- Sep 15, 2011
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My current setup consist of 8 outdoor runs half covered and shade clothed, Roughly 12X12 each, no more than 6 chicken per run, one roo per run. I have Blk and Buff cochins, light brahams, Americanas, penciled Wynadottes, Blk Minorcas, Buff polish, barred rockes, red leghorns, blk jersey giants, a few mixed and had 6 turkeys from a local breeder ( chicks were thru McMurray-LOVED- and the rest thru local breeders and me!) I feed pelleted egg layer, scratch once a week, and a high protien crumble for the turkeys. In the summer bedding is pine needles because of the amount of rain here , hay and pine shavings retain too much moisture but used in the winter.Recently have had a serious out break of something going on in the outdoor runs! It has been hot and humid the past few months here in SW FL, & over the past weeks I have had my flocks decimated by something killing both 10 weeks chickens, 1-5 years chickens and turkeys of all ages. It might have started with an older Blk Cochin male who just sat on a perch all day( which was very unusual since he was a ham!) next day he was dead. After a 3 weeks eveyone was behaving normal, since i wasnt sure his age and the heat was pretty high i just assumed it was natural. The chicks which i had been raising since June (in a shed) were large enought to go outdoors along with the turkeys that were raised with them. Eveything was great, chicks were growing but i did notice a severe drop in egg production( like none) but i just attributed that to the heat, Come August, 2 cochins from last years batch died, a few weeks later 2 barred rocks 4 yrs old died, now over the past week 15 of the 10 week chicks have died, 4 turkeys, and 4 older hens, i have medicated with an antibiotic the past 2 weeks recomended by my local feed store but unfortunatly they have kept dying. The symptoms included slow, not feeding, minimal drinking, some have had cloudy eyes, noticed running stool in the runs, wings hung low, sitting down alot, faces and combs are lighter in color. Within days of showing these symptoms both turkey and chickens are dead. The chicks from the hatchery were vaccinated for mareks and something else i cant remember currently. Ive dewormed last year but never have had a problem before. Im in a heavily wooded area with wild birds (near corkscrew sanctuary), but the chickens and turkeys are not free range nor do i have a problem with rats or mice but we do get alot of standing water in the area. There are other flock owners in the area but i havnt spoken to anyone if they are having the same problems. Im at a loss for whats going on and dont want to lose everyone!!!
