Phillisy
Songster
I recently just lost one of my roosters; he was completely fine last night (following me around, eating, drinking, pooping, etc), and this morning, dead. The thing is, this is my 4th Silkie to pass in the last 2 months. Aside from one, all of them have been completely fine the night before (I’m very hands on with my birds, spending a couple hours each day with them, so I notice as soon as something is off), and I find them dead in the morning.
The first to pass was a hen that was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and suffered a back injury which she didn’t recover from (I kept her in my house for a week, along with a hen who has wry neck, and the other hen is still fine over a month later). The second, a roo in one of the nesting boxes (plastic dish pans with AstroTurf bottoms at the time) upside down. The third, a hen that just looked like she was asleep. All 3 of these birds passed within 2 weeks of each other, but all were hatched at the same time and were from shipped eggs from the same breeder, so I chalked it up to freak accidents or possible bad genetics. I completely disinfected my coop, just in case, changed my nesting boxes, and didn’t have any other issues for over a month. Then today I lost another roo, this one found sprawled awkwardly in the new nesting boxes with 2 of my hens, but this roo hatched 5 months earlier than the others did, and is not from the same breeder, so now I’m worried.
Their coop is new (8x8’, and there are 15 Silkies in it), so it is not contaminated with anything. There are no bloody droppings in the coop. No sign of mites. None of them had any physical marks on them. I keep 3 other coops of different breed chickens (two Brahma, one Australorp), all of them are fine. I also keep ducks and geese, as well as quail, and they’re all fine; no deaths to date. All are housed separately, but I wear the same boots into all the coops. Aside from 3 of my geese, all of my birds have been hatched here, and I do not allow anyone else who keeps chickens in my coop or runs.
The Silkies get vitamin water, are fed oyster shell free choice, and get around 20% protein (they were getting too thin with less) from a grain mix I buy locally, mixed 50/50 with store bought pelleted type feed. All of my birds except the quail get this feed, mixed to various protein ratios, so I don’t think it’s a feed contamination issue.
Due to no contact procedures the farm vets near me are booked up way fuller than usual and not taking “new” patients (ie. if the bird hasn’t been there before, they won’t see it), so I can’t get through to have a necropsy done. I’m going to keep pestering them regardless, but is there any clues I should be looking for in the meantime? I’m at a complete loss! What could be going on? I’ve only had Silkies for a couple of years, so they are a relatively “new” breed to me, and I know they have a tendency to be finicky, but this doesn’t seem normal...?
The first to pass was a hen that was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and suffered a back injury which she didn’t recover from (I kept her in my house for a week, along with a hen who has wry neck, and the other hen is still fine over a month later). The second, a roo in one of the nesting boxes (plastic dish pans with AstroTurf bottoms at the time) upside down. The third, a hen that just looked like she was asleep. All 3 of these birds passed within 2 weeks of each other, but all were hatched at the same time and were from shipped eggs from the same breeder, so I chalked it up to freak accidents or possible bad genetics. I completely disinfected my coop, just in case, changed my nesting boxes, and didn’t have any other issues for over a month. Then today I lost another roo, this one found sprawled awkwardly in the new nesting boxes with 2 of my hens, but this roo hatched 5 months earlier than the others did, and is not from the same breeder, so now I’m worried.
Their coop is new (8x8’, and there are 15 Silkies in it), so it is not contaminated with anything. There are no bloody droppings in the coop. No sign of mites. None of them had any physical marks on them. I keep 3 other coops of different breed chickens (two Brahma, one Australorp), all of them are fine. I also keep ducks and geese, as well as quail, and they’re all fine; no deaths to date. All are housed separately, but I wear the same boots into all the coops. Aside from 3 of my geese, all of my birds have been hatched here, and I do not allow anyone else who keeps chickens in my coop or runs.
The Silkies get vitamin water, are fed oyster shell free choice, and get around 20% protein (they were getting too thin with less) from a grain mix I buy locally, mixed 50/50 with store bought pelleted type feed. All of my birds except the quail get this feed, mixed to various protein ratios, so I don’t think it’s a feed contamination issue.
Due to no contact procedures the farm vets near me are booked up way fuller than usual and not taking “new” patients (ie. if the bird hasn’t been there before, they won’t see it), so I can’t get through to have a necropsy done. I’m going to keep pestering them regardless, but is there any clues I should be looking for in the meantime? I’m at a complete loss! What could be going on? I’ve only had Silkies for a couple of years, so they are a relatively “new” breed to me, and I know they have a tendency to be finicky, but this doesn’t seem normal...?
Last edited: