Cream Legbar Hen Dropped Dead

[shaneensmith]

Hey all - one of my Cream Legbar Hens just DOPPED DEAD!!!!! OMG!!! I am just so devastated. Ugh, I am so choked. She was in the corner of the pen, at first I thought she had her head stuck in some chicken wire, but then I went right up to her and she was just stiff as a board, under the roost, on her belly / left side-ish..... I inspected her outsides, I see NO WOUNDS I looked at her vent (there was some redness) like a hemorrhage perhaps? nothing was protruding or anything, but I have seen chicken vent before and it was discoloured. I did not get a photo.

There was not a mark on her, no parasites on the outside, nothing in her mouth, he comb was purplish on the tips, but I am sure that is from being dead

I am not sure if its too late to send off for a necropsy or not? I think she has been dead since yesterday I just never noticed!

Overall she looked totally normal...just dead.

Oh man....

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. A necropsy is the only way to find out what was wrong. The body should be refrigerated and driven or shipped overnight to the poultry lab, and is best done during weekdays.

 

[Mybackyardpeepers]

I am very sorry for the loss of you girl. I have only experienced the passing of baby chicks, but I'm sure others can help.

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

I am so very sorry for your loss! Losing a pet is always so difficult! Bear hugs!

 

[shaneensmith]

Sorry for your loss. A necropsy is the only way to find out what was wrong. The body should be refrigerated and driven or shipped overnight to the poultry lab, and is best done during weekdays.

Oh man, the bird may have been dead a day - and now its Friday! UGH....wow. so upset right now.

 

[danceswithronin]

So so sorry you lost your hen! Sometimes chickens just die for no apparent reason, it's quite common (common enough to have a name: sudden chicken death syndrome).

 

[shaneensmith]

So so sorry you lost your hen! Sometimes chickens just die for no apparent reason, it's quite common (common enough to have a name: sudden chicken death syndrome).

OMG!!!!! So I guess that's why its best to have tons of chickens I suppose....incase you loose one.

 

[danceswithronin]

OMG!!!!! So I guess that's why its best to have tons of chickens I suppose....incase you loose one.

It's my second year of chicken-keeping, and I personally am trying to get into the mindset that they are livestock more than pets (livestock I love and spoil rotten and enjoy, but still livestock) so that if something happens to them it isn't emotionally devastating to me. I had a hen get loose several weeks ago and get killed by my dogs, and it hit me hard. That was a hen I'd raised from a day old.

One way I've gotten into this more objective mindset is to actually sell a couple of chickens off here and there for no reason other than that I can afford to go down a few in number. Not only does this give me a chance to buy more chickens, experiment with new breeds and stuff without increasing my flock to ridiculous proportions, also it keeps me from getting overly attached to any one chicken so if something does happen to one of them (as it inevitably does when you're handling fragile short-lived prey animals) I'm not crushed by it.

I have favorites that will never get sold (looking at you Speckled Sussex and silver laced English Orpington) but I find it refreshing to move new stock into the flock every couple of seasons, if for no other reason than the fun of raising up biddies.

 

[shaneensmith]

It's my second year of chicken-keeping, and I personally am trying to get into the mindset that they are livestock more than pets (livestock I love and spoil rotten and enjoy, but still livestock) so that if something happens to them it isn't emotionally devastating to me. I had a hen get loose several weeks ago and get killed by my dogs, and it hit me hard. That was a hen I'd raised from a day old.

One way I've gotten into this more objective mindset is to actually sell a couple of chickens off and there for no reason other than that I can afford to go down a few in number. Not only does this give me a chance to buy more chickens, experiment with new breeds and stuff without increasing my flock to ridiculous proportions, also it keeps me from getting overly attached to any one chicken so if something does happen to one of them (as it inevitably does when you're handling fragile short-lived prey animals) I'm not crushed by it.

I have favorites that will never get sold (looking at you Speckled Sussex and silver laced English Orpington) but I find it refreshing to move new stock into the flock every couple of seasons, if for no other reason than the fun of raising up biddies.

I just love my cream leg bars...they are such good birds. The other ones I could care less really . . .

 

[Sequel]

I just love my cream leg bars...they are such good birds. The other ones I could care less really . . .

I'm so sorry you lost your hen! I am considering Cream Legbars next, I am glad you like them so much.