Bridgemoof
Overrun with beasties
Ohhh look at the puppers! 
Pearce Pastures: Where did I go?
- Thread starter Pearce Pastures
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autumnprairie
Owned by the Rotten Heifers
Cuddly puppy
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- #303
Pearce Pastures
Barn Babe
Chicken troubles :/ I will never ever again raise broilers in the winter. It seemed like a good idea since they are heat sensitive so the cooler weather made sense but this has been one pricey learning experience and is more than a little disheartening. I started out with 54 chicks and they were doing great for about two weeks! I had them out in an improvised large brooder (have a pic of it earlier in the journal) and all we fine.
Then I went out to find 9 of them dead in the corner of the box! No clue why, even though I have had chickens for 8 years. I thought maybe they were too cold and had huddled to closely together and killed each other so I did some rearranging. We lost a few more that we looking pretty rough that night but I thought fixed the issue.
Nope. 8 more died a few days later in the corner opposite the heat lamps, trying to get away from the heat this time I suppose.
I did some more rearranging, hung the heat lamps in the middle of the pen, and all was fine and dandy then until this week. They are getting good sized, but not quite to butcher weight. On Monday, I went out and noticed two sitting off by themselves, acting kind of tired. I shooed them back towards the rest of the flock and mentioned do DH. When he went out to check on them midday, one had died, just layed out flat on its side. The other died by the next morning.
DH then noted Thursday that another was acting off. He picked it up and its legs felt cold so he tucked it under the heat lamp and watched it, but it looked tired and it had died by the next time he went out to check on them. And then I found another one had croaked when I went out for chores.
I have no idea what is wrong. They are not sick acting, no eye nastiness or sneezing, and they came from a hatchery that tests for diseases. I feel like a chicken murderer here (despite that we are going to be putting them into the freezer, I don't want them to suffer or not do all I can for them in the meantime) but have read all of my books, looked online, and the only thing I have found was that they are very temperature sensitive. I sure hope we can keep the remaining 29 alive for a few more weeks.
And any pointers are more than welcome
Then I went out to find 9 of them dead in the corner of the box! No clue why, even though I have had chickens for 8 years. I thought maybe they were too cold and had huddled to closely together and killed each other so I did some rearranging. We lost a few more that we looking pretty rough that night but I thought fixed the issue.
Nope. 8 more died a few days later in the corner opposite the heat lamps, trying to get away from the heat this time I suppose.
I did some more rearranging, hung the heat lamps in the middle of the pen, and all was fine and dandy then until this week. They are getting good sized, but not quite to butcher weight. On Monday, I went out and noticed two sitting off by themselves, acting kind of tired. I shooed them back towards the rest of the flock and mentioned do DH. When he went out to check on them midday, one had died, just layed out flat on its side. The other died by the next morning.
DH then noted Thursday that another was acting off. He picked it up and its legs felt cold so he tucked it under the heat lamp and watched it, but it looked tired and it had died by the next time he went out to check on them. And then I found another one had croaked when I went out for chores.
I have no idea what is wrong. They are not sick acting, no eye nastiness or sneezing, and they came from a hatchery that tests for diseases. I feel like a chicken murderer here (despite that we are going to be putting them into the freezer, I don't want them to suffer or not do all I can for them in the meantime) but have read all of my books, looked online, and the only thing I have found was that they are very temperature sensitive. I sure hope we can keep the remaining 29 alive for a few more weeks.
And any pointers are more than welcome
Straw Hat Kikos
The Kiko Cowboy
I am not chicken expert but I would think that that is a disease. I don't think that is a heat lamp issue. Sorry about it all though. I hope the rest are good.
bonbean01
Herd Master
So sorry about your chickens 
Could be a temperature thing or a disease they arrived with??? No clue.
Now I'm rethinking when to bring my chicks out of this office brooder and into a shed brooder with a heat lamp...we've gone down into the 20s a few nights already...they are only 2 weeks old and getting pretty feathered already, but now...I think I may just keep them in here for longer than I'd intended just in case that was your problem and mine are pretty young
I won't be incubating and hatching ever again in winter....I've always waited for warmer weather so that they go out sooner and less mess to clean so many times a day.
Hope you don't lose anymore!!!!!
Could be a temperature thing or a disease they arrived with??? No clue.
Now I'm rethinking when to bring my chicks out of this office brooder and into a shed brooder with a heat lamp...we've gone down into the 20s a few nights already...they are only 2 weeks old and getting pretty feathered already, but now...I think I may just keep them in here for longer than I'd intended just in case that was your problem and mine are pretty young
I won't be incubating and hatching ever again in winter....I've always waited for warmer weather so that they go out sooner and less mess to clean so many times a day.
Hope you don't lose anymore!!!!!
Southern by choice
Herd Master
Hi Pearce,
What is the age of the broilers? What is the position at death, what is their weight?
All hatcheries do testing however that does not guarantee anything, the only diseases that are mandatory for the hatcheries are Pullorum/Typhoid and Avian Influenza. I will not mention them on here but in the past 3 years 3 of the main/big hatcheries have had a great deal of issues. It's not a cutdown of the hatcheries, that's why I won't name them, but unfortunately many are not quick to admit or rectify a problem.
Bio-security is the greatest risk for any poultry keeper. Most really don't know how serious it is and not following a strict program can bring diseases right in.
You can pm me if you'd like. Poultry and disease prevention is my farms focus. Taking one of the birds to your state lab is a real good idea.
What is the age of the broilers? What is the position at death, what is their weight?
All hatcheries do testing however that does not guarantee anything, the only diseases that are mandatory for the hatcheries are Pullorum/Typhoid and Avian Influenza. I will not mention them on here but in the past 3 years 3 of the main/big hatcheries have had a great deal of issues. It's not a cutdown of the hatcheries, that's why I won't name them, but unfortunately many are not quick to admit or rectify a problem.
Bio-security is the greatest risk for any poultry keeper. Most really don't know how serious it is and not following a strict program can bring diseases right in.
You can pm me if you'd like. Poultry and disease prevention is my farms focus. Taking one of the birds to your state lab is a real good idea.
BrownSheep
Lost in the flock
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I had a similar issue with the first batch of my turkeys. Hope it works out
Mamaboid
Loving the herd life
Last summer I bought 25 white meat chicken day olds. They looked healthy and did real well for a couple weeks. Then they started dropping one by one. No symptoms, not sick, just boom and dead. I am down to one hen left. I know the stupid fox got a couple of them, but most of them just died for no apparent reason. I made up my mind I will never buy chicks again. If I can't hatch em, I will do without them. I am sorry you are having this problem, but I doubt very much it is anything you could have controlled.
BJ
BJ
Bridgemoof
Overrun with beasties
So sorry Pearce about your chick problems. What a bummer, not to mention the expense. It stinks to see your profits going out the window.
- Thread starter
- #310
Pearce Pastures
Barn Babe
We got them on 10/26 so that puts them at 5 weeks old. The little ones, I know died due to heating problems and my lack of experience is to blame. These older ones though? No sneezing, no symptoms of any illness, and then when I find them, they are lying on their stomachs, some with legs under them and one with the back legs out. It is like they just went to sleep and died. And they are not under the heat source at all, but have moved away from it altogether. I have not ever ordered from this hatchery before and found another post on BYC where someone is having a similar issue. It makes me suspect that there might be something going on. Not so sure it is an illness, but it could be or it could be that their stock is not as hardy or well-bred.
Without any of the other symptoms I would think I'd see with other bird diseases, the only illness I can think of is coccidiosis. We only treat them for the first two weeks since these are for meat. I don't see any signs of them have that issue either but it is one of those that can be hard to catch sometimes. The other thing, I wonder, is if their hearts are giving out?
I am thinking I might try to raise my own birds in the spring from what we hatch ourselves. I do keep these birds in our new poultry barn, separate from our layer flock, because they are from an outside source but that still runs the risk of bringing something onto my property. I like the meat though and it does take longer to raise other breeds but I hear other breeds taste better too. So much to learn and consider.
Without any of the other symptoms I would think I'd see with other bird diseases, the only illness I can think of is coccidiosis. We only treat them for the first two weeks since these are for meat. I don't see any signs of them have that issue either but it is one of those that can be hard to catch sometimes. The other thing, I wonder, is if their hearts are giving out?
I am thinking I might try to raise my own birds in the spring from what we hatch ourselves. I do keep these birds in our new poultry barn, separate from our layer flock, because they are from an outside source but that still runs the risk of bringing something onto my property. I like the meat though and it does take longer to raise other breeds but I hear other breeds taste better too. So much to learn and consider.
