Chickens dying

[JillyB]

Hi Im new here, we have a mixed flockof Hens, different breeds and ages and over the last week we have had a few losses. Not the hens you would expect, the older ones but the young POL ones. All the ones I have lost, cream legbar, 2x silkies light, sussex x rir were fine one minute, gone the next.They were all a similar age and all from the same breeder. Lovely place, kept well clean ect. They are not looking ill or anything. They have a large grassed paddock and a house 12ft x 8ft, light and good ventilation. Any ideas welcome.
Thanks

[Davidd]

Hello Jilly and welcome to the forum
So, i take it you are finding bodies and they are not just disappearing into thin air?
Chickens normally dont look healthy one minute and dead the next. Any symptons you can think of? Are they losing weight? fluffed up? ant discharge from nose/vent? raspy breathing?
If it is only the new, young hens affected then they could have caught something from your older, original birds- did you keep the new ones separate for a few weeks before introducing them?
The more information you can give us the better- hope you find out the problem soon.
regards, David

[podstable]

Hi Jilly-how horrid for you. If the birds dying show no preceeding symptoms ,are young and new to your environment the first 2 things that I would consider would be coccy and red mite. If it were me , I would immediately treat housing and birds etc for mite (even if not able to see any) and get the rest of them on treatment for coccidiosis straightaway . --as a sort of blunderbuss , emergency treatment! Young birds will easily develop coccidiosis if put into an area where older birds have been , and , I think nearly all of us have been plagued by red mite this year ! If you are losing that no. of new/young birds I wonder if you need a vets opinion? Good luck, Ros.

[JillyB]

Hi David, yes finding bodies. The only sign was yesterday one looked sad and very slightly fluffed up a couple of hours later she was dead.
We had the younger hens first ,and were given some older ones by someone we knew.
No we did not keep seperate. Perhaps we should have done. We do have some other younger ones seperate and they seem fine. We have kept hens in the past but never seen this happen.
I have been trawling around this site and came across the FAQ on Red Mites. The house I am using has been used for hens before, albeit a good many years ago.Its the tack room end of a stable block. So no I cant dispose,burn or whatever it
Do you think it could be mites?? Im off to get garlic and mite powder too. Will clean and Dettol as well.
Cant do any harm can it?

[Chicken Vet]

Hello Jilly
So sorry to hear about your dying birds. The advice you have been given so far is good and we would recommend regular worming and treating the birds and hen house for red mite. We recently had a client with a very fit and healthy POL bird that just dropped off the perch overnight. On post mortem examination it was found to be suffering from Hepatitis - spots were clearly visible on its liver. The rest of the birds were then treated with antibiotics and are now all fine.

If you continue to experience deaths we suggest trying to find a vet with Chicken experience and possibly consider having any new dead birds post mortemed.

Good luck!
Chicken Vet

[JillyB]

Thanks Chicken Vet and all, I did clean and dettol the house out, i powdered the birds and nest boxes too. Some of the hens were easier said than done wormed and gave liquid vitamins. Poor hens wondered what had hit them!! Oh forgot the garlic in their feed. Every one seemed ok so fingers crossed.