned off in their own area for a little while before being introduced to the full run (I put them in their brooder at night still.)

The broody hen (a buff Orpington) was sitting on eggs that I removed everyday. With our silkie is broody removing them sort of wakes her up and she goes on her with life until the next day when she starts sitting again. I had thought that’s what the buff Orpington was doing but unless she was egg bound, she clearly wasn’t. I can’t rule out disease or parasites, but there is no evidence of mites, they are all vaccinated, and she wasn’t showing any symptoms. We didn’t check for her being egg bound, but we did examine her and she didn’t have any of the eye discharge or other facial symptoms I read come with many of the diseases.

I did just add a layer of diatomaceous earth underneath the laminate cover, on top of the wood floor, in their coop hoping it would cut down on roaches. (It hasn’t.). I wouldn’t think that’s the issue because it’s beneath hay and the laminate cover, but maybe because she was in their all day every day she was exposed to too much?

Your set up looks pretty good, not secure against everything on the planet but certainly looks to be secure against most predators.

DE is a hot button topic on here. A lot of us don't use it due to the fact that it's a respiratory irritant. As far as the roaches, the chickens aren't eating them?

As far as broodies, IF you are not planning to hatch (which sounds like you aren't) it's best to invest in some wire cages to break them (the same cages can be used to isolate sick birds). Taking away eggs or shooing them from the nest doesn't work on many birds. I'll post this here in case you're interested in setting up a breaker cage.

Broody jail: Put her in an isolation cage with some food and water, in sight of the others (in the coop if it's not too hot or in/near the run is ideal). A wire cage elevated to air flow under her would be the best option, however I've used everything from a brooder to a dog exercise pen.

Keep her in the cage around the clock for about 2 days. At that time, if she's shows fewer signs of broodiness (puffing up, flattening down and growling, tik tik tik noise) you can let her out to test her. If she runs back to the nest at any point (usually they don't do it immediately, but maybe after 15 minutes, maybe an hour) then she's not yet sufficiently broken and needs to go back to the cage for another 24 hours. Then let her out and test her again. Repeat until she's no longer going to the nest box.

IF the isolation cage is not safe for overnight stay (i.e. sits outside the run) then put her on the roost at night, and retrieve her from the nest box the next morning and put her back in the cage. It may take a little longer this way but better than letting a predator get to her.