2009 Omlet cube and run for sale

[AmberSky]

Two days ago i noticed sky (crested) not looking well, she could barely stand and was very weak, i rushed her to the vet and she was put down, which devastated my wife and myself.

the vet could not give a reason for the sickness although sky was thin and in pain.

 

Yesterday i found Amber (amber star) dead in the coop, i should have noticed that amber was not so keen as the other hens (now have 10) to follow me for the food as i take it down to the garden every day as the others were, so she cant have eaten for weeks

 

So i can not find any sign of disease, or mites or ticks. i use vermex liquid monthly and they are fed on good quality layers pellets and get mixed corn in the early afternoon, also grit and oyster shell is avaliable.

 

My girls free range on my garden and have a coop to sleep in and a trampoline to shelter under lol.

 

I had been giving poultry spice but ran out just before the snow came and stupidly failed to get any more, i now have some more and have ordered some Nutri drops as a further precaution.

 

Has anyone any ideas why i could have lost them, could it just be the weather and has anyone else had similar experiences?

[Space Chick]

Sorry you lost your girls

 

Chickens are usually quite hardy and can generally cope with the cold weather (especially if they can cuddle up to each other to keep warm at night)

 

Chickens can also be very good at hiding illness too.

 

As you have lost 2, I would keep an eye on the others to check they are eating and behaving OK in case it is anything contagious.

 

I can not offer suggestions on what it could be, maybe someone else might have ideas.

[The Dogmother]

I've used those Nutri drops and find them to be very effective.

 

Have you tried using Flubenvet to worm your chooks? It might be worth it, just to eliminate that avenue of enquiry as it were. A load of worms can make a chook pretty poorly.

[AmberSky]

Currently worm with vermex monthly but not sure its effective enough so infact i now have Flubenvet on order, how often do you worm with Flubenvet is it quarterly or monthly?

[The Dogmother]

I usually worm quarterly as a preventative with either Flubenvet or Panacur (latter not licensed for use on poultry in the UK).

 

I used to run checks on random poo samples every now and then, but they never turned up any significant load of worm eggs.

 

What is important to remember is that you'll never totally get rid of worms; the presence of wild birds and the soil they are kept on is to blame for this, it's just another natural cycle. The idea is to keep the worm load to a manageable minimum so that the health of the bird isn't compromised. rather like lice and mites; they are always lurking somewhere!