Lost 2 roosters within 2 days...HELP!

[HansElvis4ever]

Hi! First time chicken owner here - however; we have been just that for over a year and a half now. Everything has been great thus far. It all started when Drew (my fiancé) finding a Cornish Cross (meat bird) that had fallen off a truck. Long story short, we decided to take him in and care for him. A few months after this, we got silkie chicks, with the hopes that they would all be friends. Everything had gone well and fast-forward a year and a half, this past Monday, I went out to the coop in the morning and Hans (meat bird 1 & 1/2 year old) was dead. The night before, we noticed flies bugging him so we cleaned him with antiseptic, put antibiotics and vitamins in his water and went to bed planning on addressing it the next day after we did more research. He was gone the next morning. We think he had flystrike. This took a toll on us - as we were very attached to him since he was a baby. 2 days later, I woke & went out to the silkies; Elvis, our 1 rooster, was acting normally but I noticed his head was wet. I investigated further in the coop, and there was some wetness on the bedding. It rained the night before so I assumed rain got into the coop somehow. I cleaned it and went on with my day. Around 2pm, I went out (as usual) to give the chickens some treats. I typically give them any veggie or fruit leftovers we have. This day it was watermelon, strawberry, blueberry and pineapple. They're very spoiled babies. When I got out there, I noticed that Elvis was hiding and 5 or 6 flies were swarming him. I thought maybe he had the same thing Hans had. Definitely not. I got up close to him and I noticed one of his eyes was totally grey'ed out - like he was blind and he had water pouring out of his mouth. I brought him inside and my fiancé and I bathed him with dawn soap and he seemed to be fine for a while until he started pouring white/yellow/orange liquid out of his mouth and after a while he spazzed out and passed away. We brought our 2 silkie hens inside, bathed them and they are staying inside in our bathroom "in quarantine" until we figure out what's going on. We pressure-washed the chicken coop, moved it across the yard, letting it dry overnight, then will be putting down lime and fresh bedding. Feeling a bit discouraged and just really sad we lost family members. Any advice, questions, comments are welcome! <3

 

[SmiYa0126]

Hi! I'm so sorry! Did you see maggots anywhere?

Meat birds generally don't have long life spans, he may have had a heart attack. Can you post pictures of your silkie roo?

 

[HansElvis4ever]

Hi! I'm so sorry! Did you see maggots anywhere?

Meat birds generally don't have long life spans, he may have had a heart attack. Can you post pictures of your silkie roo?

We did see maggots on Hans, yes. We were freaking out and hoped the antiseptic/antibiotics would help overnight. He was so big and not super friendly so we couldn't handle him or bring him inside to bathe. He lived to be 1 1/2 and wasn't supposed to live past 6-7 weeks. He had a very spoiled life running and eating lots of goodies. It was just a sad ending. Here's a pic of Elvis, our handsome Silkie Roo that was our baby

 

[SmiYa0126]

@Wyorp Rock @azygous @Eggcessive please help!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Welcome To BYC

I'm sorry for your losses.

It's hard to know why they died unless you have a necropsy performed through your state lab. IF you still have the body, refrigerate it and send it in for diagnostics. https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html

Just asking, did you notice if Elvis had flystrike too or lice/mites?
Any chance you have photos of him before he died, his eyes or wet head?

Liquid pouring out of the beak, sounds like perhaps he had a crop issue, but so so hard to know. Sometimes if fluids begin to pour out, they can aspirate fluids and die.

You mention rain got into the coop? Any chance feed got wet and turned moldy or rancid?

As for the remaining hens, check them for lice/mites, see that crops are emptying overnight.
Do check inside the coop for any molds. Check your feed bin to make sure feed hasn't gone rancid or molded as well. Sometimes feed "fresh" from the store can be old (check mill dates on bags) and have a clump of mold in the middle due to improper storage (at the store or warehouse).

Elvis was a handsome boy, he's quite unique looking.

 

[HansElvis4ever]

Welcome To BYC

I'm sorry for your losses.

It's hard to know why they died unless you have a necropsy performed through your state lab. IF you still have the body, refrigerate it and send it in for diagnostics. https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html

Just asking, did you notice if Elvis had flystrike too or lice/mites?
Any chance you have photos of him before he died, his eyes or wet head?

Liquid pouring out of the beak, sounds like perhaps he had a crop issue, but so so hard to know. Sometimes if fluids begin to pour out, they can aspirate fluids and die.

You mention rain got into the coop? Any chance feed got wet and turned moldy or rancid?

As for the remaining hens, check them for lice/mites, see that crops are emptying overnight.
Do check inside the coop for any molds. Check your feed bin to make sure feed hasn't gone rancid or molded as well. Sometimes feed "fresh" from the store can be old (check mill dates on bags) and have a clump of mold in the middle due to improper storage (at the store or warehouse).

Elvis was a handsome boy, he's quite unique looking.

Thank you! Elvis was a "Naked Neck Showgirl" and was only about 1 1/2 years old. He literally was perfectly fine one day and just suddenly died the next. We buried them in the backyard because they were definitely our pets. I checked their feed and it did look like part went rancid, so I'm thinking that was maybe the culprit for his sour crop? It must have gotten wet or I didn't attach the lid properly because we just refilled it recently. I put in a new feeder with fresh feed, 2 water sources (one with medicated vitamins & electrolytes) & made them a dust bath. We bathed our 2 hens with dawn and sprayed them with herbal tea I made from fresh herbs from the garden to hopefully get rid of the mites. We will repeat this process in a couple days and will continue to do it until they're totally gone. Their crops did totally empty overnight. I attached a photo of our 2 silkie girls after their bath with some fresh lavender to try and calm them. I do think they enjoyed the bath lol, there was some purring going on Thank you again for your kind words and help!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

We bathed our 2 hens with dawn and sprayed them with herbal tea I made from fresh herbs from the garden to hopefully get rid of the mites. We will repeat this process in a couple days and will continue to do it until they're totally gone.

All looks good!
I'm glad were able to correct the feed, hopefully this will help.

You do see mites on the hens? If you do, then you will want to treat their housing too. Most mites live in the housing and come out to feed at night, but some can remain on the birds all day.

If you find that washing them and the herbal tea is not effective, then you can use Permethrin Poultry Dust or Spray to treat housing and the hens.