Sudden Death in New Chickens? Contageous?

[Starbawk]

I recently had the opportunity to procure 25 hens and 2 roosters as a bulk type of deal. The person I got them from did not keep track of individual ages but said they range from 1-2.5 years old. There are some specific breeds and a few mixes. I brought them all home with the intention of getting some batches to some friends of mine because I cannot have 25 more chickens, but it was an all-or-nothing kind of thing from the person who said he wanted to get out of chickens.

When wrangling the chickens they all looked perfectly healthy, but I saw a dead chicken under one of the coops in the run! The guy showed us coyote tracks and such, predators had found the run and it is just a low fence, not very predator proof. I thought ok, was injured by interrupted predator or whatnot and went up in there to die, maybe. Everyone else looked very healthy, bright feathers, no sniffles, etc.

We loaded them up in some HUGE dog crates and brought them home. Of course, they're all kind of piled in together, but they seemed fine. We dumped them into our isolation coop and run which is really too small for that many chickens (at least the coop is but they were spread out throughout the run on a clear night without rain) but we figured they'd be fine for a night or two until today when friends are able to come take some off my hands. The coop itself is 6x6 but the run is totally enclosed and gives an extra 6x12 amount of space, half of which is covered. Some were in the coop, some were under the covered part of the run. Last night one of the black speckled Sussex (which we were going to keep) did not run to the far side of the run with the rest of the chickens when we came around, she was just kind of walking around slowly but didn't seem off other than that. Maybe she's just not as skittish? It was after dark, too. Maybe she was just slow due to being night/sleepy. Well this morning she was dead in the coop.

Could be moving stress? Could be that she was a little older than some of the others? Could be overcrowding? But now I'm particularly worried because that is bird #2 that has at some point died. I will stress that they all seem perfectly healthy. No sign of sniffles, nobody else has any signs of lethargy, they all seem totally 100% fine. But I guess what I'm wondering is, what are the odds that there is some sort of invisible disease going on? Is it possibly communicable? How long should I keep them separated in Iso? We will be down to about 9 or 11 in the coop after today, and 6-8 by Friday. The isolation coop/run is right next to my actual chicken coop, which is a few feet higher and a couple feet away, and with a solid bottom. I usually free range - should I leave my own birds up while the others are in quarantine? Otherwise they will be able to wander right up and interact through the wire. But my main coop, while plenty large for the amount of birds in it, is actually a converted corn crib, without an attached run. We let them free range on about an acre instead. So my old birds would be locked inside for a while.

 

[Eggcessive]

Whenever buying chickens from another person, there is always a possibility that you will bring in a disease. Respiratory diseases make carriers of the whole flock, and a carrier can look perfectly fine. When a healthy bird is exposed, it can take 2-10 or more days for symptoms to show up. Mareks is another serious one that can be brought in by a carrier, and it can remain for years.

I would keep your old flock away from the new birds for at least a month for quarantine. Look them over for lice or mites, and consider worming them. Look at their vents for any damage, check crops early in the morning before they eat to see if they are emptying overnight. Look at their faces and eyes for any drainage or swelling, eye bubbles, or congestion. Moving can indeed be stressful, and there can be injuries when crowded.

Do you know what type of feed they were given? Crumbles or pellets, layer feed or all flock? Make sure they all are eating and drinking. If you are sharing these birds, I would make sure that people know that you cannot guarantee the health of the birds. They might benefit from some vitamins and probiotics for a couple of weeks, just to give a boost.

I would send the dead body, keeping it cold, not frozen, to your state vet for a necropsy, if you want to know what it died from. Hopefully, they will end up being healthy, but I will never bring in someone else's bird to my flock again. I got 5 rare birds once, and realized later, that it could have affected my whole flock.

 

[Starbawk]

Thank you for your reply! I will keep them separate for a month and will check for everything you mentioned. My friends know the deal and will also plan to isolate.