tona
Full Member
Posts: 119
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Post by tona on Sept 7, 2010 15:28:26 GMT 8
Can anyone help me out? I have had 3 chickens die In 3 days. One of them I noticed had a bloody bottom with a bit of runny poo, but the others are young healthy chickens with no symptoms what so ever. The only thing is when the first one died I wasn't home all day and the rest of the chickens practically ate the whole carcass in a day. So whatever it had may have been passed on to the rest.. Today when I went in there there was a hen sitting down very quietly and when I picked her up I noticed that her crop was really full and then she just died right there in my hands. Yesterday she was happy and healthy.. They have no runny noses or swelling on their heads and no sign of breathing trouble.. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated...
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Post by chooky on Sept 7, 2010 16:26:55 GMT 8
Tona,
If you post more information about your chooks, their diet, living conditions, etc, may be some of the more experienced members would be able to point you in the right direction.
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Post by quambie on Sept 8, 2010 20:05:45 GMT 8
HI Tona Thats not good, have you found out what it was yet . Trev
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Post by ikbokchook on Sept 9, 2010 10:58:16 GMT 8
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tona
Full Member
Posts: 119
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Post by tona on Sept 9, 2010 19:38:21 GMT 8
Thanx everyone for your input. I lost 1 more chook yesterday, but today all is well. A funny thing as well, I have fishing line over all my coops and every day there have been broken lines over this coop. I have 2 wedge tail eagles living on the hill above my house but the hens that died have no sign of injury. I have seen the eagles hovering over the coops alot lately and it is spring which leads me to believe they have young in their nest and are looking for food.. I have givin the chooks a cold remedy to eat and they are all fully wormed.. So it is all a bit of a mystery at the moment. I thought it might be cocci too, just because they are dying so quickly but I will keep you all posted and see what happens...
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Post by quambie on Sept 10, 2010 10:11:15 GMT 8
I have to admit if I had a wedge tail eagle after me I would pop myself big time, just a thought would they get that close that it scared them to death with the line broken as well Trev
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Post by organic girl on Sept 10, 2010 11:10:32 GMT 8
interesting, but not in a good way. The blood in the chicks droppings is a worry. Are they still on chick starter? If not then putting them back on to it may be a bit of insurance for the remaining chicks, just in case it's cocci. As for the older ones, if they had cocci they would stop eating (so the crop would not be full) and they wouldn't die quite so quickly.
I think you might be right about the eagles having young, the hawks have just started circling our place but the rooster warns the girls then growls at the hawks. Do you have a rooster??
Think you may have two separate issues here.
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Post by organic girl on Sept 10, 2010 11:11:13 GMT 8
umm, forgot to ask. Are the chicks and the older birds in separate pens??
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tona
Full Member
Posts: 119
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Post by tona on Sept 12, 2010 7:58:44 GMT 8
Oh boy lost another one yesterday, she died so suddenly she was still sitting on a pile of eggs. This one really has me beat... The chickens that have died (7 now) are of all different ages from pullets to 3 year olds. The coop is not overcrowded and all my coops are kept really clean.. The last one to die had a bit of runny poop on her butt but not bloody and she seemed perfectly happy and healthy even eating only 4 hours before she died... I have 1 rooster in the coop and so far he is still healthy and crowing every morning.. It is a real mystery and is so horrible to go out and find another one dead ... At first i thought it could be a snake but I don't think they are around for a few weeks yet and I don't think a snake would kill 7 in a row..
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Post by jacquie on Sept 12, 2010 12:23:24 GMT 8
have you done an autopsy on any of the dead birds?
this sounds really strange for adult birds to be dying off like that. they sound too old to have cocci.
it would be worth talking to a vet.
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Post by chooklady on Sept 12, 2010 12:27:18 GMT 8
My first thought was maybe dying of fright from the eagles. Another suggestion would be to have a good look around for something that seems inoccent but maybe isn't! I once had perfectly fat healthy hens with full crops just dropping dead and could not work it out. It was suggested that the sheep lick block I had out in the paddock could be the culprit but I was skeptical as I hadn't seen the chooks near it. A farmer friend also said it would stop chooks dead in their tracks if they ate it because of the urea that was in it. Still skeptical but more dead hens so I removed it and no more dead chooks!! Here's hoping you find the cause.
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Post by quambie on Sept 12, 2010 17:26:29 GMT 8
Just a thought have you got any rat bait around the pen that they can get at if they had eaten it before that could be one way Trev
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liz
Junior Member
Posts: 64
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Post by liz on Sept 12, 2010 22:42:40 GMT 8
sounds like you have a bug. if you want to save the rest get an autopsy done fast. Hopefully it is a treatable one but you can not be sure which bugg without an Autopsy
Have you bought any new chickens in or have you noticed that rats and mice numbers have increased recently to bring it in.
In mean time while waiting for answers put them on strong course of Antibiotics broad spec and quarantine all contact with sick birds. make sure you only go in yard on need to bases and you shower and wash clothes straight after leaving yard.
Im sorry I can not tell you any good news but the only way is knowledge of what is going on so you can deal with the problem
Liz
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tona
Full Member
Posts: 119
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Post by tona on Sept 13, 2010 6:59:26 GMT 8
Thankyou once again guys for all of your suggestions, but I found the culprit yesterday. I was looking out the kitchen window and I saw one of the wedge tail eagles sitting on a fence post near the coops. I went out to take a pic of it and shoo it away and its partner was in one of my other coops feasting on one of my large plymouth rock roos. It took off as I entered the coop but it had eaten nearly half the chicken and I was home the whole time. It looks like one keeps guard while the other goes into the coop and feeds and then they prob go back to the nest and feed young. I also found huge footprints in the coop I have been having trouble with. Looks like I will be covering my coops over the next week. Another job on the list...
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