What happened?

[HobokenChickenEmergency]

2 days ago, I moved my babies to the big hutch in the kitchen with my A&M hens. Once the older birds got over their terror of babies

, everybody was fine. All were eating and drinking today and yesterday. I even put the heat lamp in when I moved them, just to be on the safe side. The babies are almost fully feathered, so it was just a precaution.

Now 2 day later, I had 10 dead babies tonight for no apparent reason. No blood, no pecking, no nothing. They just dropped dead. They all keeled over within the space of 1/2 an hour. I actually saw the last 2 die with my own eyes. They literally laid down, started breathing heavily, and died. It was the weirdest thing ever.

It's 78 degrees in the hutch, so I don't think it's the temp. They haven't been acting hot or cold or anything. I'm really confused here.

The other 6 babies are acting normally, and the big hens are ok too.

Has anyone else had something like this happen?

*No, they didn't die from the smell of my cooking. I didn't cook today, so nyah, nyah.

 

[saddina]

Have they all been eating/drinking or are the older birds keeping them from the food?

 

[Chickiechick]

You say they were in the kitchen ?
Any cooking recently ?
There's a fume released when teflon coated cookware is heated up ( I'll have to get back to you with more details ) that a lot of people report is toxic to pet parrots, cockatiels, parakeets & finches.
Maybe baby quail are more sensative to the fumes than the bigger ones?

 

[HobokenChickenEmergency]

Nope. They've all been eating like swine, and they've got an industrial-sized water bottle. I've been filling both twice a day, and I've been monitoring them the whole time, since I didn't know how they'd all get along.

Once they got used to each other, they all acted like they'd known each other their whole lives.

I know my hens are healthy, so it can't be a weird disease thing (at least, I wouldn't think so). I hatched all of them myself, so...they haven't been exposed to anything that I'm aware of.

What annoys me about the whole thing is that now I have 4 browns, and 1 golden left, plus my last surviving tuxedo. Both my new A&M's croaked, as well as my other 3 goldens and a bunch of browns.

I practically treat these birds better than my kids, so it's a little bit ridiculous that they would just die.

The others still seem ok, so I guess I'll get over it. It's just frustrating.

 

[HobokenChickenEmergency]

Quote:
I didn't think of that! This afternoon I put some water on to boil, and I forgot about it (distracted by kids) until the water had boiled away. It IS a Teflon pot. I bet that was the problem. It never even occured to me.

I'm getting rid of those pans!! Now I feel horrible.

 

[Chickiechick]

I'm so sorry.
Don't feel bad. Accidents happen

I only knew about Teflon as I raise finches and lurk on various finch forums, and multiple members have reported the fumes from heated Teflon have killed various pet birds

Your mention of them being in the kitchen and having breathing difficulty sounded like it was a possability.

Here's some information :

http://www.ewg.org/reports/toxicteflon

http://www.rachelcarsoncouncil.org/index.php?page=pet-birds-harmed-by-non-stick-coating-fumes

http://theaviary.com/teflon.shtml

I'm sorry for your losses

 

[HobokenChickenEmergency]

Thanks for the links. I'm sure I heard that about Teflon years ago. It sounds familiar.

I'll be spreading the word to all the bird owners I know!

 

[BorderKelpie]

Aww, you poor thing! I am soo sorry for your loss.
I got rid of the teflon coated pans years ago when I first heard about the fumes. I had small parrots at the time. I was worried that if it was so devestating to birds (and very quickly, too. Death within minutes), I became concerned about the health risk to us. I have since read an article that mentioned the teflon coating to being possibly carcinogenic. I am so glad I got rid of it. Remember, too, lots of other appliances contain that stuff, too. Hairdryers and space heaters are the ones I can remember offhand. I wish they would just take it off the market altogether.
Please try not to feel guilty, how were you supposed to know how dangerous that stuff is? It needs a warning label or something.

to you.

 

[magikchick]

That's good information. I would have never thought of that. I have a blue-crowned conure in my kitchen, but I only have one teflon pan.

 

[First To Hatch]

Your younger birds might have died of disease that the older birds are immune to.

When you read online and it says don't mix different aged birds together they not only say that because fighting might occur but because some birds might be resistant to diseases that the others aren't resistant to.


"Diseases have consistently been a major limiting factor to
profitable production. Some diseases result from egg
transmission or organisms through the use of infected
breeder flocks. Other diseases are brought into the poultry
house by vectors like wild birds, rodents, parasites, and
even the poultry man.

Disease results when exposure combined with the virulence
of an organism is greater than the resistance of the host.
Disinfectants reduce the exposure time and number of
organisms. Vaccines help build the natural resistance or
immunity of the birds. Medications and drugs help battle
the disease organisms after they have overwhelmed the
birds' natural defenses.

Most diseases can be eradicated from the poultry flock by
applying the basic principles of hygiene and excellent
sanitation. Other diseases are not easily eliminated, but
can be controlled by proper use of disinfectants and
sanitizers. If not controlled, the potential for microbial
contamination and spread of infectious diseases in the
flock is always a threat to the success of any operation." - E-mail from Gary Ortlieb