- Mar 30, 2007
- 2
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This may be a redundant post as my wife may post something similar. We discovered one of our Plymouth Rock Crosses dead yesterday. There was a minor abrasion on one wing, it was next to the gate of the run, and its neck was at a sharp angle. These meat birds are so clumsy, I thought it tripped over the bottom lip of the gate and broke its neck.
But this morning my wife found another one dead. We have a mixed flock; Six 1 1/2-year-old pullets, 10 (now 8) three month old male Plymouth Rock Crosses, and 9 various fancy birds.
It is not the heat, as the last two days have been cool and the nights cooler (60 - 80 degrees)
1) What type of bird , age and weight. Plymouth Rock Crosses, 3 months, don't know the weight. Heavy, though, and they can barely walk without flapping their wings for balance.
2) What is the behavior, exactly. They died; no abnormal behavior beforehand.
3) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. One had a minor abrasion on the joint of one wing.
4) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. I don't know.
5) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. All birds have access to game hen crumble and layer pellets. I had not heard anything about problems with meat birds having access to layer pellets. Treats involve pasta, bits of veggies, weeds from the yard (no pesticides or herbicides), and recently rolled oats with fine corn grits.
6) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. Do not know. All the birds seem to have normal poop, although all of the Plymouth Rock Crosses are runnier than the others.
7) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? No chance to treat.
8 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? Prefer to treat ourselves; more concerned about identifying problem.
9) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
10) Describe the housing/bedding in use. A small children's playhouse has been converted to a coop. Pine shavings for flooring. The coop is secured inside a chicken run, which is surrounded by deer fence. The bottom foot of the deer fence is lined with chicken wire which goes into the ground and curves out several inches. There was no sign of predator entry into the run and the other birds did not react (as they have on the other two occasions we had predator issues).
But this morning my wife found another one dead. We have a mixed flock; Six 1 1/2-year-old pullets, 10 (now 8) three month old male Plymouth Rock Crosses, and 9 various fancy birds.
It is not the heat, as the last two days have been cool and the nights cooler (60 - 80 degrees)
1) What type of bird , age and weight. Plymouth Rock Crosses, 3 months, don't know the weight. Heavy, though, and they can barely walk without flapping their wings for balance.
2) What is the behavior, exactly. They died; no abnormal behavior beforehand.
3) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. One had a minor abrasion on the joint of one wing.
4) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. I don't know.
5) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. All birds have access to game hen crumble and layer pellets. I had not heard anything about problems with meat birds having access to layer pellets. Treats involve pasta, bits of veggies, weeds from the yard (no pesticides or herbicides), and recently rolled oats with fine corn grits.
6) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. Do not know. All the birds seem to have normal poop, although all of the Plymouth Rock Crosses are runnier than the others.
7) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? No chance to treat.
8 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? Prefer to treat ourselves; more concerned about identifying problem.
9) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
10) Describe the housing/bedding in use. A small children's playhouse has been converted to a coop. Pine shavings for flooring. The coop is secured inside a chicken run, which is surrounded by deer fence. The bottom foot of the deer fence is lined with chicken wire which goes into the ground and curves out several inches. There was no sign of predator entry into the run and the other birds did not react (as they have on the other two occasions we had predator issues).
