A Random Day With My Chickens

Sometimes, death is a part of the life cycle. It’s just a natural thing. No matter on how you take good care of the chickens, feed them on a daily basis, give them fluids, time and effort. This could really happen. This is the way it is..

There are some factors that we considered about a sudden death of the chickens and it must be kept in mind. Finding a reason of why it happened takes a lot of investigation and thorough checking, but if there is a reason, this could potentially be avoided. Like for instance, excessive intake of feed or what we call it over-feeding/obesity. Yes, chicken can be diagnosed. So, it would be best to check your chicken’s health regularly and to have a checklist every time you feed or water them. Weather conditions can affect and change their health too so give them your full attention.

“The Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) is also known as flip-over disease. Chickens show no outward signs of disease but suddenly extend their necks, gasp, or squawk. They flap their wings, typically resulting in the birds flipping over on their backs (hence the name flip-over disease).”

This is what I had encountered yesterday when I went out to give them their food.

“I looked at them and I saw a chicken choking and then laying and flapping it’s wings. I quickly grabbed the chicken and tried to open his mouth but unfortunately, he ran out of breath and died.

A necropsy was performed on the unfortunate chicken and it was discovered that in the digestive tract there was some feed. The gallbladder was small, indicating that this meat chicken was full on feed. So, I believe that the cause of chicken’s death is related to the feed intake. I try to feed them trice a day. In the morning, lunch and dinner, but supposedly they will have to be feed only twice a day.

 

Common Causes For Sudden Death

 

Like the name implies, it’s a sudden and random thing that can happen. It could be a sunny and great looking day, you go through your regular chicken routine and leave them alone for 30 minutes only to come back to one or more of your hundred chickens laying silently on the ground with no signs of attack or anything like that. Chickens are small creatures that are low on the animal food chain, and as such they do a great job at hiding when they are sick and injured, as the other chickens will often peck sick chickens when they’re around. To be able to confirm Sudden Death Syndrome as the specific cause of death, the chicken would be seen to have had convulsions and extreme wing-flapping for just a few seconds before he or she died. This is a difficult thing to see as it commonly happens when the chicken owners are away when it happens. You’d need a surveillance system in order to be able to keep an eye on your chickens and even then you can’t watch them all the time.

 

Egg Binding

Egg Binding is when a chickens egg gets stuck when passing through the chickens reproductive system. If the egg is not passed within 24 to 48 hours, the chicken is likely to die.

Trampling

One or more of your chickens could have been trampled to death by the other chickens. Often happens when the chickens don’t have enough space.

Heart Failure

Chickens are surprisingly weak animals, so commonly, a chicken may have a heart attack, or heart failure. This happens often with male birds who die unexpectedly.

 

Factors Of Chicken Mortality

 

  • Genetic Causes
  • Management Causes
  • Nutritional Causes
  • Disease Causes

 

Genetic Causes

This can occur during the incubation period. Congenital locomotion of chicks can cause the death of chicks within a week of hatching.

Management Causes

Poor management of livestock poultry can manifest the mortality of chickens and it can include

  • Hight brooding temperature
  • Low brooding temperature
  • Poisoning
  • Contamination
  • Starvation
  • Injuries
  • Predators

Nutritional Causes

  • Water is the main element needed to make the chickens healthy. Helping maintain their body temperature when it’s cold.
  • Vitamin Deficiency

Severe deficiency of these vitamins can cause death; however, minor deficiency leads to poor feathering, low growth, weight loss, dermatitis, nervous signs, and anemia, etc. in chicks.

Disease Causes

It is crucial to maintain the health of a broiler chicks in there young age. This is very prone to some chicks during six weeks the lack of immunity.

Pullorum is a bacterial infection characterized by ruffled feathers, labored breathing, white diarrhea, chirping, and death.

  • Chicken Anemia Virus infection or CAV is an acute viral infection found worldwide. It can infect chickens of all ages; however, it is mostly detected in young chickens.
  • Salmonellosis is a group of acute rapidly spreading diseases characterized by a rise in body temperature, omphalitis, hepatitis, and septicaemia, enlargement of the spleen, arthritis, and death. It affects all ages of chickens.

 

Consider These Things When Building a Chicken Coop

 

Build yourself a DIY Chicken House with this free sample of a Chicken Coop plan that makes a coop in just about every size and shape. 

The best chicken coop have the following qualities. The chicken coop must be safe, durable, and able to withstand predators and the elements. Make sure that it’s sturdy enough to keep local predators at bay with lock doors, an angular frame wrapped with a steel screen, and a galvanized metal roof. The metal tray will collect bedding, chicken waste, and other debris. All this is able to slide out easily to make short work of regular cleanings and maintenance. A good coop will provide ample space for your chickens. Generally, smaller chicken breeds will require roughly 2 square feet of space per chicken, medium breeds will require around 3 square feet of space per chicken, and the large breeds will require around 4 square feet of space per chicken. So plan your DI coop according to the breeds you you plan on raising. 

For The Structure:

  • 6 Angular Bars
  • 1 Flat Bar
  • 2 Plain Sheets of Plywood
  • 1 Sheet of Marine Plywood
  • 1 Sheet of Hardiflex
  • 2 PVC Pipes
  • 2 Door Locks
  • 1 12-Meter Steel Screen
  • 2 Lightbulbs
  • 2 Light Switches 

For The Roof:

  • 15 cm Corner Bracings for each corner.
  • 1 Meter long center Angular Bar
  • 3 Sheets of Galvanized Metal

Paint Supplies:

  • 2 Liters of Black Paint
  • 1 Liter of Green Paint
  • 1 Can of Paint Thinner
  • Solution for Rust Removal

Tools and Misc:

  • Welding Machine
  • Welding Rod
  • Electric Drill
  • Grinder and Cutting Disc
  • 2 Paint Brushes
  • 20 pcs Tex Screw
  • 1 Grinding Disc
  • 1/2 Welding Rod

Step One:

Assemble the metal frame of the Chickens Coop.

Step Two:

Build and then Install the access doors to your Chicken Coop.

Step Three:

Add your Hardiflex and Plywood Sheets to your Chicken Coop.

Step Four:

Assemble and add your roof to your Chicken Coop.

Step Five:

Install your Steel Screen around your Chicken Coop.

Step Six:

Install your electrical wiring, switches, and lighting into your Chicken Coop.

 

Chicken Roosting Bars

 

Building a sturdy roosting bars for roosters. Yes, we have a Rhode Island Red Chickens. Two female and 3 roosters.

We used recycle woods for the rooster bars. You just need 9 pieces of 2×4 wood for about 25 inches.

First you’ll need to make two triangles..
Then connect the two triangles using the three pieces of 2×4 woods in it.. (See the image above.)

Painting it with colors can add a little bit of texture to the wood and to the chicken coop. That’s why we come up with green color paint.

“Yes, its sad to kill anything, but tell yourself, this chicken gives its life for people to live.. Its noble.. Brave Chickens”

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