AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

Hi
Another traumatic loss today (well for those of us that consider our hens part of the family) - Ping, our 12 month Aracauna hen, started to look a little quiet on Thursday - wouldn't forage like usual, just sitting around, would walk slowly if prompted. By Friday we noticed green droppings, and Saturday she would slump to the ground and her head would roll back almost like in a convulsion, with her eyes closed.
We isolated her, and put her under a heat lamp, spoon fed and watered her to no avail - she passed today after another fit.
To our knowledge, they were all vaccinated and wormed when purchased (about 10 months ago) however they were wormed again about two weeks ago, enjoy a diet of layers pellets and shell grit on tap, a handful of scratch mix daily, vegie scraps, free range regularly, ACV in their water, coop cleaned at least weekly (more often depending on weather) and a weekly dose of freshly chopped tomato and garlic.
Ping is the third chicken we have lost so far. Izzie, our Barnevelder was fine uptil a couple of weeks ago when she started laying soft shelled eggs, and then we just found her 'gone' in the nesting box about three days after we noticed the first of the eggs.
Ziggy, our light sussex, went pretty much the same way as Ping in Autumn, only much quicker - only lasted about two days.
Today I have noticed that several of the remaining chickens have dirty bottoms, and a few black spots on their combs.

Any hints, tips, advice would be readily accepted as I don't want to lose anymore of our girls.
Thanking you

I am very sorry to read of your losses, dvs,

Chooks are important family members and we mourn them deeply when they go to chook heaven.

My Araucana trio who are 11 months old are my first chooks that is why I joined this forum so that I could learn and seek advice from those more experienced.

Did Ping have a fever to cause the fit and febrile convulsions? Could this be the result of something that she had eaten?
Have they eaten anything that could have been toxic or become mouldy?
What was the consistency of the droppings, as my chooks have green droppings when they are grazing on the grass?
Could they have been egg bound?
Is it very cold where you are as the black spots on their combs could be frost bite?

Hi there, sorry to hear about your losses they are especially hard sometimes. You seem to be taking such great care of them also.

Can you tell me if you only have chooks? Do you have them mixed with other poultry, if so are the other poultry showing any signs of illness?
Black spots on combs can be blackhead, it is usually attributed to turkeys but chooks can get this also here is a link: http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/27_2733.htm

In your coop cleaning regime are you using a chemical? Is there a residue left somewhere they are being exposed to? Something in the garden they are eating, ie snail bait? Can they get into your shed where other chemicals are stored ie fertilizer etc? They seem to be going quickly which makes me wonder about poisoning.

Newcastle disease is another possibility. Get a vet to look at your birds, to be on the safe side.

I'm just reading about the paramyovirus that's infecting pigeons in Vic at the moment, the article states "It's a horrendous virus, killing pigeons within two or three days... It goes on to say The department (DPI) has warned the virus could spread to poultry, advising owners of backyard chickens to confine their birds to coops.

Hmmm, quick acting as per the OP, DVS roughly whereabouts are you located?

Must read up a bit more about this virus.

Hi everyone, thanks for your thoughts and suggestions....

In hind sight I do recall shooing Ping out of the compost bin where she had been tucking into a mouldy pumpkin - could this have attributed to her demise?

In regard to your questions:
Yes at the moment we are experiencing a good frost most mornings - our chickens are locked up over night and let out first thing, so I guess it is possible it could be frostbite. It is only on two and doesn't appear to be worsening.
I am not sure if Ping had a fever however when put under the heat lamp she seemed to temporarily improve and was able to move closer or further away from the heat source when she pleased.
Her poos were runny, sometimes almost bubbly white with solid green towards the end.
We don't use any chemicals - rat poison, snail poison, weed spray etc, and definately not in our 'yard'.
However, approximately three weeks ago I scrubbed some tables and chairs with an Ajax type detergent on the grass near our driveway??? Perhaps Izzie had grazed on some of this grass with residual detergent??
We were lining their nesting box and coop with straw up until a couple of weeks ago when we noticed that the straw was remaining damp and looking a bit mouldy, so we now use the pine shavings from the produce or pet store.
No they could not get into either our garden shed or garage - these are always kept shut for safety and security reasons (they are close to the roadside), with any chemicals kept out of the kids reach.
I checked best I could to determine if Ping was either egg bound or had impacted crop and couldn't detect either (think that maybe Ziggy had impacted crop as her symptoms fit from memory).
In regards to Izzie, she had only just started laying hence the soft shelled eggs, so we increased the amount of shellgrit available - may this have caused her to become egg bound?? From what I have now read I think she may have been??
The person that I spoke with at the local vet suggested that Ping may have been rolling her head around due to dizziness from dehydration - does that sound plausible? He also recommended doing a follow up worm treatment (which I have started), gave me some solution to add to their drinking water to treat for Coccidiosis as there is no way of knowing for sure that they had been immunised against it, and it wouldn't do any harm (to be started a few days after the worming process), and suggested dusting for lice and mites (now done). He didn't seem too concerned as all three chickens had differing symptoms and advised that poultry can be 'fragile' animals.

Feeling a little helpless and like I am grasping at straws but thanks again everyone.

G'day dvs, you certainly seem to be on the right track.Dehydration can be a problem with crook chooks, mainly because all they want to do is curl up into a ball of fluff. What I do is put a syringe full of fluid down their throat just to make sure they don't dehydrate while they're feeling like Sh-t.

Ahh, there's one to add to my glossary of technical terms

Hi dvs,
I would ring the local dept of primary industries vet and explain the symptoms. I've done this before and the vet was very helpful and gave good advice. They're employed to help spot anything unusual in case it spreads.

Adult birds don't usually need treatment for coccidiosis. I'd worry that the vet who recommended that might not be well trained in poultry.

Meanwhile I would also check all water sources to make sure they're not drinking anything dirty (e.g. plant pot water) or eating anything that might have nasty bacteria, e.g. rotting meat.

Good luck.

This is sounding similar to what's happening to my chooks at the moment. I might try calling DPI - thanks for the tip.