***URGENT*** Flock dropping like flys

[2cool4school]

Hey BYC, I just had three chickens die this morning and I have really no clue why and the rest of them haven't been laying eggs, I have around thirty-something hens and one rooster that wasn't doing so well either. I have them in chicken tractors and feed them organic dumor feed. When I feel the alive chickens they're as light as a feather Idk what's going on. I took my rooster out of the tractor and let him free-range along with a hen that free ranges and he's doing much better, we also gave him ivermectin. The chickens that died had crazy seizures, Idk what it could be a sign of. Please message if not enough details were provided.

 

[azygous]

Do you have a vet that you take other pets to? This really calls for a few random fecal tests. Phone the vet and ask if you can bring them some chicken fecal samples for a fecal float test to determine if worms and coccidia are present.

How frequently have you been moving the tractors? If coccidia are present in the soil, they could be much more concentrated in the tractor areas if not moved frequently. Coccidiosis can kill. The fecal float would be very inexpensive, take about an hour to run, and it will let you know if coccidiosis is killing your chickens.

Intestinal worms can also be a big problem when tractors are not moved frequently. The fecal test can tell you what kind of worms and how heavy the load is. This will enable you to accurately treat whatever the test finds.

 

[nuthatched]

And i wouldnt worry either if OP only lost one chicken this morning.. but 3 on the same day in the same way? I didnt want to say it outloud but i just want to help OP have all possibilities laid out for them so they can asses the situation a little better.

True. But given the information we have, the information we don't have:
I'm guessing that the birds are in their fall molt which would explain the non laying. and they ate something moldy or toxic.
I'm waiting for their ages, complete diet and other information.
I don't like assuming a.i, birds can live through it and be fine and once it's reported, even if it's 1 bird out of a flock of 200, some agency will come and gas all the birds.

 

[Toastedone]

Also, knock on wood but ai is going around again for the first real time since april..South Dakota for sure, Cambodia, South Africa, Mexico, France...and seizures and death are symptoms, albeit probably the worst..

Wishing and praying for you and your flock

 

[NatJ]

When I feel the alive chickens they're as light as a feather

Just to make sure: do they have access to unlimited food and water, all day long?

If you have any kind of automatic feeder or waterer, check to make sure it is working, not clogged up.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. If you lose another, please have your state vet do a necropsy on a body. That is the best way to get a cause of death.

 

[nuthatched]

When chickens die, they often spazm, it looks like seizures. I wouldn't worry about ai at the moment.

 

[NatJ]

I've actually hatched some chicks from these hens before they stopped laying, could they also be affected?

That will depend on exactly what is wrong with the hens. The short answer is "maybe."

Longer answer:
Some diseases can be transmitted through hatching eggs, and some cannot. Some diseases spread very easily among chickens, so the chicks could have gotten the disease after hatching, even if it was not transmitted through the eggs. So if your hens have a disease, the chicks might be affected or they might not.

Parasites (like intestinal worms) should not be transmitted through the eggs, and are not very likely to be spread from hens outdoors to chicks in a brooder that is not near them. So if an overload of parasites is the problem, the chicks will probably be fine.

If the problem is something in the local water, chicks drinking that water can be affected too.

If the problem is something on the ground, or in a specific bag of feed, the chicks would be fine if they are not on that ground or eating that specific feed.

Unfortunately, you have to know what the problem is before you can really tell if the chicks will be affected or not.

 

[2cool4school]

@NatJ They have unlimited water all day long, we live around thirty minutes south-east of Austin TX so we are very aware of the heat. As for food, they eat grass and bugs and we try to make sure they eat enough feed. Sometimes there's food left over at the end of the day.

 

[Toastedone]

Thank you for your prayers @Toastedone and for your advice @azygous, I move the tractors everyday, sometimes even twice a day. I haven't thought about getting a vet sample. @Toastedone could you elaborate on AI? I've never heard of it, these are the first chickens we've had and raised them from a day old oct 26 last year.

AI - Avian Influenza