Illness and Dead Chickens

[frogga]

2 of our chickens have died in the past 3 days. They have been fine in the morning, wandering around the garden as normal. By lunchtime each of them had gone into the house, sat on the floor on their own and not moved for the rest of the day.

In the morning when letting them out each of them had been very very sick and had very watery poo and had both died.

Im worried this is contageous, and our other chicken is very lonely on its own, however I don't want to buy any new ones just incase our last one has the same illness and could pass it on.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Andrew

[petal]

How old are the birds, what breed, what do you feed them, have you fed anything different recently, are they vaccinated, when were they last wormed with flubenvet?
Watery droppings could indicate many different things - a gut imbalance caused by ecoli and salmonellla for example yet can also be stress - such as a fox appearing near pen. Without a pm you will never know. Keep this other bird in isolation for 2 weeks, worm with flubenvet, feed appropriately, disinfect housing then if all is well you will be able to restock. Check the weeds in your garden - especially belladonna...

[frogga]

They are 29 months old, goldline hybrids. All have been vaccinated. They were wormed around 6 weeks ago. All was fine until Tuesday afternoon, all seemed fit and healthy then within 72 hours 2 have died. They have always been on the same layers pellets.

The whole garden is fenced in so we don't get foxes in the garden luckily, I have bought some disinfectant to clean the house with and hopefully our final chicken doesnt get to lonely for the next 2 weeks.

Andrew

[petal]

good luck, as they were over 2 years the vaccines no longer work(at best 72 weeks) which is why bought in vaccinated stock often(but not always) dies at around this age-they also wear themselves out egg laying- unlike a pure breed which lays less but for longer.
i just feel its a bit odd, there wasn't a thunder storm and intense heat at the time they died was there-?

[frogga]

No thunderstorms around at all. Could it be slugs at all, I noticed that they were having a peck at dead ones but I dont think they ate any. The way they got ill very quick and died (within 24 hours) in a short space of time makes me think they could of been poisoned in some way.

[rustylady]

Have you been using slug pellets?

[frogga]

Only used slug pellets in the vegetable patch where the chickens cannot get in. Im just very confused as to why or how. I've read about lungworm, but Im unsure if that affects chickens, as they quite happily eat small slugs.

[petal]

Ah, slugs travel quite long distances, surprisingly, so- there is your answer.

[frogga]

Thankyou very much, will ensure that no slug pellets are put out where the chickens can get them in our garden from now on!

[chris]

Use the ones that are "pet safe", if you HAVE to use pellets.. a slug will eat the pellet, crawl off and then die - petal is suggesting a poisoned one could have made it's way near to your chickens who's have then eaten it.

If you use the "pet safe" ones, then follow the instructions on the back. Better yet, either use natural methods or go and and hand collect/dispose of them. If they have been poisoned and died from pellets, personally I'd avoid eating any eggs they've laid in the past couple of days..

[frogga]

I will dispose of the eggs and buy some from the shop. Hopefully our last chicken has not eaten any slugs, it is acting quite normal considering all its friends have died. Is it likely to get very upset with no friends,or is it best I buy some over the weekend?

[Nicos]

Yup- I'd get some this weekend- but can you keep them further away from the previous area( just in case thee are a few more half poisoned slugs going walk about)??

[RichmondHens]

To be on the safe side I would avoid restocking for a week or so. Whether it is illness or poison that has killed your birds I would allow some time to pass, both to ensure the remaining hen is perfectly well and to allow any possibly poisoned slugs to die off. I think your hen will be fine on her own for a bit. In cases such as this if you have a very stressed bird who hates being on their own its worth getting an expendable bird (one you don't mind dying off) to keep them company, eg an unwanted cockerel, but this may not be an option for you.

[petal]

or you could bring her inside the house in a cage so she has company for a week or so.

[frogga]

We have a young daughter who will be out with the chicken all day every day to keep her company, she has been happy while we've been outside with her, at least the sun should be out for the next few days at least!