Two chickens dead in 24 hours! What do I do?

[Carolyn227]

Last night I noticed one of the chickens died. This morning the remaining 5 looked good, but we just got back from being out for a while and another one is dead. I have no idea what is going on or what to do. Help!

 

[dawg53]

Some more info would help: Their age, what are they fed? Eggbound? Did you inspect them for lice/mites? When were they last wormed? What color is their poop? Any respiratory signs...sneezing, runny nose... etc?

 

[Carolyn227]

They are about 6 weeks old, I haven't noticed anything strange about their poop but I'm new to this so I don't really know what to look for. We moved them outside earlier this week. they have a heat lamp at night and are in a pen. They're eating Purina chicken feed and I do give them some scraps as well.

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
I recommend that you stop the scraps. Their innards are not full developed to digest scraps. Only feed them chick starter/grower til they are 18-20 weeks old, then switch to layer feed.
Provide them some grit as well, free choice, they instinctively know to eat it. Visually inspect them for lice/mites.
ETA: Are they sleeping inside a chicken house?

 

[Carolyn227]

They're not in a house, but a pen with open sides. We have a heat lamp for night that we turn on. DH put some boards around part of it to give it three sides now so a little more protection from the elements. We're working on a house for them.

 

[eenie114]

Yes, you should definitly stop giving them scraps. At this age their digestive systems are too delicate to handle them.
ETA: Good luck.

 

[Carolyn227]

Thanks everyone. No more scraps for the birdies. And they now have three sides to help protect them a little more. I'm so sad that I had two of my chickies die! My DDs were sad too.

 

[naakte]

I am doing NPIP next month for all my chickies... when i talked to the ag lady i asked her what the symptoms were? she said If you go out to your coop of 30 birds, and find 3 to 5 dead birds for no apparant reason you should worry. I forgot the proper same of the pathogen, but i believe it was salmonilla related. Of my 30 original chickies ( 10 WLH, 20 brown egg layers) I have only lost one bird due to leaving a metal fence in the coop after the floods here. It fell over and killed one of my red hens

ask questions here to see if you may have this issue... it is zoonotic ( people can get it from the affected chickens) so keep children away from the coops until you know for sure what killed your birds. i recommend a narcropsy (SP) done by a vet.
Donna in Branson