I posted earlier on here and social media on what I can do. Well, I lost more than 25 chickens in 4-5 days. I have only 2 roosters and 1 hen, which hasn’t moved from her perch. Our neighbors found a bunch of dead Muscovy ducks in our area. Our neighbors’ chickens are also starting to die off. We contacted our states wildlife commission to advise them of the situation. We were hoping they would come out and test the deceased bird, but no. They told us we had to find a vet or lab to test. My husband drove over an hour away to a lab, and we were told we would receive the results within 30-45 days. We received the preliminary report today, which basically said the chickens died from illness and listed that they really suffered. Their respiratory, circulatory, immune systems were severely impacted. They had organ enlargement, bleeding vessels. Their lungs were damaged and filled with fluids. They clearly suffered.
Also, I looked up dead Muscovy ducks on google. And guess what? Less than a week ago, a ton of ducks started to die off in a pond less than an hour away from us. Some random lady reported it, but they’re reportedly blaming pesticide. However, the ducks didn’t die off all at once. 1-2 ducks died, then several, and then a ton more over the course of a few days. The wildlife commission took samples of the ducks a week ago, but there’s been no updates. Had I know this was happening, I would have kept my chickens in their coup for most of the time or killed off Muscovys to protect our babies.
If you’re living in central Florida, please be aware that there’s something killing off chickens, turkeys incredibly fast. You’ll think it’s from something else bc initially the first chickens didn’t have the symptons like the others now. My guess is that the disease killed the weaker ones first and didn’t have to damage all their systems to kill.
