Two of our chickens dead

[LarryPQ]

Quote:
True, any not bought from a home flock breeder have been vaccinated.

This is backwards for us. The feed stores do NOT pay the extra money to vaccinate, but I have since brainwashed the AZ people into having regular vaccination parties.

I am a bad influence.

 

[Chickenaddict]

Quote:
Let me get this straight, the ameraucana that died was 2 months old correct? They don't need oyster shells or layer feed until they are of laying age. Layer feed on a chick can cause internal damage. DE is a joke as far as getting rid of mites go. Its good for keeping the bedding dry and not so smelly but thats about it. I would check them thoroughly for mites or lice and it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to worm them. I understand your reasoning for not vaccinating (I don't do it either) But treatment for illnesses and other problems are sometimes necessary.

 

[seminolewind]

Quote:
True, any not bought from a home flock breeder have been vaccinated.

This is backwards for us. The feed stores do NOT pay the extra money to vaccinate, but I have since brainwashed the AZ people into having regular vaccination parties.

I am a bad influence.

Laree, that's amazing!!!!! You are doing so much good. I wish us Floridians could work up to that.

 

[seminolewind]

Poultry growers, many years ago, were losing alot of money to Marek's. No only that, Broilers are killed early because they get meaty fast, but the producers ended up with chickens that had skin with follicle tumors-not very appetizing.

Because of Marek's vaccine and protocol, they have made the problem minute, somewhere I read 1%. Us backyarders never thought we had the problem, but nowdays we are the ones that do. Vaccinate.

 

[Help_battery_hens]

if you have chicks they need chick feed as they require different ratios of nutrients compared to an adult hen etc. its very important. if you have noticed any sneezing, headshaking opening and closing of the beak (like yawning) etc you really need to separate these birds from the ones who are not displaying this. i understand you dont want to vaccinate your birds and thats your choice but i would recommend the mareks vaccine to any poultry keeper. also go down at night to your coop and shine a torch in the nest box see if you can see any mites. if you dont know when they were last wormed be on the safe side and worm them. my poulty vet recommends flubenvet and its always been the best for my birds. Also i had two of my hens die within less than three weeks of each other, their deaths even though close together were unrelated, so even though you have two deaths in a short space of time it might not be anything contageous. good luck with getting to the bottom of it

 

[TinyBirds]

Check in the vent area and if there are any little bugs running around there, put a drop of neem oil there right above the vent, and they will be gone by the next day. If they are sneezing, they might have mycoplasma or something (common in backyard flocks) and some will survive and some not. If you're just wanting to keep the healthiest birds, let nature take its course on the others. We don't vaccinate either, but I don't think Mareks is the issue anyway in your case.

 

[Erica]

Goodness there is some misinformation on this thread, though of course it's kindly meant. Vaccinating is something that (if it's done at all) should be done before a chick has any exposure whatsoever to Marek's. Whatever the case with these birds (and Marek's seems unlikely) vaccinating won't make the slightest difference, so it's really an irrelevant point.

Back to the original topic, I would be very concerned about something that kills that quickly. Is it possible to take a freshly dead (or sick) bird to a vet for autopsy? At home I sometimes open up a bird and examine the organs if it's been unwell, but I might leave that to experts if it seemed to be an unusual disease.

Sorry you're having this problem. Good luck with the rest of the birds.


Edited shortly after posting, wanted to make it clear I thought all replies were well intentioned.