TropicalChickies
Crowing
Hi friends,
Today was a very tragic day -- I lost a senior hen and a beautiful 22 week old cockerel within 12 hours of each other. I love my chickens and feel very heavy hearted.
My question here relates to the hen who died suddenly and quickly this morning.
Can flabbiness from too much brooding lead to death?
The hen's name was Cherie. She was about 4 years old and had always been the most independent and feral of my hens. She never acclimated to being picked up and always made a flapping, fighting fuss when I would be able to snatch her for a foot or mite inspection. And she was broody very often, up to six times per year. Believe me, I often tried to break her broodiness because we didn't have a rooster for about two years and she would sit there for a month, eggs or no eggs. But she would literally almost kill herself trying to break and escape whatever kind of broody cage I made -- wood, metal, plastic mesh, it didn't matter, she would peck and flap until she was bloodying and hurting herself and I had to let her out and sit until she was done sitting.
I love my chickens and am extremely patient with them. I treat treatable illnesses, take out bumblefoot abscesses, and do my very best to give them a good life. But this one was not easy.
Finally, I had the time and resources to build a bigger coop and separate run for chicks. I got a few fertile eggs from a neighbor and Cherie sat on them, and hatched her first "kids" in two years -- two cockerels. Cherie was a good mama to them, protective and seemed very content, finally. But about six weeks ago when she went back to laying, her eggs were weak shelled with a band around the middle. Afraid that they could break inside her and cause EYP, I started giving her supplemental calcium (via a treat with a crushed calcium tablet inside). I give my hens layer feed, probiotics periodically, and plenty of access to sunshine and forage. Her eggs did not improve with the calcium. This morning she just fell over and died of what I'm thinking was EYP or heart or organ failure, mostly because I can rule out other common causes.
Prior to her sudden death, her comb and wattles were a healthy red. She was not lethargic and she was eating normally. The flock had been recently dewormed. She had no respiratory distress or eye discharge. I examined the body externally and her crop was neither impacted nor sour, and she wasn't eggbound. She died within seconds of falling over, and at least I can know she didn't suffer.
But one thing I had noticed about Cherie over the past year or so (when I could grab her for inspection) was that her body was very flabby and loose feeling. She felt, well, really out of shape, from so much sitting I suppose. Not like she was gooshy with water belly, just really soft and flabby all over, like her muscles had atrophied. Her crop verged on what I would call pendulous in the afternoons after two feeds, but it would always be flat by morning.
I have two other hens the same age and they have much firmer physiques.
Can flabbiness from too much brooding lead to death?
I'm relating all this history and asking because Im thinking about my two 1.5 year old hens who go broody every few months. One is sitting on eggs right now. I don't want a huge flock, a dozen would be the limit, right now I'm down to six so I can let them hatch some chicks but I'd have to limit at some point. I don't want these two girls to lose condition from brooding too often for too long -- if that's what happened to Cherie.
Should I be more resolute in breaking them from brooding frequently?
And so sadly, this evening when the flock went to the coop, I went over to check on them and say goodnight like I always do. Paco, one of Cherie's cockerels was missing. He had emerged as the faster maturing cockerel and was already crowing and mating, a beautiful and spirited little fellow. My husband and I started looking for him and found his drowned body floating in a small fishpond on our property. In five years, we've never had a chicken fall into that pond. It's been a very very sad day.
Cheri and her cockerels, Lucio, and Paco.
Today was a very tragic day -- I lost a senior hen and a beautiful 22 week old cockerel within 12 hours of each other. I love my chickens and feel very heavy hearted.
My question here relates to the hen who died suddenly and quickly this morning.
Can flabbiness from too much brooding lead to death?
The hen's name was Cherie. She was about 4 years old and had always been the most independent and feral of my hens. She never acclimated to being picked up and always made a flapping, fighting fuss when I would be able to snatch her for a foot or mite inspection. And she was broody very often, up to six times per year. Believe me, I often tried to break her broodiness because we didn't have a rooster for about two years and she would sit there for a month, eggs or no eggs. But she would literally almost kill herself trying to break and escape whatever kind of broody cage I made -- wood, metal, plastic mesh, it didn't matter, she would peck and flap until she was bloodying and hurting herself and I had to let her out and sit until she was done sitting.
I love my chickens and am extremely patient with them. I treat treatable illnesses, take out bumblefoot abscesses, and do my very best to give them a good life. But this one was not easy.
Finally, I had the time and resources to build a bigger coop and separate run for chicks. I got a few fertile eggs from a neighbor and Cherie sat on them, and hatched her first "kids" in two years -- two cockerels. Cherie was a good mama to them, protective and seemed very content, finally. But about six weeks ago when she went back to laying, her eggs were weak shelled with a band around the middle. Afraid that they could break inside her and cause EYP, I started giving her supplemental calcium (via a treat with a crushed calcium tablet inside). I give my hens layer feed, probiotics periodically, and plenty of access to sunshine and forage. Her eggs did not improve with the calcium. This morning she just fell over and died of what I'm thinking was EYP or heart or organ failure, mostly because I can rule out other common causes.
Prior to her sudden death, her comb and wattles were a healthy red. She was not lethargic and she was eating normally. The flock had been recently dewormed. She had no respiratory distress or eye discharge. I examined the body externally and her crop was neither impacted nor sour, and she wasn't eggbound. She died within seconds of falling over, and at least I can know she didn't suffer.
But one thing I had noticed about Cherie over the past year or so (when I could grab her for inspection) was that her body was very flabby and loose feeling. She felt, well, really out of shape, from so much sitting I suppose. Not like she was gooshy with water belly, just really soft and flabby all over, like her muscles had atrophied. Her crop verged on what I would call pendulous in the afternoons after two feeds, but it would always be flat by morning.
I have two other hens the same age and they have much firmer physiques.
Can flabbiness from too much brooding lead to death?
I'm relating all this history and asking because Im thinking about my two 1.5 year old hens who go broody every few months. One is sitting on eggs right now. I don't want a huge flock, a dozen would be the limit, right now I'm down to six so I can let them hatch some chicks but I'd have to limit at some point. I don't want these two girls to lose condition from brooding too often for too long -- if that's what happened to Cherie.
Should I be more resolute in breaking them from brooding frequently?
And so sadly, this evening when the flock went to the coop, I went over to check on them and say goodnight like I always do. Paco, one of Cherie's cockerels was missing. He had emerged as the faster maturing cockerel and was already crowing and mating, a beautiful and spirited little fellow. My husband and I started looking for him and found his drowned body floating in a small fishpond on our property. In five years, we've never had a chicken fall into that pond. It's been a very very sad day.
Cheri and her cockerels, Lucio, and Paco.
