jmurf
Chirping
This may not be odd to the pros, but I found it very odd. I had four chickens, 2 BRs and 2 EEs. I knew they would be close to laying in early July, so I began to put hay in their nest box. The hay was messy, and I found nesting pads on Amazon, which are made from finely shredded aspen. They had many reviews, and a very high rating. They looked ideal, so I bought them, and they worked well. My chickens were in an 11.5' x 4' run which I moved to fresh grass daily. They never ran out of pellets or water, and received treats daily.
So, Shortly after I began using the pads, one of the chickens became lethargic, then died within a couple of days with no other symptoms. A couple of weeks later, another died in the same way. I researched, and the best I could tell, it was most likely heat. They were in a tractor coop, in an open yard, in SE Louisiana. Last weekend, my more vocal hen, had her loud voice become muffled in an hour or so. She was cackling at me as usual, then 1-2 hours later, same cackling but very muffled. I did some research, and it sounded like it could be something stuck due to the quick onset. On Monday, we decided to offer the two chickens to a neighbor who freeranges. We felt like the chickens would be better off, and we didn't want to lose them to heat. We took them over on Wednesday. On Friday, neighbor called and asked me to come over and see something. He told me the chicken with the muffled cackle had died, and he performed some research. He had cut open the chicken. Everything internally looked good, and the esophagus was clear. The gizzard was very full, so he cut into that. The gizzard was packed full of fibers, which resembled the nesting pad fibers. There was grit in there, and a small amount of food, but 90% was fibers. So, now it appears it died due to it not being able to digest the wood fibers.
Now I'm wondering if they all died from these fibers, and not from the heat. I also find it odd they would eat that. They had unlimited food, water, fresh grass, and daily treats.
So, Shortly after I began using the pads, one of the chickens became lethargic, then died within a couple of days with no other symptoms. A couple of weeks later, another died in the same way. I researched, and the best I could tell, it was most likely heat. They were in a tractor coop, in an open yard, in SE Louisiana. Last weekend, my more vocal hen, had her loud voice become muffled in an hour or so. She was cackling at me as usual, then 1-2 hours later, same cackling but very muffled. I did some research, and it sounded like it could be something stuck due to the quick onset. On Monday, we decided to offer the two chickens to a neighbor who freeranges. We felt like the chickens would be better off, and we didn't want to lose them to heat. We took them over on Wednesday. On Friday, neighbor called and asked me to come over and see something. He told me the chicken with the muffled cackle had died, and he performed some research. He had cut open the chicken. Everything internally looked good, and the esophagus was clear. The gizzard was very full, so he cut into that. The gizzard was packed full of fibers, which resembled the nesting pad fibers. There was grit in there, and a small amount of food, but 90% was fibers. So, now it appears it died due to it not being able to digest the wood fibers.
Now I'm wondering if they all died from these fibers, and not from the heat. I also find it odd they would eat that. They had unlimited food, water, fresh grass, and daily treats.
