JeremiahLee
Songster
What hath God wrought? I thought raising my own hens would be great therapy for me, helping me stay active due to my MS and Crohn's. I had about 25 RIR (of which 5 were Leghorns) hens and 5 roosters of various ages with the oldest about 3-4 years old and the youngest about 3 months old. All have shed their down and so many are molting. BUT SO MANY ARE DYING!!! It's the eggs that the broody hens abandoned so I put them in a Styrofoam incubator and hatched them and kept the chicks in my guest bathroom until time to go outside. (I don't advise that for ANYONE!!!) Perhaps there was a reason the hens abandoned the eggs? Maybe in my quest to save them I messed up?
Now I'm finding them dying! They were quarantined initially when I introduced them into the large coop. Slowly they got "used" to each other so I took down the mesh fencing separating them. They played like normal chicks.
Now I'm finding so many of them lethargic, horribly thin with no body mass, combs pale, and the roosters seemed "sway" backed. So many of them isolate themselves. The older flock is thriving, but I'm not getting many eggs as I used to (many to me was 10 a day...now I'm lucky if I get three or four). So many are molting and yes, it looks like a war zone. And they were visited by that dang hawk that killed one of my older chickens. One was a runt...it didn't make it.
I found one dead this morning. I don't know what to do. I don't see loose poop all over the place at all. It's incredibly hot in South Carolina. I feed them Purina laying pellets, crumbles, and three way scratch every morning. They seem hungry and eat, but during the day they just lay down, some next to a fence and look as though they could be the next casualty.
Should I dust each chicken individually with the anti-mite dust? I put diatomaceous earth in the nesting boxes. I wanted to feed them some but I throw their food into their run so there's no way to tell how much they would be eating. I do not see any discharge at their vents. They don't seem to be drinking, however. I make sure the water is filled to the top and clean. It truly was difficult euthanizing several due to the fact that there was no body mass and they simply were not going to make it. I always said I'd never do that but I did. I don't want to lose all of them. I could take one to the vet for $70 a visit, but that won't include any treatment whatsoever I'm sure. Any advice would be so welcome and I'm so sorry this is so long.
Now I'm finding them dying! They were quarantined initially when I introduced them into the large coop. Slowly they got "used" to each other so I took down the mesh fencing separating them. They played like normal chicks.
Now I'm finding so many of them lethargic, horribly thin with no body mass, combs pale, and the roosters seemed "sway" backed. So many of them isolate themselves. The older flock is thriving, but I'm not getting many eggs as I used to (many to me was 10 a day...now I'm lucky if I get three or four). So many are molting and yes, it looks like a war zone. And they were visited by that dang hawk that killed one of my older chickens. One was a runt...it didn't make it.
I found one dead this morning. I don't know what to do. I don't see loose poop all over the place at all. It's incredibly hot in South Carolina. I feed them Purina laying pellets, crumbles, and three way scratch every morning. They seem hungry and eat, but during the day they just lay down, some next to a fence and look as though they could be the next casualty.
Should I dust each chicken individually with the anti-mite dust? I put diatomaceous earth in the nesting boxes. I wanted to feed them some but I throw their food into their run so there's no way to tell how much they would be eating. I do not see any discharge at their vents. They don't seem to be drinking, however. I make sure the water is filled to the top and clean. It truly was difficult euthanizing several due to the fact that there was no body mass and they simply were not going to make it. I always said I'd never do that but I did. I don't want to lose all of them. I could take one to the vet for $70 a visit, but that won't include any treatment whatsoever I'm sure. Any advice would be so welcome and I'm so sorry this is so long.