They're Just Dying

[Anianna]

Last year, we had several young chickens just lay down and die. We thought perhaps we bought them ill. This year, we bought more young chickens from a completely different source. They are old enough to have both feathers and fluff, but mostly feathers. We got 10 comets and 10 barred rocks. They were kept in the coop from Tuesday night to Saturday morning when they were allowed out to roam. They go into the coop nightly and come out each day since Saturday, though they didn't come out much over the weekend because it was raining. They are fed and watered every day and we made sure their water dispenser is where they can reach it without problems.

Today is Tuesday morning one week from when we got them and seven of the new chickens simply did not wake up. I can find no signs of illness or injury. Their poops look healthy. None showed any respiratory difficulties. Yesterday was a beautiful day and they were out all over the yard and all seemed healthy and happy. The coop closes up at night and we find no evidence that anything got in. One of my kiddos even checked them last night to make sure the automatic door had closed properly and that all of them had made their way back to the coop without help.

Any ideas what I can look for to figure out what's going on?

 

[1876 Farm]

Have you considered if food or equipment (that you might have used last year, but then put away to use again this year), could be the culprit?

Too many chicks, too many dropping, spilled water? I had a handful of chicks die last year. I had them in a 5 foot bin and was about to move them, so I hadn't cleaned up their area in a while and 1 gallon of water had spilled, but was soaked up by the straw. I think we accidentally gassed them. :-( It was very sad.

Did you see them eating and drinking? Perhaps add a little sugar to their water to give them that little extra energy.. we do this with day old chicks for about a week.

Sorry to hear about your loss of chicks.

 

[Anianna]

Thank you. They have eaten the food each day (chick crumbles) and inside the coop is not wet. We have seen them drinking the water. I am concerned that the coop itself may be toxic, but it seemed odd that they were fine while locked in and then died after they got to come out during the day. We bought it from some guy who builds coops as a side job and we did get it last year. I have one older chicken left from a previous flock and she lays in there every day, but she won't sleep in there as she learned to sleep in the barn.

It looks like it's just plywood and the outside is painted. The first year we had hay in there and I was worried that the hay may have gotten a mold and killed the first chickens that died, so this year we put pine shavings in there instead.

 

[cafarmgirl]

I would be very suspicious of coccidiosis. Young birds when first let out on the ground, especially where there have been chickens before, and any new birds brought home are always at high risk. It would be worth it to put the rest on a course of Corid, then you can at least rule it out.

 

[Michael Apple]

Preventative treatments using Corid in water instead of medicated feed for growing chicks makes all the difference from what I've seen. No losses to Coccidiosis when used every 3 weeks until birds are at least 7 months of age.

 

[Anianna]

Thank you. We'll give that a try.

 

[Michael Apple]

Common treatment for bacterial problems is L-S 50 if you see no results with Corid. It is important to treat symptoms with Corid at higher dose than the regular preventative dose, so be aware of that.

Prevention:
Corid 9.6% : 1 tsp per gallon of water
Corid 20% soluble powder : .5 tsp per gallon of water

Treatment of symptoms:
Corid 9.6 % liquid : 2 tsp per gallon of water
Corid 20% soluble powder : 1 to 1.5 tsp per gallon of water

When treating water with Corid, make a fresh solution every day for 5-7 days. The key is preventing symptoms before they do damage to the intestinal tract and the caeca.

 

[Anianna]

Most of our young flock had perished by the time we started Corid. One survived, so we got a few more young feathered chickens and put them on Corid right away. We have had them for a week and a half with no symptoms and no deaths. Now we know we need to treat any newcomers with a preventive dose. I'm a little miffed that we have cocci on the property now, but at least it is something that can be dealt with. Thank you all for the assistance! Our new flock members thank you, too!

 

[Eggcessive]

Most of our young flock had perished by the time we started Corid. One survived, so we got a few more young feathered chickens and put them on Corid right away. We have had them for a week and a half with no symptoms and no deaths. Now we know we need to treat any newcomers with a preventive dose. I'm a little miffed that we have cocci on the property now, but at least it is something that can be dealt with. Thank you all for the assistance! Our new flock members thank you, too!

It's not exactly a surprise that there is coccidia in your soil--it is everywhere in the dirt, and 9 or more different strains that affect chickens. The key is that the chicks need to be gradually exposed to it to build up immunity to it, and then learn to recognize symptoms of cocci infection. My broody-raised chicks are exposed to it right away on the ground, and I usually put a piece of grass and sod in my brooder-raised chicks inside to get them a little exposure. Once I had an outbreak though, I would follow Michael Apple's advice to use the prevention dose of Corid every 3 weeks.