Sudden death in chickens

[Sadness]

Hi everyone, my husband and I have been raising chickens for the last 4 years, and we’ve never experienced problems with any of them dying like this before. We are losing 2-4 hens and roosters per day since Saturday. The chickens appear lethargic within hours of their passing. One of them is passing green feces, and another had yellow discharge at time of death. We’ve lost over 15 chickens, 2 guinea fowl and 1 elderly turkey since Saturday. We’ve found no bloody stool, and none of them appeared to have respiratory issues. However, they appear to be eating less. We do have 4 ducks but none of them passed. One appears to be wheezing a little, but it went away. The neighbors rooster also died in a seated position last night. Both flocks our exposed to wild Muscovy ducks and crows.

We would greatly appreciate any suggestions on what we can do next. We’re currently treating the flock with Corrid and electrolytes. We’re also thoroughly cleaning out the coup and their water. We’ve also limited their water supply to only one water bowl with corrid and electrolytes. It’s only been a day on Corrid, but two hens also passed overnight and two more this afternoon. We initially thought 3 aggressive rooster caused the deaths, so we got rid of them Sunday morning in the in-laws backyard.


My favorite chicken just passed. This is what she looked like when I came from lunch and this is what her internals look like.

We love our chickens, and my husband treats them like his pets. We only use them for egg production, so it’s incredibly hard to see them die this fast.

 

[WingItRanch]

I'm very sorry..given the facts, this sounds a lot like bird flu. You should contact your local county extension and get testing immediately.

 

[WingItRanch]

The sudden death, the fact that this is happening to multiple species of birds and also neighbors' flock and specifically this comment

Both flocks our exposed to wild Muscovy ducks and crows.

Points to Avian Influenza. Only testing will confirm.

 

[MaeM]

I'm very sorry, this is the nightmare of all chicken keepers.

As far as I know, Corid is for coccidiosis, but this looks like a virus or bacteria of some sort. It also kind of looks like what killed my Eris last year, in her case she got GI stasis before dying, please check if your living chicken's crops are emptying properly, if you find out that they're not, you may buy some time with metoclopramide.

Either way, not sure if there's something you can do if there's a virus, but if it's some sort of bacteria (yellow discharge points at that in my humble opinion), you can try wide-spectrum antibiotics like Enrofloxacin (Baytril).

Again, not sure if this is even good advice, this is a case I'd 100% refer to an avian vet tbh, or some sort of testing

 

[Sadness]

There are no dead Muscovy, crows or our white ducks. The two guinea fowl deaths look different than the chickens. One of them had its eyes pecked out, which is why we thought we had too many roosters.

 

[Susan Skylark]

Get professional help asap, avian influenza or other highly contagious and lethal disease is likely. You’ll want a diagnostic lab to look at tissue from dead/sick birds. Lose the Corrid, these birds need healthy fluid intake and it isn’t coccidia. Good feed, clean water, fresh air, and protection from wet/cold/drafts/heat are the best protection and help at the moment. I’d wait on antibiotics until the samples are collected too in case it is an e. Coli, salmonella, etc, may alter test results and likely not very helpful if a virus.

 

[Sadness]

I'm very sorry, this is the nightmare of all chicken keepers.

As far as I know, Corid is for coccidiosis, but this looks like a virus or bacteria of some sort. It also kind of looks like what killed my Eris last year, in her case she got GI stasis before dying, please check if your living chicken's crops are emptying properly, if you find out that they're not, you may buy some time with metoclopramide.

Either way, not sure if there's something you can do if there's a virus, but if it's some sort of bacteria (yellow discharge points at that in my humble opinion), you can try wide-spectrum antibiotics like Enrofloxacin (Baytril).

Again, not sure if this is even good advice, this is a case I'd 100% refer to an avian vet tbh, or some sort of testing

Thank you. Only one of them had the yellow discharge. Some of them had green feces. Our favorite rooster is still alive. He had symptoms early Monday morning and we gave him corrid directly. He’s resting in a separate cage but still appears lethargic. The ones that died today may not have drank the water yet.

 

[WingItRanch]

Poop will be green when they're not getting enough to eat. This is probably because they're not feeling well so not eating. Honestly, I believe you're dealing with something contagious brought by wild birds. This doesnt sound like coccidiosis at all.

 

[tlcmurphy]

I also suspect AI when this many birds in 2 flocks are dying in this short a period of time. Please get your birds tested.

 

[Sadness]

I also suspect AI when this many birds in 2 flocks are dying in this short a period of time. Please get your birds tested.

We will. Our properties are side by side to each other, and it’s only separated by a chain fence.

I also suspect AI when this many birds in 2 flocks are dying in this short a period of time. Please get your birds tested.

We plan on testing them. We only have like a handful of chickens left, and I don’t expect them to survive before somebody tests and diagnoses the deceased chickens.

I was just hoping that I could pick up something on my way home to buy them time.