Whole flock gone

[Kwdfunnyfarm]

Hello. I am looking to see of anyone might have a clue to our mystery. Yesterday evening we went out to the coop to collect eggs and all 12 hens and our 1 rooster were dead in the coop. None of them in the run. They were all on one side of the coop and it was the strangest thing. No indication of a predator. They're all different ages, the oldest being 3 years and the youngest not even a year.

They had stopped laying for several months, so we added in black sunflower oil seeds, all stock sweet feed, and catfish food pellets. Within 2 days they started laying again. This was a little over a week ago. My thought initially is if it were poison, then wouldn't they be scattered through out the run and the coop?..and they all died the same afternoon... any thoughts?

 

[azygous]

Were you by some chance using a new heat lamp bulb replacing one that had burned out? If so, look on the bulb and see if it says Teflon coated,shatter resistant.

When so many chickens die at exactly the same time with no apparent injuries or signs of sudden illness such as diarrhea, I suspect an air pollutant. Another cause is carbon monoxide from fumes from an engine running in or near the chickens.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

It would be well worth your money to send a body to be necropsied. Address is: Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, 483 Agronomy Road, College Station Texas 77843. Phone # is 979-845-3414. They are very friendly and helpful over the phone, and will answer all your questions. Refrigerate (don't freeze) the carcass until you send it in. You have no guarrantee this won't happen again unless you know what killed them.

I asked about weasels because they kill by biting the neck (leaving tiny puncture marks that are very difficult to see), and will kill an entire flock and leave bodies in a pile. Weasels hunt during the daytime, and long-tail weasels, though uncommon, live throughout most of Texas.

 

[Tami-Jo]

I believe a weasel is your killer, We lost 3 hens recently, one was barely alive with blood on her neck the other 2 were free of blood and stiff they were all on the same side of the pen enclosed by hardware cloth with both doors closed and locked, I interrupted the weasel as it came back quickly after i let the surviving chickens out and brought the injured and dying hen in. It was in the coop when I went back out and as it looked out the door I shot it! my husband found a small hole it had managed to get into inside the coop... Weasel are nasty critters that will kill your entire flock just because... sorry for the loss of your flock also it had attacked my roo and chewed his eye he has no sight on that side now but recovered

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I do not have room in my freezer and my husband is very much wanting to just dispose of them, deep clean the coop/run and start fresh. He immediately gathered all eggs ans put them in the incubator... I on the other hand want to know what happened.

Bodies need refrigeration, not freezing.

Wrap in plastic bags, put them in a cooler with ice.

I can understand your husband's reasoning on that too, but I'd want to know what happened if I had 13 die in a day.

 

[JoeCT]

Did lightning strike near the area?

 

[azygous]

Did lightning strike near the area?

Oh, wow! Didn't think of that! Is the coop a metal shed? It happened in Vietnam and thousands of chickens were killed. https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society...g-strikes-farm-in-northern-vietnam/68237.html

 

[NatJ]

Was the temperature unusually hot or cold the day they died?

they hadn't laid since before the heat of the summer, but 2 days after adding the above to their feed they were back laying again.

It takes weeks for a hen's body to get ready to lay eggs again.

If they started laying 2 days after you added other foods, I think it's just a coincidence that you added those things when they were almost ready to lay again anyway.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

They were all on one side of the coop and it was the strangest thing. No indication of a predator.

Some predators kill everything that moves and some pile their prey.

To me.. it sounds very much like predator activity and certainly would NOT be dismissed so easily.

Pictures or description of your set up as well as general location in the world may help rule certain ones in or out.

Sorry for your loss!

Hope you get answers.

ETA: injuries are easy to miss.

 

[azygous]

Have you disposed of the bodies yet? It would be instructive to see a photo of how you found them.

A predator would panic the chickens. You would find them all over the place, even out in the run, especially with the door still open.

If you've disposed of the bodies, I'm afraid any further discussion will just be guessing since there are no clues to develop. Also, a body could be sent to a lab for a necropsy and cause of death would probably be discovered.

Food toxins kill, but will not kill every chicken at exactly the same time.