Several chickens died at once, white liquid coming out of mouth! Help!

[Wieneke4]

• Approximately 3 month old cochin bantam chickens bought as day old chicks at TSC
• 4 total have all died within hours of each other
• There were no signs of lethargy or illness.
• 2 of my other birds are now appearing "slow" and don't seem to move as fast as normal.
• There are no signs of trauma, bites, mites, or bleeding. There was a white clear liquid coming out of their mouths when they died. One died in my husband's hands, and simply ruffled her feathers, layed down, and died.
• The only thing out of the ordinary that occurred was that we moved the cage 2 feet over so that the chickens would have grass to scratch and so my grass could grow back in the other spot.
• They were eating well. I use Manna brand chick food with a small amount of oyster grit in the food.
• Most of the poop in the coop looked normal. One of the chickens that passed had a little poop on its back end that was a bit slimy.
• No treatment at this time. Coop was moved back to previous location, just in case there was something that caused it in the new location.
• I would like to treat the issue myself, but I'm not sure how. I need help!
• The current housing is the innovation big green coop from TSC that holds 15 chickens. I only have 11 in the coop (2 duccles, 4 silkies, and 5 cochins-4 of which have died)
• I am in Louisiana. It is only in the upper 80s these days. They are in a covered home. Mosquitos have been out, but none in the cage. I've noticed a few gnats and flies, but not many.

 

[Kiki]

Could they have ate something in the new spot...such as some type of "lawn treatment" for weeds or bugs?

 

[ShinShien]

'Oyster grit'? Chicks don't need that much calcium, do they?

 

[Kiki]

No they should not have oyster grit until they lay the first egg.
Too much calcium in chicks is bad bad bad.

 

[Kiki]

Those 2 slow birds..
Feel their crop.
Full or empty?
Could be sour crop. Could be a million different things...is a trip to the vet doable?
https://www.tillysnest.com/2012/01/crop-issues.html

 

[Wyorp Rock]

2 of my other birds are now appearing "slow" and don't seem to move as fast as normal.

They were eating well. I use Manna brand chick food with a small amount of oyster grit in the food.

I'm sorry for your losses. With that many birds dying so quickly, you need to look around to see if they have gotten into anything toxic (weed killer, fertilizer, etc.).

How does the poop look? It may be a worth a try to treat them for Coccidiosis - symptoms include diarrhea with mucous or blood, lethargy, having a puffed up/disheveled appearance and going off feed. Treatment is with Corid which can be found at most feed stores and online. Corid is considered mild and is generally safe to use when giving the proper dosage.

Oyster shell is offered as a calcium supplement to actively laying hens free choice. At 3months you need to eliminate adding it to their feed, they don't need it.

Just to make sure I understand here, they do have access to soil which I am assuming would give them a sufficient source of poultry grit (granite/small pebbles, etc.) that will help them process foods properly(?)

Do the best you can to get them hydrated - offer some poultry vitamins to their water and monitor their crops to see that they are emptying overnight.

Keep us posted.

 

[Wieneke4]

We do not treat our lawn with anything. That's interesting. I was told that the grit was to help them digest their food. I've always given my chickens a small amount in their feed starting at 2 months. I use chick grit, actually. Where they are is just dirt now. It was a grassy area, but they scratched it all up. No rocks or pebbles really. I did plant wild flowers around their coop, but nothing ever grew and I doubt that is an issue. The poop looks normal. I only noticed on one chicken that it was a bit slimy. There's no mucus or blood at all. I'm afraid a trip to the vet isn't doable until Monday. The only place that sees chickens is 2 hours away and it's not 24 hours. I didn't even notice anything was wrong until they started dying suddenly all within hours of each other.

 

[Kiki]

We do not treat our lawn with anything. That's interesting. I was told that the grit was to help them digest their food. I've always given my chickens a small amount in their feed starting at 2 months. I use chick grit, actually. Where they are is just dirt now. It was a grassy area, but they scratched it all up. No rocks or pebbles really. I did plant wild flowers around their coop, but nothing ever grew and I doubt that is an issue. The poop looks normal. I only noticed on one chicken that it was a bit slimy. There's no mucus or blood at all. I'm afraid a trip to the vet isn't doable until Monday. The only place that sees chickens is 2 hours away and it's not 24 hours. I didn't even notice anything was wrong until they started dying suddenly all within hours of each other.

Oyster
and
grit
are two totally different things.
What does the package say exactly?
Can you smell the mouths of the "slow birds"...see if it smells funny.

 

[Wieneke4]

It's dumar chick grit. Sorry about that.

 

[Wieneke4]

We just lost one more, and now my d'uccle looks slower than normal. What can cause them all to die like this? Poisoning? Could they all have sour crop at the same time? Well corrid or antibiotics hurt the ones not sick if I treat all my babies?