Sudden Polish Chicken Death

[srosedahl]

My favorite chicken Matylda, a polish chicken, died suddenly this morning. Our other chickens, a cochin and 2 hamburgs are fine. They were all apparently OK when I let them out of their coop this morning. I went out to refresh the water and she was laying on the ground dead without any sign of anything wrong. She was only 6 months old. We live in Vermont, so I have been concerned about cold, but today it's high 40s, sunny, windy. We added a reptile heat lamp to their coop a few weeks ago to add extra heat at night and it has stayed above freezing in the coop. They are usually outside almost all of the time during the day. I fed them some vegetable scraps this morning: beets, apples, cilantro stalk. I think these are all OK. Any ideas? We were going to add more polish chickens, but I'm not sure Vermont is the best environment for them, but then I don't know why she died...

 

[Tjackson84]

I just came home to my 3 polish birds dead they were fine this morning and this afternoon and went down to check on them and 2 was laying on the ground and one in the water dish. All the rest of my birds are fine they were 12 days old. And have been with my silkies and other birds since I have got them. So I’m not any help to you but maybe someone can help us. So sorry about your chicken

 

[pjag]

My polish are dropping like flies. I lost one 4 days ago, no symptoms, no warning laid an egg that day. She was just laying dead in the nesting box. Next day another hen dead. Same thing. Both hens had a bit of a poopy butt upon examination, but nothing else. No mites, no lice, no worms no diarrhea in coop or run. With them having some poop on the feathers by their bum I went ahead and started Corid. I sanitized coop, run and water and water and feed containers with oxine. All was fine then today another polish hen died. My roo and last hen left look healthy but were less active today. The young polish cockeral in the pen seems healthy as does the Ancona hen in the pen. I am afraid to move the last 2 to another pens because I don't want my other chickens to catch what ever this is. It so farms seems to only be effecting my polish. I have a few polish chicks still in the brooder and in my grow out pen. I hope this doesn't effect them as well. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[SnowflakeMama]

I realize this thread has been quiet for a while so I apologize for dredging it up again, but I'm experiencing the same issue. I hatched 14 Polish eggs in late spring of this year. They've been kept away from my big birds this entire time. In the past few weeks we've lost 7 pullets suddenly, all on different days/time, etc. Initially the vet thought it would help to treat for coccidiosis so I've been doing that. I thought it was helping as we hadn't lost any more the last two weeks but today we had another one dead and one in the process of dying when I went to check. I am still doing the half dose of amprol in their water since they finished the first week of full dose. I examined each one that we've lost, the only symptom (if it is that) has been a very slightly poopy bum, but only two of them have had that. Most looked incredibly healthy aside from just dying.

I should mention we have 6 silkies and 5 cockerels with them. There has been no fighting, and these birds have all grown up together. They're in a covered run with regular cleaning, fresh water, etc. Everything is clean, clean, clean... and I haven't lost a single silkie or cockerel Polish, only the girls.

Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated, I'm at a total loss here.

Thanks in advance.