06/12/2026
Today I found that almost the whole population of birds we got for breeding died of SDS. I don't run the coops with Michelle and our farm hand. Today I am looking for a certain breed and only 4 of them are there. So I asked what happened. They died from Sudden Death Syndrome. No illness, no wounds, plenty of fresh food, water, and air. This is why they died...
The birds we got were from a corporate farm store who got them from a big name hatchery. They were shipped birds. The reason why bought them is the store over ordered and ran out of room because there was not enough sales. So we helped and bought around 200 chicks for half price. We tested them for diseases so we don't transmit it on our farm and everything was negative. Most of them survived except maybe 5 the next 3 months.
Here is it 5 months later when they are ready to start laying eggs. All the sudden they started dropping dead. No mites, no disease, no issues. This is what I have been writing about all along people. SHIPPED CHICKS ARE NO GOOD. What happens is the abnormal temperatures and no food and water really causes a lot of harm to their organs. Once they are damaged there is no turning. The organs seem fine and the bird seems fine but it's a ticking clock of anatomy. Once these damaged organs need to be running at full capacity ( like laying eggs) there is a lot of stress on them. Normal organs can handle the stress. But when the organs are damaged when they are tiny and they go to full use they can't keep up. Then you get what is know as Sudden Death Syndrome from multiple organ failure
This was all along a test purchase. We hatch all of our new breeders from eggs so they get the right temperature, feed, and water right away. Our Live Oak Chicken Farm stock has a near zero death rate. 0.002 is the current rate. The death of these farm store birds has been 70%. This is why we are very against shipping them because it's like, what if you put your baby in a fridge or sauna after you gave birth and didn't feed it. Birds are not designed to do this neither is a human child. Get your chickens from breeders is all i'm saying.
The world will forever ship and kill up to a billion chicks or chickens that grew up as shipped chicks each and every year. The solution is pretty simple. A private shipping company can fix this. Current shipper can require a special truck and a special room for transport. But there is still the problem of getting food and water in the chicks. It is a myth chicks have enough from their egg to survive 3 days. They have enough from the egg to supplement natural eating to survive 3 days while learning in nature to eat and drink food.
Photo is of our self sufficient game fowl and kune kune that live only off the land. No feed necessary.
