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That is unfortunate. You could send her in for a necropsy, your state vet lab will let you know what they require and hopefully the result will benefit your other chickens.She died. Do you think it was just a nutrition thing? Or could it be something else
No one is getting back to me. It’s Hawai’i everything is pretty disorganizedThat is unfortunate. You could send her in for a necropsy, your state vet lab will let you know what they require and hopefully the result will benefit your other chickens.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/➡-necropsy-disease-testing-state-labs-info.1236884/unread
Two large coups. Two large feeders that are 20 gallons then a small feeder. Feeders and water is outside of their coops. It’s Hawaii so we do not have to worry about cold temperatures.So one coop has only one feeder for 20 chickens, and the other coop has two feeders? That's not enough. How big is each coop?
Is the feed available all day?
Is grit available at all times?
Thank you for clarifying.Two large coups. Two large feeders that are 20 gallons then a small feeder. Feeders and water is outside of their coops. It’s Hawaii so we do not have to worry about cold temperatures.
They have 2+ acres to roam around. They only go into their coop at night. I mix oyster shells into their feed.
From what I am reading if they are free range they do not necessarily need grit. I’ll go ahead and get some in case but I don’t think that this is the issue.Thank you for clarifying.
Oyster shell is necessary only for hens that are actively laying, in order to hrlp thrm firm strong eggshells, and can be harmful to chickens that are not laying - so, young or old birds, molting birds, or males. It provides a surfeit of calcium that can be hard on their kidneys. If placed in a separate container, the birds that need it will help themselves; all others will ignore it.
Crushed granite grit is a separate product and is required by all birds for digestion. It goes into the gizzard, a strong muscle that grinds their food, since they don't have teeth. I could be wrong, but I suspect your birds could be starving because they are lacking grit to enable them to digest their feed. Oyster shell does not perform this function.