Texas

[hensfortherapy]

 

[ChicKat]

 

[buggal]

I am relatively new to having chickens and I have come into a problem. I purchased 13 pullets about 2 months ago and over the course of the past 5 days 2 have died. We cleaned and changed out everything in their coop and Dusted them with 7-dust because we thought they may have mites. They have food 24/7 and fresh water daily but they are skin and bones. HELP!!!! I don't know what else to do, I have another one that is very lethargic and not eating or drinking. He can barely keep his eyes open. I don't want another chicken to die so I am open to all suggestions. I live in Aubrey which is just north of Dallas and that is why I am posting this here. Maybe someone knows about my area and what might be the cause.

 

[hungnguyen]

I am relatively new to having chickens and I have come into a problem. I purchased 13 pullets about 2 months ago and over the course of the past 5 days 2 have died. We cleaned and changed out everything in their coop and Dusted them with 7-dust because we thought they may have mites. They have food 24/7 and fresh water daily but they are skin and bones. HELP!!!! I don't know what else to do, I have another one that is very lethargic and not eating or drinking. He can barely keep his eyes open. I don't want another chicken to die so I am open to all suggestions. I live in Aubrey which is just north of Dallas and that is why I am posting this here. Maybe someone knows about my area and what might be the cause.

Did you provide heat for them at night? Two month is still too young to raise in temp below 55F

 

[buggal]

They have been in an outside coop but I can bring them inside the barn and give them heat if you think that is what it is.

 

[buggal]

They are about 15 weeks old now

 

[bnjrob]

Quote:
Originally Posted by buggal

I am relatively new to having chickens and I have come into a problem. I purchased 13 pullets about 2 months ago and over the course of the past 5 days 2 have died. We cleaned and changed out everything in their coop and Dusted them with 7-dust because we thought they may have mites. They have food 24/7 and fresh water daily but they are skin and bones. HELP!!!! I don't know what else to do, I have another one that is very lethargic and not eating or drinking. He can barely keep his eyes open. I don't want another chicken to die so I am open to all suggestions. I live in Aubrey which is just north of Dallas and that is why I am posting this here. Maybe someone knows about my area and what might be the cause.

There truly is no way to know exactly what is wrong with them unless you have a necropsy done along with blood testing. And even then, you may not know what it is unless you run a LOT of tests.

Throwing antibiotics at them is not helpful because you don't know what they have. And many chicken illnesses have similar symptoms. Without any other definitive symptoms besides lethargy and anorexia, I have to wonder if you got bad feed - some that either has a toxin in it, or perhaps has a nutritional deficiency. A nutritional deficiency would account for a slow decline in weight and health that would be hard to detect for most people until it got to the point that they were acting sick.

What I would do - change feed. Get them on chick feed with the higher protein in it. Adding water to it and making a mush to feed to them may get their appetites stimulated.

Get some electrolyte mix and Nutridrench from the feed store/Tractor Supply. Put in their water and change the water out daily. If you are willing, you can use a syringe and syringe feed them small amounts of the water mix, to make sure that they get the nutrition that is in the water - this can help sometimes to strengthen them so that they can start eating and drinking on their own.

I would also add some oregano oil to their water. Oregano has antibiotic properties and there are actually commercial poultry operations that are feeding their birds oregano rather than medicating them with antibiotics. If you can't find oregano oil quickly, you can make tea with a wire tea ball, using oregano from the spice section at the store, and then use the oregano tea water. Heck, you could also get some oregano plants and feed it to them if they would take it.

You can also see if TSC or the feed store has some grow gel - it is a nutritional gel that you mix with water and set out like food. I think one brand of it is called Revitalyte gel. Sometimes it has a coloring to it that attracts the birds to want to peck and eat it.

I would not add a heat lamp. Too easy for them to be overheated and not eat because they are too hot. When they feel unwell, they may have difficulty regulating their body temperature. They need a place without drafts, that is dry, that they can huddle together for warmth if desired, but can get away from each other if they feel too warm. You can offer a place with a towel or blanket over part of it, so they can get under it and it helps hold the heat in. Personally I prefer radiant warmers because they are safer and don't heat up everything like a heat lamp does, but you'd have to order one, I don't know anybody that sells them in stores.

With them showing symptoms finally, it may be too late, so be prepared to lose more. That's just how it works with poultry - by the time they are sick enough for you to notice, it is often too late unless it is a problem that is easily diagnosed and easily fixed.

 

[buggal]

I am wondering if it is worms. I know that the wormers out there are hard on the chickens but I am at my wits end trying to make sure I am doing what I can. After I made the original post I have noticed the one that is acting lethargic also has diarrhea. I have given him pedialite and chick starter. I have done this for all the others that I got at the same time that have been housed together. All the others have a hearty appetite and are drinking lots of water. All of them are very skinny but if you feel their crawl it is full. I am not getting something. We have pulled them out of the open coop and moved them into the barn where they are out of the cold air and away from the area where they were getting sick...Could it be something in the "old" coop?

 

[bnjrob]

I am wondering if it is worms. I know that the wormers out there are hard on the chickens but I am at my wits end trying to make sure I am doing what I can. After I made the original post I have noticed the one that is acting lethargic also has diarrhea. I have given him pedialite and chick starter. I have done this for all the others that I got at the same time that have been housed together. All the others have a hearty appetite and are drinking lots of water. All of them are very skinny but if you feel their crawl it is full. I am not getting something. We have pulled them out of the open coop and moved them into the barn where they are out of the cold air and away from the area where they were getting sick...Could it be something in the "old" coop?

Worms could be a problem since this seems to have been an issue that developed kinda slow. There is a pellet dewormer called hygromycin B for poultry. Tractor Supply carries it under the name of Strike III from Durvet. You mix it in with food. Good stuff, minimal withdrawal time.

If one is starting with diarrhea, with the rain that we just got, you may want to make sure and cover them with some amprolium to make sure to ward off coccidiosis if they aren't on medicated chick feed.

There could always be something in the old coop, they may have been exposed to something that built up in their system that was in the old coop, or even in the ground. Just not a good way to know for sure. Chicken illnesses are so frustrating when the symptoms are so vague and could be related to so many different problems.

 

[LarryTX]

I am wondering if it is worms. I know that the wormers out there are hard on the chickens but I am at my wits end trying to make sure I am doing what I can. After I made the original post I have noticed the one that is acting lethargic also has diarrhea. I have given him pedialite  and chick starter. I have done this for all the others that I got at the same time that have been housed together. All the others have a hearty appetite and are drinking lots of water. All of them are very skinny but if you feel their crawl it is full. I am not getting something. We have pulled them out of the open coop and moved them into the barn where they are out of the cold air and away from the area where they were getting sick...Could it be something in the "old" coop?  

bnjrob is a lot more qualified than I am to answer your questions.I think it's very possible it could be something in your coop, but also could be one of the air-born diseases. Do you have neighbors with chickens nearby? If so, see if they are having any problems. If it were me, I would do exactly like bnjrob suggested. If you decide on a heat lamp, be sure to leave room for the birds to get away from the lamp if they get too hot. Let them decide where they are most comfortable. The diarrhea and thinness made me think of coccidiosis. An option that you may want to talk to bnjrob about is getting something like Corid. I haven't bought any in years so there may be a better coccidiastat on the market. I'm not a Veternarian and just basing this on what I've seen. Don't put much stock in what I've suggested. I'm just trying to give you things to consider. An Avian Veternarian is your best bet, but that can get expensive very quickly. Try to google Avian Coccidiosis and see what you think. Let us know how things go.