How often do your chickens die? Aka - am I just unlucky?

[Kenya Mwangi]

Hi!

And thank you for the encouragement. They have access to oyster shell separately from their food, and we've also been putting calcium and D3 in their water regularly.

I don't have great pictures of their setup. I can take some tomorrow. This is them back in February.

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And here they are hanging out under their coop

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Hello Very nice and sanitary! What feed to you use?

 

[A Swede in France]

@Kenya Mwangi and @FrostRanger they eat a mix of buckwheat, wheat, crushed peas, linseed and pellets/layer feed with crushed shell in the mix as well as on the side. Plus lots of greens, some berries and fruit and slugs and bugs that they forage, and mealworms when we need to get them to do stuff.

 

[StinkyAcres]

Did you quarantine before adding new birds?

I think the most I've lost to illness in one year was 3 (all appeared to be reproduction problems). I don't believe I've lost that many in one year since and I've raised chickens for 15 years. Predator losses are normal and expected with free range chickens.

 

[A Swede in France]

Did you quarantine before adding new birds?

I think the most I've lost to illness in one year was 3 (all appeared to be reproduction problems). I don't believe I've lost that many in one year since and I've raised chickens for 15 years. Predator losses are normal and expected with free range chickens.

Yep, two weeks but they could see each other, just separated by a wire fence.

Three in a year is what I've lost. It's nasty that we bred them to lay so much that their reproductive system breaks. I feel for them poor girls

 

[Kenya Mwangi]

@Kenya Mwangi and @FrostRanger they eat a mix of buckwheat, wheat, crushed peas, linseed and pellets/layer feed with crushed shell in the mix as well as on the side. Plus lots of greens, some berries and fruit and slugs and bugs that they forage, and mealworms when we need to get them to do stuff.

Hello My opinion is bad luck and too much energy and not enough protein. You seem to be doing everything very well.

 

[StinkyAcres]

Yep, two weeks but they could see each other, just separated by a wire fence.

So not a strict quarantine. Did you notice more illness after introducing the new birds?

It's nasty that we bred them to lay so much that their reproductive system breaks. I feel for them poor girls

True.

 

[A Swede in France]

Hello My opinion is bad luck and too much energy and not enough protein. You seem to be doing everything very well.

Thank you!

They do have a lot of slugs and bugs but I'm happy to give them more protein, they love it

 

[FrostRanger]

It's possible that when you introduced new birds they brought something. Generally it's recommended to quarantine for a month as far away from your existing flock as possible. If they're too close they can still spread disease

 

[A Swede in France]

So not a strict quarantine. Did you notice more illness after introducing the new birds?


True.

Hmmm... Last three to be sick/die are some of the never additions. They came a year ago. Four months after they arrived one of the slightly older girls got sick and died. Then two months after that, one of the new ones died. And one month after that, there was some gastric issues and one girl got sick enough to go on antibiotics. Got two more in February this year, then in March one of the lot from a year ago started laying shell less eggs at night.

So... Tricky to know but... Maybe? Pretty long incubation times though.

One theory I have is wild birds. I live in the mountains surrounded by nature and wildlife of all kinds. Maybe they bring stuff?

 

[FrostRanger]

Wild birds can certainly be a source of illness. Unfortunately if you free range there isn't anything you can do about that