Cause of death not clear

[starchicky]

So my husband found one of my chickens dead this morning. She was outside in the run area, didn't appear to be attacked, and was still fairly warm so it was this morning. He also found a slightly bloody egg laid in the coop, but no blood in the stool that was next to her when he found her. She is a younger chicken, so this was not expected, only about a year or so old.

Our first though was egg bound, but I had been getting the correct number of eggs so I had no reason to suspect that. She had been showing normal behavior, I had just interacted with them yesterday.

I just cleaned the coop yesterday and gave them fresh water and food. Yesterday I also added some hanging spearmint plants to deter flies, had one on the ground for a bit. I would be surprised if they had eaten any, they tend to avoid it. Could there have been something in the soil that came out in water and she was in contact with that? The plants are the biggest change since yesterday. At the moment they are hanging and out of reach of the chickens.

The only other things I can think of is she had caught and eaten a mouse a couple weeks ago. But my bigger concern is that the flock has been a bit on the sneezy side. There are a lot of allergens in the air right now. I was going to ask about a general immune boost treatment in case they had a respiratory infection, but it didn't seem all that bad so far.

The other thing is I have two 5 week old chicks, but they are separated from the flock in a chicken tractor.

I'm seriously at a loss, but if there is something generalized I can do for the rest of the flock just in case I would love input. Thanks
-Carly

 

[starchicky]

I ended up doing a necropsy on the chicken. Nothing that was easy to see right away like gape worm, in fact I didn't find any worms. She had a full crop, did not seem to be egg bound from what I could tell. The only thing noticeable were her lungs were very dark red but no pus/mucus or anything. She doesn't have any swelling or discoloration of her skin/head/wattles. No crusty eyes, no colored discharge from nose.

The other chickens are still sneezy and shake their heads. I checked one to see if I could hear rattling in her breathing but nothing. I even looked in her mouth for gape worm but saw nothing. If they have discharge it's clear, no crusty eyes.

So I've started them on oxytetracycline for now. If that doesn't clear it up then I might have them tested for MG. I've had one new chick who has been sneezy since I got her and scratching her nose. It's come and gone and come again. They were in the house for two months and are now outside but not directly with the other chickens. But it may bee the source for the other chickens being sick

 

[casportpony]

Sorry for your loss. Di you take any pictures of the necropsy?

-Kathy

 

[starchicky]

No I didn't unfortunately, my camera died on my phone recently. The lungs were the only thing that seemed off, but I am not very experienced, so just had internet photos to compare to.