1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.) One Buff Orpington hen age apprx 2 yrs, one Buff/americauna mix rooster--same age (same father). Seemed perfectly healthy the day before each death. 2) What is the behavior, exactly. Rooster found dead next to door. We thought he had had some freak accident involving the door because it was found unlatched and we have a pulley/weight mechanism so the doors will shut if we walk out. Hen found today where they dustbathe in their run. Ants had gotten to her, but no other problems with corpse that we could find. She had been feather picked by someone, but nothing bloody or new. Just missing a lot of feathers on her back area--there are two or three like this in the coop of 10. 3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?No symptoms prior to death. 4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?No symptoms prior to death 5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. No 6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.No idea 7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. They ate normally as far as we can tell, both were sized like their siblings. Nutrena layer feed & occasional scratch thrown in by the handful. 8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.Didn't notice before death. 9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? Planning to worm the flock and completely clean out both coops & runs. 12) Describe the housing/bedding in use Two coops, one we made, one we reconfigured an old shed. There are nest boxes in each, food is kept off ground by hanging in one coop and on cinder blocks in the other. The coops are separate from each other but the runs share a "wall" (chicken wire). They have contact when out in the yard, but not much as they wander separately for the most part. Rooster's coop is smaller (but enough space for over 2sq ft.) and shared with 4 hens. Hen's coop is larger and shared with 1 rooster and 9 hens. Bedding is pine shavings bought from feed store. Help, we've been lucky and these are our first deaths since their father was taken by a fox two years ago. I don't want to lose any more of our babies!
Hmmm... Is the father still alive? Because I have heard of diseases that have been passed though genetics, perhaps that was the case with your chickens. If that is not the case then, there could be a virus floating around and those two weren't careful enough like the other ones. If the chickens, no offense, stupid? Because chickens can eat dangerous stuff that can kill them. Tell me if this helped or if anymore die.
i had this happen once, 4 in one week. i talked to a local farmer and found that there were Canadian peas in my feed... if they are ground they are fine, but if they are whole chickens can choke to death on them. the peas came in a bag of sunflower seeds that we bought to mix in our feed. if the weight is good, and there is no swelling in combs, wattles or anything else; i'm leaning towards something simple and not a complex disease. but, if you haven't done so already you might start a general antibiotic in their water- just to be safe.