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

[junebuggena]

But the bugs were in the scratch, not the feed. If they were in the main source of nutrition, that would definitely be an issue. But since they were in scratch, and not the main diet, it's nothing to really freak out over.

 

[chickens really]

In your opinion.......Dirty infested feed, is dirty infested feed........



Cheers!

 

[junebuggena]

Scratch is not feed.

 

[chickens really]

Scratch is not feed.

Nope....Not feed.....Still fed to the Birds......Come on, really........?

Happy New YEAR!.......


Cheers!

 

[Little Fuzzy]

It's not the bugs that's the issue. It's that the presence of the bugs could be an indication that the feed is old and therefore rancid. Not a healthy situation. At the very least, the feed is lacking in nutrients, and at the very worst, the feed may have mold that may not be detected upon casual examination. Some mold toxins are lethal. This is why I am so much an advocate of being aware of the mill or pack date of any products you buy at the feed store. I have walked out of the store on plenty of occasions without purchasing feed, because all they had out was stuff that was more than 2 months old. If I'm spending money on feed, it will be fresh, and it will not have insects eating the nutrient out of it.

Good point! That is where my lack of experience shines thru, thanks for educating me lazy gardener. That's why I love BYC!

 

[Cindy in PA]

Your bird may have died from a number of things. I have had very few chickens die in the 24 years I have raised them. I do find however that the few birds I have lost usually die when first starting laying or coming back from molt & starting laying again. Sometimes this happens after a prolapse, but usually they just die soon after starting to lay. It has only happened to one bird at a time, so I always assumed it was something wrong with the egg laying plumbing! So seemingly healthy birds do die after starting to lay IMHO. Hope you find your problem.

 

[lazy gardener]

But the bugs were in the scratch, not the feed. If they were in the main source of nutrition, that would definitely be an issue. But since they were in scratch, and not the main diet, it's nothing to really freak out over.

Scratch is not feed.

Um, if you buy it for the purpose of feeding it to the birds, whether it is a treat or a supplement, it is feed. Your choice whether you spend good money on insect ridden, old, or rancid feed or scratch or what ever you want to call it instead of insisting that you come home with a product that will actually benefit your flock.

 

[Happy Chooks]

We got them from a friend of a friend who was a "breeder"! She had 100s of birds and for a while we would contact her about them, then I took one to UC Davis and told her what the findings were and we never heard from her again! The findings were cocci, mycoplasma gallisepticum and mycoplasma synoviae!

A breeder would not knowingly sell infected birds, and there is no way this person didn't know that their birds were infected. This person knowingly sold you sick birds. It's not necessary to vaccinate birds from a healthy flock, but this flock was not healthy. Birds infected with these respiratory diseases are carriers for life, and can infect future birds introduced into the flock. They are also transmitted vertically, so if you hatch eggs, the offspring can become infected through hatching. If you sell or give away birds, you will infect their flock as well.

It sounds cruel, but your best bet is to cull the remaining birds, thoroughly disinfect the coop and start over with healthy birds.

 

[chickens really]

Backyard Chickens are allowed in lots of Cities and are becoming a craze.....It is no different than the puppy mills that puppies come from.....Just like the micro pigs.....a bunch of people breeding unhealthy stock to make a buck..



Cheers!