My chickens keep on dying :( One after another

[casportpony]

Do you live in the US? If so, what State?

-Kathy

 

[tmlpike]

No, I live in Canada

 

[casportpony]

Contact these people and ask them if it's possible to get a less expensive necropsy done and how to go about it.
http://www.ovc.uoguelph.ca/path/contact/

-Kathy

 

[tmlpike]

thank you SO much Kathy!!! I appreciate it so much! I will most definitely check into that!

 

[casportpony]

You're welcome! Do let us know what they say so we can share with other Canadians looking for necropsy services.

-Kathy

 

[tmlpike]

I know I haven't posted in this thread for a while, but I have still been having problems. However, I have been noticing something new. Slowly, one by one, my chickens keep on dying. It mostly happens to the older hens (2 1/2 years old) although a couple of my younger hens have also gotten sick.
The strange thing is, they will be sick for about a month, and then they will be perfectly fine and act normal. Then a couple of more months go by, they get the same symptoms again, and by this time, they die within a couple of days.
Before, when my girls got sick, they would be extremely thirsty, constantly drinking water, wouldn't eat nearly anything, because their crop would be like a water balloon, and stay that way. And when their crop gets full, they stop drinking. Their combs turn purple and flop to the side. Their tails droop down, and they close their eyes. Poor babies
Now, the last few girls that I have lost, Instead of their crops filling up, it is their rear end that gets EXTREMELY huge and is like a water balloon. But they don't poop much. Here is sone pictures, I'm not sure if they can help much:




Oh how I wish I could send one of them away for a necropsy. If only they didn't cost so much and I didn't have to sacrifice one of my girls. I know though that it could save the rest of them. I guess I'm just hoping for a miracle. Anyone know what this could possible be? Thanks <3 Heidi

 

[centrarchid]

Water balance issues based on drinking, distended crop full of fluid, and sunken eyes based on photographs indicates something is wrong with digestive tract. Cocciodosis could be involved but not likely with otherwise healthy flock that has not been moved to another location. Blue coloration of comb indicates oxygen delivering problem (anemia) that could be a result of a very heavy worm infection. I suggest isolating affected birds where feces can be inspected. Then treat with a de-wormer such as Ivermectin. I suspect you will see some worms in feces prior to treatment and a lot within a day of treatment. If worms are found to be the cause wait should return quickly in birds not too far gone to survive treatment. Other de-wormers are available and should be researched.

Prevention of such can follow diverging routes according to your philosophy concerning parasite management..

 

[tatertot]

Sounds like what IV read about sour crop...you needs to hang her upside down and dump that nasty stuff out...and people use monisat to clear up the bacterial infection.
I'm by no means anything but a novice and may offer little help...but I'm sorry for your losses...and I understand how helpless they can make you feel.

 

[casportpony]

Studies show that ivermectin is *not* an effective poultry wormer. If one is going to de-worm, please don't waste your money on ivermectin, get Safeguard or Valbazen instead.

Monistat may treat some yeast infections, but it will not treat a bacterial infection.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

[COLOR=333333]I know I haven't posted in this thread for a while, but I have still been having problems. However, I have been noticing something new. Slowly, one by one, my chickens keep on dying. It mostly happens to the older hens (2 1/2 years old) although a couple of my younger hens have also gotten sick.[/COLOR]
The strange thing is, they will be sick for about a month, and then they will be perfectly fine and act normal. Then a couple of more months go by, they get the same symptoms again, and by this time, they die within a couple of days.
Before, when my girls got sick, they would be extremely thirsty, constantly drinking water, wouldn't eat nearly anything, because their crop would be like a water balloon, and stay that way. And when their crop gets full, they stop drinking. Their combs turn purple and flop to the side. Their tails droop down, and they close their eyes. Poor babies
Now, the last few girls that I have lost, Instead of their crops filling up, it is their rear end that gets EXTREMELY huge and is like a water balloon. But they don't poop much. Here is sone pictures, I'm not sure if they can help much:

[COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR] Oh how I wish I could send one of them away for a necropsy. If only they didn't cost so much and I didn't have to sacrifice one of my girls. I know though that it could save the rest of them. I guess I'm just hoping for a miracle. Anyone know what this could possible be? Thanks QUOTE] Sorry for your losses... Looks like this hen has ascites, which can have many causes. -Kathy