Weedy poults

Jimbob39

Well-Known Member
So we’ve had the birds in a couple of weeks. Lost a few each day that look fine but have no weight on them. Picked a dozen up tonight that have just dies where they were standing. Look healthy just very thin. Some have scissor beak but not all. Vast majority look really good and strong. Plenty of feed and water about, all drinkers are clean and were clinical with bio security, boot dips, sanitised drinkers and feeders etc. wonder if some sort of poultry booster would be worth adding to the water? I know it can help with our chickens when they are off colour.
 
Defo get some electrolytes into them and then as above vet
How many birds have you - just issues in 1 pen ?
 
We use Solulyte solution - really seems to work - just be a bit worried picking a dozen up and dead birds on successive days like you are though

Must be a very very big pen and you must have loads of feeders for that amount - they will bully each other and push them off food if overstocked - not that im suggesting they are mate
 
Yea it’s huge. We’ve got feeders all down the middle with auto drinkers and also feeders with drinkers outside surrounding the release wood. Birds don’t seem concentrated and as we don’t clip they can come and go freely. Medicated pellets due to go in this weekend/early next week. Just odd as we lost a handful last year. Picking a couple a day until today when we got more. Still with 2000 plus whatever extra we were given to cover losses it’s a small %. Losing any is too many though especially as we are so clinical.
 
I would definitely be visiting your nearest poultry vets ,the sooner you treat them the better, you haven't said how old they are or how long they've been out to wood have you been in contact with your supplier etc .
 
As said above, get a few to your vet for pm. Pick up some fresh ones or even cull a few - the fresher the better. A general antibiotic would be my first suggestion to put them on straight away. When were they wormed? I would give them some wormer straight away as well.
Also as said above, always monitor their sh1t. It is a great tell on the health or symptoms of what they are going down with

Good luck
 
Im no expert but had this type of problem for years on and off and its very frustrating. It sounds like hexamita. So its like a gut infection with a parasite so I dont believe antibiotics help much. The bids gut becomes so inflamed it can't absorb its food properly and has diahorea (yellow crap that can be frothy in bad cases). The bird loses weight as its effectivley starving.
Electrolytes added to the water can help to keep the bird hydrated with necessary salts but it wont cure the problem. The only cure Ive found is to let the birds out of the pen to give them loads of space and to help prevent it by moving feeders regularly and keeping feed and water fresh.

Ive had 700 birds for 3 weeks now and lost 8 to predators that I know of. I had them on unmedicated feed for the first week and noticed some yellow poos starting. the next morning I opened the pen up to allow the birds to wander and I started the medicated feed- flubenmix and avatec for 9 daysuntil I ran out. The birds are generally doing well now. I did notice a few yellow poos this evening but the birds are free roaming now and Im confident they will only keep improving now, It could be a bird that is recovering.
I have seen the odd bird that is a little weaker than the others but not a common sight and I think they will only improve now they are loose.
 
As above with the advice, do you know the size of your pen because if over populated some of the stronger birds seem to make it their mission to keep the younger birds off the feed, I had this one year when I put 800 in one pen that was only really suitable for 500 at a push, after a week or so I was finding a couple a day that had no weight on them, I just set them to the woods and moved feeders out earlier, also I use water additive right through the season, in and outside the pens, this is a good one to use outside the pens because it’s got sorbitol in it ( basically ribena ) once they use it they will go to it every time over plane water 👍IMG_2685.webp
 
Yea it’s huge. We’ve got feeders all down the middle with auto drinkers and also feeders with drinkers outside surrounding the release wood. Birds don’t seem concentrated and as we don’t clip they can come and go freely. Medicated pellets due to go in this weekend/early next week. Just odd as we lost a handful last year. Picking a couple a day until today when we got more. Still with 2000 plus whatever extra we were given to cover losses it’s a small %. Losing any is too many though especially as we are so clinical.
Could have come with disease, personally as soon as I put birds in a pen they're on wormer and electrolytes, moving is quite stressful
 
It's usually a combination of a few different things, the weather plays a part It's sod's law that birds that have been reared in good dry weather Frist few day's out to wood and it ****arro it down and if there not quite right it has an effect, good luck and keep us posted, I believe there's been a lot of hexameter about this year for some reason
 
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