# My flock is in trouble



## Ckerr (Jul 11, 2020)

I have now 8 girls (RIR, barred rocks and sex links) that are 15 months old, I got them on day 3 of life. All has been well until mid June when a sex link got sick and died after being sick for 3 days. I did take her to a emergency vet (not one who specializes in poultry). She was started on an oral antibiotic (Clavamox) but she died yellowish fluid from their vents. Another thing was that the barred rock actually pooped out what appeared to be a shriveled soft shelled (no shell) egg. With this girl(barred rock)l did epsom baths twice a day and even inserted my finger into the vent to check to see if she was egg bond. I did not feel an egg. 
Within the flock we have about a 4-6 weeks history of decreased egg production and are only getting 3/4 eggs per day not the usual 8-10 eggs and the shells are weak. At least once per day an egg is broken-which maybe due to an egg eater-I did witness a barred rock eat an egg ( not the one that died). The shells have been noticeably thinner and several have had a soft swishy spot on them. 
My thought is calcium deficiency. They do free range about 10 hours a day and get plenty of sunshine. I have oyster shell and give them back their shells which I bake and grind up.These have always been available to them at all times. We have decreased the amount of treats which consisted mainly of mealworms and they are now getting limited soldier flies which I read have more calcium than mealworms. Because of hot weather (we live in Massachusetts) I stopped adding ACV to the water. I do add the liquid Nutri drench every other day to the water but because they are out and about I don’t believe they get much from there. 
My question is if you can think of any other steps I should take. I cannot find the Cali boost for goats you have talked about in other strings. I looked on line and at Tractor supply. 
I have not seen any mites on the girls. 
Sorry for such a lengthy text but wanted to give you as much info as possible. I truly again appreciate your help.
Thanks in advance


----------



## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I want @dawg53 to weigh in here on this. 

You can also get it from Amazon specifically for birds. Amazon.com: Morning Bird Calcium Plus Liquid (16 fl. oz): Pet Supplies

I suspect a disease in the flock. It's one thing to have one of them do it but if the whole flock is having issues it's something other than calcium deficiency. 

I know people are dead set about having the government involved in our birds but I had the opportunity to work with the NPIP people for the state and they were great. They only wanted the best for my birds. What I'm suggesting is call your State Ag department and ask for the State Vet. See if they can give you suggestions. Maybe one of their NPIP people can test your birds for an organism that might be causing your issues.


----------



## Ckerr (Jul 11, 2020)

Thanks looking forward to hearing from dawg53. The calcium product is ordered. Just checked and one of the girls laid a soft shell egg from the roost bar, I found it in pieces on the coop floor


----------



## Ckerr (Jul 11, 2020)

Just noticed part of the initial text got jumbled. The second hen (barred rock) died about 2 weeks after the first. Her symptoms were similar to the first. Sorry and I hope that didn’t cause any confusion


----------



## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

It didn't. It's hard to keep things straight when you're distressed at what might be going on with your flock. A necropsy by the state may be the biggest help to determine what is going on. So, contact them. Ask what you need to do if you have another loss. 

If he doesn't weigh in soon I'll holler for him to come check what you're experiencing.


----------



## Ckerr (Jul 11, 2020)

Just an update: I called and spoke to the state poultry vet. She was awesome and spent about 40 minutes talking with me. Good news there are no outbreaks in the state to worry about. Based on the symptoms she said most likely cause of death was egg peritonitis. She also mentioned coccidiosis could cause problems if the flock was stressed with the heat waves we have had. Her advice regarding the thin egg shells is to add the oyster shell into the feed, offer a scratch grain at night with calcium sprinkled on top along with the already ordered calcium supplements you recommended. Two broken eggs today and two good looking eggs.


----------



## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

That's excellent news. It sounds like your state vet is even more keyed into chickens than mine was and I was very pleased with him. 

Of course all of the changes you make will take time to see any results which will drive you crazy. But things should change over time. And if the weather ever cools off it might really speed things up.


----------



## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

You can also provide your birds vitamin D which helps with calcium absorption. If you can get it in the tablet form, crush some tablets into powder and sprinkle it on top of their feed to eat. Do this for about 3 or 4 days and hopefully you'll see egg shell improvement.


----------



## Ckerr (Jul 11, 2020)

Hi all-just wanted to update you on events with my flock. We have now lost three girls, the last one was on July 13. With the help of the USDA vet who made a home visit and did a very thorough examination of my set up and helped arrange for a necropsy it has been determined that the cause of death was:
pure and heavy growth of E. coli cultured from the coelomic cavity. The source of this based on the vets review of our property was Canada geese and/or poor bio security. This was a huge learning mistake for me which sadly resulted in losing three beautiful chickens. We have placed fences and the geese have left the pond that our property borders. The girls are still not laying well, egg shells remain abnormal and risk of peritonitis remains high. The vet thought things might improve after they molt. I am hoping my experience will help others and be a reminder that bio security is extremely important for the health of your flock. Thanks for all your help.


----------



## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Thank you so much for the update. I'm sorry that you experienced even more losses. I'm surprised that they can't be treated with antibiotics to help them recover. 

I hope from here on out things go better for you and the girls. And bless you for being brave enough to contact the state. Without their help you would still be taking shots in the dark.


----------

