My chickens are dying!!!!

[CCsGarden]

If they are not getting good food it can cause a lot of problems.
Are they hens getting enough calcium?

Make sure they have clean water, good food and a clean coop

 

[Susan Skylark]

I agree that starvation or malnutrition are problems in some flocks, but the problem here is sudden death in otherwise healthy birds, not a slow lingering one in the entire flock.

 

[OrpingtonManic]

Are they in close proximity to wild birds? Highly pathogenic bird flu can cause sudden death, and is quite common at the moment.

 

[Debbie292d]

Nutritional issues would not present as sudden death. Low fertility, deformed chicks, low egg production, weird eggs, skinny or fat birds, slow feather or muscle growth…slow onset , long term problems not sudden death unless you add strychnine or something.

We are not there to know this nor have enough information to be throwing out ideas. That food they are on is one thing I do not know a thing about.

Maybe we should get an expert here for some better questions to ask or perhaps other ideas. @Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive

 

[Eggcessive]

Knowing your location in the world would help. What are the ages of the birds dying? Where do you get your chickens from? Are they having diarrhea? Do they have grit to help their gizzards grind up their food? Sorry for your loss.

 

[Susan Skylark]

I’m not saying nutrition isn’t part of the problem I am saying that in general nutritional issues do not cause sudden death (except in the case of toxicosis: copper overdose in sheep, aflatoxins in corn…). Too much calcium can cause joint and kidney issues long term but it only causes sudden death by being given intravenously to an animal not suffering sudden and severe deficiency (milk fever in cows). Clostridium can cause sudden death in animals on energy rich diets (overeating in calves) but it is not the diet itself causing sudden death. Nutrition is part of the history, like a good detective you look at the whole picture and then rank possible causes by probability and while you wait for lab results you do what you can to treat or prevent further loss based on those rule outs. While Ebola is on the rule out list for sudden onset of high fever in a three year old human, due to my geographical location I don’t immediately put it on my top ten list when my son wakes up running 103F. Is nutrition important, absolutely, is it most likely the primary factor, no. I’d look for something infectious or a toxin first, keeping in mind the nutrition of the case but I’m more interested in access to wild birds and biting insects, moldy feed…I don’t really care that the niacin is a bit low or the fat is half a percent high at the moment. And as you state we are not there, we have no idea what is going on, there is nothing harder than diagnosing something over the phone except diagnosing it via message board! I’d highly recommend the dead birds be submitted for necropsy and a knowledgeable professional interview the owner and inspect the flock/premises (including taking a look at the feed and labels). Then you might get an answer, otherwise we’re all just guessing, a morbid sort of pin the tail on the rooster! Sudden death in multiple animals within a short span of time is usually a good time to get professional and in person help because you could start losing a lot of critters fast. At least have somebody familiar with chickens take a look at the dead birds to get an idea about what might be wrong: gi issue, lung issue etc.