Whole flock gone

[azygous]

Unless the name of an individual comes to mind that might do such a diabolical thing, it's highly unlikely someone would kill your chickens in this way. I would suspect they died from some toxic aerosol like an insect bomb.

Do not freeze the bodies. Refrigerate them. Do take photos before you disrupt the scene. You might want to call law enforcement or animal control to come out and take a look. It's what you pay taxes for.

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[Kwdfunnyfarm]

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


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.

No temperature had been steady all week.

 

[azygous]

If these chickens were poisoned, prying open a few beaks and looking inside the mouth might reveal vomit or mucous or blood. Clues. Also inspect the vents for sudden diarrhea or other discharge.

 

[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.

 

[azygous]

A weasel would fit neatly through the openings of the chain link fence. So would rats.

 

[Kiki]

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?

They are the only people who will have an answer for you:
https://tvmdl.tamu.edu/tests/necropsy-poultry/
You don't have to send all 12 or 13 birds in two would be enough to get an answer I believe.

 

[Kiki]

It's probably unlikely that they all died of fatty liver disease at the same time, but I would be extremely careful about continuing to feed the way you are feeding.
A layer type crumbled or pelleted feed is a balanced hole. Complete feed for laying birds and it's best.
I have no idea what's in catfish food but I do know that black oil sunflower seeds are extremely high in fat.
I believe all stock sweet feed is made for horses and I would never feed that to my birds because if I'm not mistaken it is extremely low in protein and made up of whole grains which gives the birds an option to pick and choose which grain they want which is also a big problem.

 

[JoeCT]

Did lightning strike near the area?