Why are my chickens dying?

[MrsChicky55]

I've had two 12 week old Black Copper Marans die suddenly in the last week. I saw no indications that they were ill prior- no lethargy, no lack of eating, etc... (and I'm a nurse). I just come in to check on them in the morning and they were dead. Both died with their heads craned back over their backs. One had scant clear fluid near her head. After I removed the other I noticed a green bile substance under where it had died. I'm a new chicken mom & the only thing that I can think of is crop issues. I power washed the coop after the first one died to deep clean it. For the floor of the coop I use sand, for bedding I'm still using the last of the pine shavings from when they were little. I give it a thorough cleaning once a week, and a quick clean daily. The coop is pretty clean, it still smells like the Cedar material it's made of. When I moved them from their brooder to the outside coop I did stop adding ACV to their water as their coop is far away from the house approx 4 weeks ago. I'll start adding the ACV back in the water just incase. They do free range for part of the day.

But I'm not sure if crop issues are why they're dying, any thoughts or other ideas?

I'm building a portable chicken run rather than free ranging to prevent them from eating anything they shouldn't & to protect then from predators. Is there anything else that I could be doing to prevent this?

Unfortunately the cockerel that died today was my favorite, he had such pretty coloring and was the friendliest too. I'm really pretty upset about this whole thing and want to do anything I can to keep from loosing anymore.

Goodbye my sweet Xander! You are missed!

 

[sfgwife]

Cedar is bad for chickens. It can give them respiratory issues.

 

[OwO]

I have heard that cedar chips give off fumes or something that can be harmful to chickens, however I honestly have no idea how true this is and whether or not it is the same for actual coops built out of cedar, just a thought

 

[theoldchick]

How sad. An avian vet can perform a necropsy to help determine what is happening. Since cedar is not good for the chicken's respiratory system, you might try improving the ventilation in your coop.

 

[Kiki]

Could Cocci be killing them?
How does their poop look?

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

I do not think its the cedar, I would think they would have some sort of symptoms if they were having respiratory issues.

Hopefully you figure it out.

Gary