Sudden Chicken Death Syndrome?

[joletabey]

What would be in fallen fruit? Or in dog poop? I am really ignorant, but would like to know. My neighbor's black sex link started refusing food and water Saturday, got puffed up, listless, no sign of mites or lice, did not appear to be egg bound or have a crop problem. I thought the chickens would just eat the maggots and other bugs in the manure compost pile - what would be in poop that would hurt them?

 

[Nif]

Threehorses would be the best one to answer this question...but I think pretty much any rotting matter can contain botulism. Not sure about feces in general, and I am not sure why ingested maggots are harmful either.
I just lost a hen a few days after they got into the manure pit...it was originally a pony manure pile, and then turned into a chicken manure pile. I put weeds and yard clippings in it, but my compost pile is separate and enclosed.
I am not allowing them to free range the woods which is where the manure pit is, just to be on the safe side.

 

[DrChickenMom]

I lost a barred rock hen yesterday. She had a deformed beak from birth & always had trouble eating (although she was about 2 years old). She looked fine.

Now today, I lost another hen (Egyptian Favorlle SP?) Just sitting in the nesting box.

With the first hen, I thought, well, it happens. Now, I'm concerned. The rest of the flock look perfectly normal. (They free-range & do have access to doggy do, fruit on the ground & mulch from the garden). But nothing in the environment is different than for the last several years.

Should I treat for bacteria? I don't want to lose any more of my friends.

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
Fallen fruit, if they're over ripe, can be fermented and bad for birds. Dog poop - well that's a pretty obvious one - bacteria, negative bacteria to which birds aren't immune, parasites, etc.

On your neighbor's bird, that's complicated. And maggots - well they're a serious serious carrier of botulism. That and decaying vegetation are both serious carriers of botulism which will surely take a bird down quick.

Is it possible your neighbor's bird (or yours) got into any of these things?

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
Well first, you can't go by looks. You'll need to pick them all up. Feel their weight, check them for mites and lice - very very carefully, every inch, as the bugs tend to move to another part when you pick them up. For mites, you have to check *at night* and over a few nights as mites stay off the bird until it's eating time - then they just simply drain them.

Also diet - really there are too many factors left unsaid here. If possible, we'd need you to answer the questions from the second sticky (otherwise we're just guessing, throwing possibilities at you, and that's a waste of your time). Diet is important - what they're eating, and particularly if they're getting oyster shell free choice, laying feed as at least 90% of their diet. Weight is important - tell us if they're thin or not. WOrming history. Flock history - really anything you can think of.

Do not treat for bacteria unless you know that for which you're treating; it can be even MORE harmful than not treating at all.

Let's see what th eproblem is first. Please tell us as much information as possible and we'll go from there.

 

[ebonykawai]

I just lost a hen today. Glad to find this thread. It's frustrating and sad. She was always healthy, perfectly fine yesterday, eating, drinking, having snack with all the others yesterday evening. This morning, I went out to open the run door and let them out for the day, and she was laying in the run. I thought she was dustbathing, but no.

I have no clue what happened. She wasn't molting, was laying fine, was eating, drinking, running around, totally normal. What the heck?????

 

[possumqueen]

I work at a necropsy lab where we do a lot of poultry. I'm not the vet, but I see a lot of what they do, and I've learned a lot.

There are all kinds of reasons for birds or animals of any kind to just "die suddenly." Here at the lab we recommend our clients bring in a dead bird or -- preferably -- a sick bird that is still alive. We can euthanize at the lab, and the sick bird has all the disease organisms still alive in the body to look for and analyze.

Since we work mostly with big commercial flocks we don't see the little backyard birds as often, although the vets really do want to see them, and they've argued hard to keep the charges low so people won't stay away. If it hurts the backyard birds it can REALLY hurd the commercial flocks, which can cause an economic disaster.

Highly recommend you find your local necropsy lab, and take one or two sick birds there if you're having a chronic problem, or even a sudden one. You'll be amazed at how much you can learn!

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
This is such wonderful advice!! If you cannot do it through your regular vet, you can often locate affordable necropsy services by starting with your state agricultural college and their related extension agents.

It's best to call ahead, call now when you don't have a sick bird, and ask what your local lab needs from you. A carcass, and if so, kept how until you see them? A live bird? Etc. These things are very important and it's honestly better to find them out when you're not upset, not stressed, not being heartbroken about a bird.

Every poultry owner should have those numbers and addresses available in case of emergency. Ours in Texas, for example, are though Texas A&M.

If you need help finding yours, feel free to PM me if you haven't any luck.

 

[ebonykawai]

What is the charge for this kind of thing?

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
It depends on who you have do it. When I had a necro/histo done for a parrot, it was $300 (because I had it done by an avian specialist and sent to a specialist hospital/lab out of state overnight). If I had one done on poultry at Texas A&M I believe it was $25.

That's why you want to do your research ahead of time.

Incidentally: $25 more than pays for one thing of antibiotics, misused, and vitamins - much less time, expense, investments of a whole flock that might be lost.