CrazyChickenMom11
Chirping
Hello,
I have 12 chickens who are all a little less than 1.5 years old. On Sunday, my little Lavender Ameraucana, Clover, suddenly started flapping her wings while laying on the ground with her legs behind her, almost like she was paralyzed and couldn't use them. By the time we got to her, she had already passed. She was totally normal, showed no signs of being sick, and was not underweight. From her symptoms, I thought she died from Sudden Death Syndrome. I figured that was it. But it was not.
Today, my Plymouth Barred Rock Hen, Bubbles, was found lying face down in the run this morning. She was still alive and was able to move her head a tiny bit but was otherwise unresponsive. We had a big cold snap last night (got down to 27 F) and while we checked the run last night to make sure everyone made it in, I thought maybe she was hidden and we didn't see her so I assumed she was suffering from frostbite. We brought her in and slowly warmed her up (lukewarm bath, hairdryer, heating pad, etc.). She seemed to pink up (her comb was purplish when we found her) but never woke up and unfortunately passed away several hours later.
I am absolutely devastated as these girls are my pets and loosing 2 for no apparent reason is really concerning me. There are no avian vets near us and I am not willing to cut her open to see what's wrong; I just can't bring myself to do it. Should I be concerned for the rest of my flock (the 10 that are left)? Have people had something similar happen to their flock? Is there something preventative I could give the rest of my girls just to be safe? They are all molting right now so they aren't laying any eggs. Again, Bubbles and Clover seemed super happy and bouncy right up until the end so I don't understand why they suddenly died. This just wasn't the same as when I lost previous chickens when I at least had a couple days of them feeling crummy. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
I have 12 chickens who are all a little less than 1.5 years old. On Sunday, my little Lavender Ameraucana, Clover, suddenly started flapping her wings while laying on the ground with her legs behind her, almost like she was paralyzed and couldn't use them. By the time we got to her, she had already passed. She was totally normal, showed no signs of being sick, and was not underweight. From her symptoms, I thought she died from Sudden Death Syndrome. I figured that was it. But it was not.
Today, my Plymouth Barred Rock Hen, Bubbles, was found lying face down in the run this morning. She was still alive and was able to move her head a tiny bit but was otherwise unresponsive. We had a big cold snap last night (got down to 27 F) and while we checked the run last night to make sure everyone made it in, I thought maybe she was hidden and we didn't see her so I assumed she was suffering from frostbite. We brought her in and slowly warmed her up (lukewarm bath, hairdryer, heating pad, etc.). She seemed to pink up (her comb was purplish when we found her) but never woke up and unfortunately passed away several hours later.
I am absolutely devastated as these girls are my pets and loosing 2 for no apparent reason is really concerning me. There are no avian vets near us and I am not willing to cut her open to see what's wrong; I just can't bring myself to do it. Should I be concerned for the rest of my flock (the 10 that are left)? Have people had something similar happen to their flock? Is there something preventative I could give the rest of my girls just to be safe? They are all molting right now so they aren't laying any eggs. Again, Bubbles and Clover seemed super happy and bouncy right up until the end so I don't understand why they suddenly died. This just wasn't the same as when I lost previous chickens when I at least had a couple days of them feeling crummy. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!