Why does this keep happening

[Captain red beard]

Hi everyone this is my first year raising chickens and it’s been heartbreaking. 2025 isn’t starting off any better so far, on January 3rd I noticed one of my 4 month old chickens was keeping her right eye closed I checked it and the eye looks fine, she was still running around being a happy chicken the 5th I could tell she didn’t feel well and noticed that night 2 of my older hens sneezing so I started everyone on denguard. At noon on the 6th I noticed the one with a closed eye wasn’t out I found her huddled in the corner head twisted around so the open eye was looking straight up and she was talking to me. So I brought her in and put her in the sick chicken box her left leg was curled up and a few min later she fell over. I touched her and she stood up. Gave her some Nutridrench and some doxycycline/Tylan powder mixed in a little Greek yogurt and fresh kibble. I’ve lost one rooster and a hen to something similar. What am I doing wrong? 2roosters and a hen to a dog attack last summer then a hen and rooster to basically paralysis a couple weeks later.

 

[Farmgirl283420]

Sorry about your sick chickens and the ones you lost. Unfortunately I don’t know enough to help but maybe @Eggcessive @azygous or @Wyorp Rock can.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. The best way to find out what is killing chickens is to have your state vet lab do a necropsy. Starting out with healthy baby chicks is the best way to prevent diseases. Getting birds from other people or sales can be the way many introduce a disease. Respiratory diseases will make carriers of the whole flock, and they may get sick again. Treating the sickest with antibiotics may help temporarily but any new birds or chicks will be exposed to whatever they have. Mareks disease is one that can make them paralyzed, so good to get a necropsy done. Here is a list of state vets to contact for a necropsy:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry...7IOlHOhP-eD8qMtZ70RNq6BMO9kVUn3x6so7q0Z_JgEr8

 

[Captain red beard]

I started with healthy babby chicks they were about 2-3 days old when I got the first batch, second batch were allot older and a end of the year sale those chicks stayed separate of the older ones for months in a smaller coop about 3ft from the big coop/run. Out of the second batch I had 1 die within the first week from pasty butt witch that batch of chicks had horribly.

I guess I will hope she gets better and if not I will take her in to see what happened. Is it something that lives in the soil? Other birds? Because I live in the mountains and we have a ton of wild turkeys but they don’t get in with the chickens and my dogs chase them off.

Thank you for your quick response

 

[StinkyAcres]

What do you feed your chickens, including treats and supplements? Is your coop and run secured from wild birds?
It may be a virus. Could have been introduced by the second batch of chicks or the wild birds.

 

[Captain red beard]

What do you feed your chickens, including treats and supplements? Is your coop and run secured from wild birds?
It may be a virus. Could have been introduced by the second batch of chicks or the wild birds.

Feed is layer pellets I get from the local feed store, for winter I added in some rooster booster vitamin pellets and black sunflower seeds. Treats are scratch, dried fish chicken frenzy brand and dried mealworms. I rotate through those 3 depending on what I have on hand.