Unexplained Deaths (I have one isolated now)(Keeps Getting Weirder!!!)

[notapandabear13]

think about other animals besides rat. what about skunks, snakes, squirrels, ect.
im sorry im not much help but maybe set up a camera or somthing at night to catch the injury?

good luck!

 

[Country4ever]

Don't be too hard on yourself Mike. Just try to think of it this way.........working on figuring this out after some died, will keep others from dying. Its all a learning process. We don't do things on purpose. Sometimes we don't even realize there's a problem until we lose a few.
I've been trying to feel that way about a coon getting into my run and killing 2 hens. Since then, I've made it alot safer for the others.
Good luck to you!

 

[mjdtexan]

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Thank You and yes we kill snakes here. Brutus the dog dont put up with snakes. I've seen him eating them.

 

[Judy]

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That's not true. I have chickens that roost in trees similar to crepe myrtles, it's their preferred place to go at night. These are gamefowl, bantams, & regular ole heavy layer breeds.

Just repeating something I've read on here, repeatedly. See, here we go again, research on chickens is not done except to benefit commercial producers. Not even going to bother to try to find some scientific study on this.

I had a 2"x2" roost before I found BYC. When I read this, i changed the roost, and it did look to me like they settled down more comfortably. When they sit on your lap, they do seem to spread their feet out rather than try to hang on, and rest on the keel more than the feet.

Maybe they would rather hang on to a roost if it's up really high, than have the flat surface only a few feet off the ground. I wonder what they would sit on if there were a 2x4 up by the high tree branches they choose. Or maybe the 2x4 originated as a defense against frostbitten toes, and someone decided they looked more comfortable. If my older flock wanted to roost high in trees, there wouldn't be much I could do about it, as they are true free range, but they come back to the coop at night. That might be because you have games; this is just 2 leghorns, one BA and one kraienkoppe.

I dunno.

Anyhow, that's why I copped out and said "they say." The chickens ain't talking.

 

[mjdtexan]

Quote:
That's not true. I have chickens that roost in trees similar to crepe myrtles, it's their preferred place to go at night. These are gamefowl, bantams, & regular ole heavy layer breeds.

Just repeating something I've read on here, repeatedly. See, here we go again, research on chickens is not done except to benefit commercial producers. Not even going to bother to try to find some scientific study on this.

I had a 2"x2" roost before I found BYC. When I read this, i changed the roost, and it did look to me like they settled down more comfortably. When they sit on your lap, they do seem to spread their feet out rather than try to hang on, and rest on the keel more than the feet.

Maybe they would rather hang on to a roost if it's up really high, than have the flat surface only a few feet off the ground. I wonder what they would sit on if there were a 2x4 up by the high tree branches they choose. Or maybe the 2x4 originated as a defense against frostbitten toes, and someone decided they looked more comfortable. If my older flock wanted to roost high in trees, there wouldn't be much I could do about it, as they are true free range, but they come back to the coop at night. That might be because you have games; this is just 2 leghorns, one BA and one kraienkoppe.

I dunno.

Anyhow, that's why I copped out and said "they say." The chickens ain't talking.

One might also look at the width of the branches that outside chickens naturally select. They might select wider branches. I am going to replace the branches with 2x4's just to be on the safe side. I have the lumber (recycled) to do it with.

Once you brought that up it made me wonder if they were struggling to much up there. Once I started thinking about it I did realize that when they want to turn around on their branches that they do have a hard time with it. Tomorrow morning I am going to lock them out of their coop and do the roost remodel and go ahead and clean out the coop at the same time. Its been about 6 weeks since their last coop cleaning.

 

[speckledhen]

A chicken's rear toe does not grip like a wild bird's does. And your roost sizes may depend somewhat on the size of the bird. My blue Orp rooster, Suede's foot, from rear toe to the end of the middle toe is 5" long! No way a tree branch type or a 2" wide bar would work for him, or some of my other large birds. In my main coop, the first few rungs are 2x4's on the wide side and the top four rungs are from a heavy duty pallet and are basically very rounded 2x4's, making them more like 3" wide. These work very well for all the sizes of birds I have. Suede and the blue Orp ladies have a roost shelf made with green plastic garden fencing so he doesn't have to grip at all or jump down from a high place.

 

[Chic Chick]

Could it be a feeder or waterer thats cutting them on the top of their feet? How about a end sticking out from the wire you have to separate the coop?
I'm glad they're not dying on you anymore.

 

[allison finch]

As to the roosts, I use closet rods (Big dowels) and my birds do fine. If you use 2x4's, I hear the birds like them too. It is WIDELY suggested on all the sights I read when researching bumblefoot, that you must round the edges off. That's all. The 2x2's would be even sharper on the birds foot.

I know I wouldn't like resting on those sharp edges.

I really like the slanted ladder the previous poster showed us.

 

[mjdtexan]

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No, I have those plastic feeders with no sharp edges. I removed a 2½ inch sliver of wood that was sticking up and I dont see any more issues. I am going to retrofit their roosting areas though. I do want my birds to be as comfortable as they can be. I wish I could free range them but with the big dogs and the population of hawks around here that puts them at risk.

Thank You speckledhen for the image of your roost.

Allison finch, I am going to round the edges off of the 2x4's with a 4 inch grinder. I was planning on doing this today but its raining right now. We have not had rain in a long while. We have a rain deficit of 7 inches right now. We really really needed this rain.

 

[Judy]

An update on your chickens?