*DISCLAIMER: I am not advocating for giving chickens NO treats at all. I believe that, as with humans, treats must be consumed wisely and in moderation.*
Back in December and January, I had a sick hen. My posts about it are here, the onset of her sickness, here, when she aspirated the antifungal, and here, her death. Mahalia had a yeast infection in her crop, was taken to LSU Vet School, prescribed Nystatin (an antifungal), and then dropped dead January 10. I was shocked- she had no symptoms, was laying regularly, was face down dead when I came home from church one night.
The next morning, I took her to LSU Vet to be dropped off for a necropsy... and heard nothing until today, when I called to ask about results. Turns out they were ready on Jan. 21, but they forgot to call.
I had been feeding them Nature's Best organic layer feed, grit, oyster shell, the occasional few kitchen scraps, and the big baddie now, dried mealworms. I had to learn to hide the bag of mealworms, otherwise my dad would throw them handfuls of them multiple times a day, and the chickens were like kids in a candy shop. We have 3 hens (minus Mahalia, RIP) and this was WAY too much for them. The chickens were also not free ranging as much as they should have been. This comedy of errors turned out to be fatal for poor Mahalia.
The lab results I got today showed that Mahalia had fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome, or FLHS. This is caused by a diet high in energy and low in exercise. Because she was getting so many mealworms and not free ranging as much as she should have been, it was the same effect as eating potato chips and sitting on the couch all day. At her death she weighed nearly 8 pounds, and was an 8 month RIR pullet. I have screenshots of the report which I will post below.
My admonition for you is to cut way, way back on chicken treats. This likely caused my sweet hen's premature death. I would hate for this mostly preventable condition to happen to more hens because of unawareness.
Since her death, I have rarely fed my remaining hens mealworms, not because I suspected anything, but because I simply forgot about them. I'm glad I did. My hens are happy, laying well, and maintaining a healthy weight.
Another point I wanted to touch on is the importance of humility when caring for pets and asking for advice on forums like BYC. I would roll my eyes at logical and correct replies like "treats should be 10% of the diet max." If I had accepted these replies with humility and changed my ways, I might have 4 chickens today.
Good luck to you and your backyard flock!
*there are several typos in this report, written by the animal hospital, not me.*
Back in December and January, I had a sick hen. My posts about it are here, the onset of her sickness, here, when she aspirated the antifungal, and here, her death. Mahalia had a yeast infection in her crop, was taken to LSU Vet School, prescribed Nystatin (an antifungal), and then dropped dead January 10. I was shocked- she had no symptoms, was laying regularly, was face down dead when I came home from church one night.
The next morning, I took her to LSU Vet to be dropped off for a necropsy... and heard nothing until today, when I called to ask about results. Turns out they were ready on Jan. 21, but they forgot to call.
I had been feeding them Nature's Best organic layer feed, grit, oyster shell, the occasional few kitchen scraps, and the big baddie now, dried mealworms. I had to learn to hide the bag of mealworms, otherwise my dad would throw them handfuls of them multiple times a day, and the chickens were like kids in a candy shop. We have 3 hens (minus Mahalia, RIP) and this was WAY too much for them. The chickens were also not free ranging as much as they should have been. This comedy of errors turned out to be fatal for poor Mahalia.
The lab results I got today showed that Mahalia had fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome, or FLHS. This is caused by a diet high in energy and low in exercise. Because she was getting so many mealworms and not free ranging as much as she should have been, it was the same effect as eating potato chips and sitting on the couch all day. At her death she weighed nearly 8 pounds, and was an 8 month RIR pullet. I have screenshots of the report which I will post below.
My admonition for you is to cut way, way back on chicken treats. This likely caused my sweet hen's premature death. I would hate for this mostly preventable condition to happen to more hens because of unawareness.
Since her death, I have rarely fed my remaining hens mealworms, not because I suspected anything, but because I simply forgot about them. I'm glad I did. My hens are happy, laying well, and maintaining a healthy weight.
Another point I wanted to touch on is the importance of humility when caring for pets and asking for advice on forums like BYC. I would roll my eyes at logical and correct replies like "treats should be 10% of the diet max." If I had accepted these replies with humility and changed my ways, I might have 4 chickens today.
Good luck to you and your backyard flock!
*there are several typos in this report, written by the animal hospital, not me.*
