GingerGremlin
In the Brooder
- Jul 22, 2023
- 35
- 22
- 34
I genuinely can't figure out what is going on with my chickens or if maybe there is multiple things going on but I've been throwing everything at the wall I can think of. I now suspect gapeworm and ordered medication for it that will be here Saturday but I was curious about other people's thoughts so here I am.
I guess let's start with the present, this morning we opened the door and let everyone come out on their own as usual but as I was about to leave for work noticed our 1 year old rooster hadn't come out yet when usually he's one of the first out with the girls, cue bad feeling immediately. Open the door to the coop and sure enough, there he is dead underneath the roosts. It looks like he died sometime last night or early this morning and fell from the roost. RIP Alphonse, he was a wonderful rooster and will be missed dearly.
He seemed fine, the past two or three days he has been tucking his head a little and I noticed he was kind of "yawning" a lot but nothing too severe, just three or four times in a row for about a minute straight the other day then I didn't really notice it any more. After some research I thought it might be gaping and worried about gapeworms but he had literally no other symptoms. I noticed one of the girls panting Tuesday but it was kind of hot so I wasn't sure. He was acting fine in every other way including normal appetite so I'm still in shock that he died so suddenly.
Going back in time, probably a month ago we noticed one of our Easter Eggers toes was messed up, I posted a thread on it here idk if someone cares enough to try and go find it or if they can but the long and short of it is we think something got wrapped around the tip of the toe and cut off the circulation, we isolated her and let her rest until her limp was gone but she never lost the toe. We put her back with everyone because she was doing great but she was getting really depressed, starting last week she's limping a lot again and laying down whenever she can including eating and drinking. I can tell she isnt using that foot as much because the nails are longer on it. Her only symptoms are limping and being a little lethargic, her appetite is normal and she's drinking fine. She's been laying jelly eggs and one fairy egg but I'm not sure she's laid anything the last two days.
Everyone else seems ok, we've been getting less eggs and some have been breaking in the boxes but I thought it might be an egg eater so I've just been collecting them more. I've been looking through their poop for worms and have found nothing. We just deep cleaned the coop Tuesday and everyone got treated with elector psp about two weeks ago for mites and we checked them again Tuesday during the clean and found nothing.
Alphonse was the only one possibly gaping, a few of the Easter Eggers and now one of the australorps looks like they might be molting. None of them are wheezing, none of them are sneezing or coughing, there is no weird sounds from their chests. Everyone except Mutsy (our girl with the limp) is active and running around the yard during free range time. No mucus, no loss in appetite or refusal to drink none of it. One girl panting but she wasn't panting at all today. Some of them have poopy pants but nothing excessive.
I know sometimes chickens just die but we only had our rooster for a year (and he was only a year old) and he seemed so healthy and strong. We only thought he might be a little sick the past two or so days, I'm really heartbroken over it I really fell in love with him he was such a gentleman. I'm now panicking that my poor little Mutsy is next then the rest of the girls and I'm just at a loss on what to do. I think I'll still treat them with the fenbendazole when it gets here unless someone tells me it's a horrible idea.
The picture I included of him was taken on the 13th this month, he didn't have a pale comb or wattle and his tail was up high. He even got the girls to safety when a hawk moved overhead, he seemed completely fine.
The other pictures are my Easter Egger Mutsy with the bad toe in case it's related to what's going on now, more information can't hurt right?
Sorry for the length of this post, I know it's long.
I guess let's start with the present, this morning we opened the door and let everyone come out on their own as usual but as I was about to leave for work noticed our 1 year old rooster hadn't come out yet when usually he's one of the first out with the girls, cue bad feeling immediately. Open the door to the coop and sure enough, there he is dead underneath the roosts. It looks like he died sometime last night or early this morning and fell from the roost. RIP Alphonse, he was a wonderful rooster and will be missed dearly.
He seemed fine, the past two or three days he has been tucking his head a little and I noticed he was kind of "yawning" a lot but nothing too severe, just three or four times in a row for about a minute straight the other day then I didn't really notice it any more. After some research I thought it might be gaping and worried about gapeworms but he had literally no other symptoms. I noticed one of the girls panting Tuesday but it was kind of hot so I wasn't sure. He was acting fine in every other way including normal appetite so I'm still in shock that he died so suddenly.
Going back in time, probably a month ago we noticed one of our Easter Eggers toes was messed up, I posted a thread on it here idk if someone cares enough to try and go find it or if they can but the long and short of it is we think something got wrapped around the tip of the toe and cut off the circulation, we isolated her and let her rest until her limp was gone but she never lost the toe. We put her back with everyone because she was doing great but she was getting really depressed, starting last week she's limping a lot again and laying down whenever she can including eating and drinking. I can tell she isnt using that foot as much because the nails are longer on it. Her only symptoms are limping and being a little lethargic, her appetite is normal and she's drinking fine. She's been laying jelly eggs and one fairy egg but I'm not sure she's laid anything the last two days.
Everyone else seems ok, we've been getting less eggs and some have been breaking in the boxes but I thought it might be an egg eater so I've just been collecting them more. I've been looking through their poop for worms and have found nothing. We just deep cleaned the coop Tuesday and everyone got treated with elector psp about two weeks ago for mites and we checked them again Tuesday during the clean and found nothing.
Alphonse was the only one possibly gaping, a few of the Easter Eggers and now one of the australorps looks like they might be molting. None of them are wheezing, none of them are sneezing or coughing, there is no weird sounds from their chests. Everyone except Mutsy (our girl with the limp) is active and running around the yard during free range time. No mucus, no loss in appetite or refusal to drink none of it. One girl panting but she wasn't panting at all today. Some of them have poopy pants but nothing excessive.
I know sometimes chickens just die but we only had our rooster for a year (and he was only a year old) and he seemed so healthy and strong. We only thought he might be a little sick the past two or so days, I'm really heartbroken over it I really fell in love with him he was such a gentleman. I'm now panicking that my poor little Mutsy is next then the rest of the girls and I'm just at a loss on what to do. I think I'll still treat them with the fenbendazole when it gets here unless someone tells me it's a horrible idea.
The picture I included of him was taken on the 13th this month, he didn't have a pale comb or wattle and his tail was up high. He even got the girls to safety when a hawk moved overhead, he seemed completely fine.
The other pictures are my Easter Egger Mutsy with the bad toe in case it's related to what's going on now, more information can't hurt right?
Sorry for the length of this post, I know it's long.
