Two chicks are lathargic. One died HELP urgently

[Paz]

They both died.
The kind of sick chick looks fine, I think it was just surprised to be up at ten pm.
I will give all the chicks the emoxicyline for the next two weeks.
I will also send the deads to the county vetrerinary department, to rule out dangerous disease.
I guess I should have listened to the person who told me to keep them inside. ):
Thank you very much.

 

[azygous]

Please let us know what the test results are. I hope these two chicks died from natural causes such as failure to thrive and not a disease you will have to deal with.

 

[Paz]

Test results: asbestos poisoning

 

[azygous]

Oh, my. I bet the chicks were pecking at something. Did you find the source?

 

[Paz]

Oh, my. I bet the chicks were pecking at something. Did you find the source?

Yes. The asbestos roof from the fifties, it broke a bit, there was a piece of it inside the coop. I know I should probably change this roof, but it’s kind of costly and I’m not sure wether I have the money, an expert should do that, and they take a large sum for a small 16sqm roof.

 

[Paz]

This is the roof.

This is a huge asbestos piece that was inside the adults coop, it was used to cover a hole.

 

[azygous]

The thing about asbestos roofing panels is that once pieces break off, tiny asbestos fibers are then released into the environment - air, soil, water. These tiny poisonous fibers are now on the soil under the broken roof, and chickens will consume and breathe in the fibers as they scratch for grit and insects.

The risk to chickens being kept under the broken roof is very high, and you probably should think about moving them to another location. Then, wearing protective safety equipment such as a respirator and protective clothing, the shed should be dismantled or broken tiles replaced, and then the soil under the roof needs to be removed.

Since your budget is tight, and the expense of this sort of cleanup would be high, you might choose to fence off this site and abandon it. But continuing to keep chickens under the roof will risk losing more chickens to asbestos poisoning.

I understand how you must be feeling. Many years ago, I discovered a log splitting machine was leaking where my chickens foraged. My wakeup moment came when a four-week old chick that I'd seen under the machine earlier came into the run and collapsed at my feet. Older chickens had been going lame, and the leaking machine was most likely responsible. I moved the machine to an area where the chickens never go, and I dug up the soil where the hydraulic fluid had seeped, and I disposed of it. But I felt so bad that I hadn't noticed this hazard until it had killed a tiny chick.

 

[Paz]

The thing about asbestos roofing panels is that once pieces break off, tiny asbestos fibers are then released into the environment - air, soil, water. These tiny poisonous fibers are now on the soil under the broken roof, and chickens will consume and breathe in the fibers as they scratch for grit and insects.

The risk to chickens being kept under the broken roof is very high, and you probably should think about moving them to another location. Then, wearing protective safety equipment such as a respirator and protective clothing, the shed should be dismantled or broken tiles replaced, and then the soil under the roof needs to be removed.

Since your budget is tight, and the expense of this sort of cleanup would be high, you might choose to fence off this site and abandon it. But continuing to keep chickens under the roof will risk losing more chickens to asbestos poisoning.

I understand how you must be feeling. Many years ago, I discovered a log splitting machine was leaking where my chickens foraged. My wakeup moment came when a four-week old chick that I'd seen under the machine earlier came into the run and collapsed at my feet. Older chickens had been going lame, and the leaking machine was most likely responsible. I moved the machine to an area where the chickens never go, and I dug up the soil where the hydraulic fluid had seeped, and I disposed of it. But I felt so bad that I hadn't noticed this hazard until it had killed a tiny chick.

Guess I should move them, I’m afraid grandfather will not like it, he has Alzheimer’s and moving things make him go crazy, but what else can I do? I’m not going to remove this roof by myself, that’s for sure.

 

[azygous]

Maybe distract Grandfather with something while you do the moving. For your safety as well as your chickens, you need to do this as soon as possible.

When dealing with any old person, if you can maintain as much continuity as possible, a change is more easily tolerated. This might be accomplished by having Grandfather sit with the chickens in a temporary location while you move things to a new location and barricade the old shed. Then have Grandfather help move the chickens into their new home. This way, the continuity is the chickens themselves, and he's not so much focused on the different location they've been moved to.

You're going to need some family help. Can you organize this?

 

[Paz]

You're going to need some family help. Can you organize this?

Sure thing. Moving them into a new location will be possible. I don’t know what would happen with removing and changing the roof over his car (which I’m pretty sure he hasn’t used in over a decade), but it has to be changed sooner or later…