RIR passed away after starting to lay! Is this normal?

[annerss03]

So I am a first time chicken owner and today we had our 7th chicken pass away! We had a bad go with the first 10 we got! They were super sick and we finally cleared it all out! So our sweet 7 month old RIR Ruby started laying the day after Xmas! She became super lethargic, walking slow, and closing her eyes! She laid a second egg on the 27th and a third this morning! We asked around and everyone said it was normal because it was new to her! She was still eating and drinking but seemed to be losing weight! We gave her some oyster shells to snack on if she needed the calcium and added some electrolytes to her water! I checked on her around 11 this morning and she was laying in the coop and there was a egg in the box, and about and hour later my husband went to clean the coop and she had died! It looked as if she went to stand up and fell over and died! Is this normal or has this happened to anyone else! Ohh and no signs of prolapse and there was no blood, just a little white fluid on her tail feathers and a little under her where she was laying in the coop after laying the egg! Thanks!

 

[bobbi-j]

She had something wrong with her. It's not normal for a chicken to die shortly after starting to lay. What happened with the rest of the flock that died?

 

[annerss03]

She had something wrong with her. It's not normal for a chicken to die shortly after starting to lay. What happened with the rest of the flock that died?

We had cocci going around and then 2 upper respiratory infections! Finally the 3rd round of antibiotics and probiotics knocked out the respiratory stuff! Cocci was gone after first rounds of meds and just repository stuff stayed and killed most of the flock! I took one of the sickest to UC Davis and that is where we found all of the issues and medicated from there! These chickens were also not vaccinated from the breeder and she said they didn't need to be! We have a new round of babies in the brooder that are all vaccinated so this hopefully won't happen again!

 

[bobbi-j]

I'm guessing she was weakened from the other diseases you had going on, and her body couldn't handle the stress of laying. I'm not a vet, just making a guess here. Normal, healthy chickens do not drop dead from laying eggs. Personally, I'd consider culling the rest of your adult birds and start over with the new flock.

 

[annerss03]

I'm guessing she was weakened from the other diseases you had going on, and her body couldn't handle the stress of laying. I'm not a vet, just making a guess here. Normal, healthy chickens do not drop dead from laying eggs. Personally, I'd consider culling the rest of your adult birds and start over with the new flock. 

There are only 3 left from that original flock and so far they seem to be healthy but if they pass we will def start over! Just sucky! Thanks!

 

[chickens really]

So I am a first time chicken owner and today we had our 7th chicken pass away! We had a bad go with the first 10 we got! They were super sick and we finally cleared it all out! So our sweet 7 month old RIR Ruby started laying the day after Xmas! She became super lethargic, walking slow, and closing her eyes! She laid a second egg on the 27th and a third this morning! We asked around and everyone said it was normal because it was new to her! She was still eating and drinking but seemed to be losing weight! We gave her some oyster shells to snack on if she needed the calcium and added some electrolytes to her water! I checked on her around 11 this morning and she was laying in the coop and there was a egg in the box, and about and hour later my husband went to clean the coop and she had died! It looked as if she went to stand up and fell over and died! Is this normal or has this happened to anyone else! Ohh and no signs of prolapse and there was no blood, just a little white fluid on her tail feathers and a little under her where she was laying in the coop after laying the egg! Thanks!

What do you feed the Birds daily??? Include the treats too........



Cheers!

 

[annerss03]

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[annerss03]

What do you feed the Birds daily??? Include the treats...

Cheers!

We feed the big ones outside layer feed! They started that at 22 weeks but before that they were on medicated grower because they were not vaccinated! We added a little scratch to their food every now and then and about 2 months ago we stared adding fresh and dry oregano and fresh mint to their diet! We took the scratch away about a month ago because we found it was full of bugs from the feed store! So they have only had the layer and oregano for a while! Also I hand feed them meal worms once or twice a week! But we had run out of that before the holidays and so it's been a little while without that as well but we just got more the other day! Every now and then they will get left over scrambled eggs and they get some watermelon every now and then!!

 

[junebuggena]

Medicated feed helps prevent coccidiosis, and that's it. It doesn't protect against any other illness. If fed for too long, birds can become thiamine deficient. Layer feed is for actively laying birds only, and can be lethal to birds that are still growing and developing. Scratch should be used as an occasional treat only. Bugs are just added protein, not harmful to them at all. Oregano has no proven medicinal benefits to poultry. Feeding too many extras can unbalance the overall diet. Unmedicated starter, grower, all flock, or flock raiser feeds are safe for all ages, genders, and stages.

 

[lazy gardener]

If your feed had bugs in it, it's possible that it was old and rancid. What does the Julian date say on the binding at the bottom of the bag? That will tell you what the mill date is. Any feed that is more than 42 days from mill date is not up to par as far as nutritional value goes. I agree with JB, re: medicated feed not being good for long term use b/c of the Thiamine blocking... for that matter, I've never used medicated feed, nor do I intend to, but that's a discussion for an other day. I'd check the age of your feed. Some diseases when brought into your flock are "forever" diseases.