Dying Hens

[carrierose]

I have lost 4 hens since last October. They range from 9 months to 3 years of age. I suspect they may have become egg bound but I am not sure. They have all had a pasty butt, lethargic, weight loss & an enlarged abdomen. I cut one of the dead hens open & found what looked like a grapefruit sized hardboiled egg with a super thin, paper like shell. I now have a three year old silver laced Wyandotte showing the same symptoms. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

I had to fumigate the coop last fall because the bug problem in this coop was horrendous. I wonder if this could have started the problem because the hens started dying about a month after I did this. I used an Adams plus Flea & Tick Indoor Fogger & made the chickens stay out of the coop all day. I cleaned out the coop & put fresh bedding inside before letting the chickens back inside just before dark. This is what was recommended by a chicken expert at one of our local feed stores.

 

[brad3126]

Hi are the birds getting plenty of water..i use dawn dish soap with a sprayer and I got rid of all my mites which were horrible. .if the birds butt is plugged this could be killing the birds. what are you feeding them?

 

[CochinLover1]

This does not sound like egg bound. If your birds are overweight, this will cause internal laying. That big mass is seen when you have a bird that is an internal layer. Usually happens when birds get fat. In our experience, our Silver laced wyandottes get fat easily. The weight loss is from the stress of the mass.

 

[CochinLover1]

http://scoopfromthecoop.nutrenaworld.com/tag/laying-issues/

http://www.chickenvet.co.uk/health-and-common-diseases/egg-laying-issues/index.aspx

 

[CochinLover1]

Do any of these match up with what you are experiencing ?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The pesticides may be at the root of the problem.

http://www.drugs.com/vet/adams-plus-flea-tick-indoor-fogger.html

I would send a bird off to your state lab for necropsy. Or at least, query a vet about the condition.
I don't consider anyone working at a feed store a 'chicken expert'.
I've heard a lot of erroneous or downright dangerous information from the mouths of those feed store 'experts'.

Where are you located?

 

[carrierose]

They have water all the time along with a ditch flowing in our pasture so I believe they are getting plenty of water. I normally feed Payback layer pellets. This past winter I changed that up a bit because of the way they were molting (started in July 2015 & some are still molting). In December I changed to the Rogue All in One feed (18% protein) and added soybean meal to total 30% protein. The chickens started dying before I changed their feed. I have now switched back to the Payback layer pellets (17% protein). My chickens are not overweight. I watch this carefully & their butts are not plugged.

The bug problem started in the fall of 2013 & I tried everything that was suggested to me to get it stopped. Nothing worked. Fumigating with the Adams bug bomb was the last resort. The chickens suffered with feather mites, spider mites, lice and a third type of mite that I cannot remember the name of. Went for 2 years with featherless chickens because I could not get the problem solved until I bombed the coop.

 

[carrierose]

We are located in southern Oregon. I wish I could take a chicken to a vet or even get a necropsy done. Unfortunately, this just isn't in our budget at this time as my husband is not working full time. His job is a seasonal thing.

 

[CochinLover1]

What breeds do you have, if you don't ind me asking.

 

[carrierose]

The breeds of chickens I have are Chochin, Delaware, Buff Brahma, Ameracauna, Wyandottes (gold & silver laced), Australorp, Barred Rock, Polish, Rhode Island Red, Buff Orpington, White Jersey Giant & mixed breeds. The chickens that died were a Delaware (18 months old), 2 golden Sexlinks (3 yrs old), & a mix between Ameracauna & Golden Laced Wyandotte (9 months old & she was the first to go).