Lost my sweet Red tonight. Need advice for the 5 remaining

[3 of everything]

We lost Hot Sauce tonight. She’d been sick since Wed with diarrhea that was white, green and yellow, lethargy, heavy breathing, inability to hold herself up all the while with a healthy appetite and thirst. No discharge from eyes or nose but her comb was very pale and dry. I checked for a blocked egg - poor thing - and nothing was there. Tonight’s droppings were all water and she was so sleepy she couldn’t open her eyes. She did the penguins sit when I replaced the newspapers in her crate. Friday, I saw mites on her and dusted her with DE on and sprayed her yesterday. It seemed to help a lot. I checked the others tonight for mites and didn’t see any but they must be there so I’m spraying them all tomorrow. I’m also cleaning out their coop, putting fresh pine shavings in their coop and run and added oxytetracycline to their water. I’m desperate to make sure our other 5 don’t get sick. We lost another girl in early August. What else should I be doing? Should I use bleach in the coop?

 

[rebrascora]

Hi.
I'm sorry for your loss.
The only way to know for sure what the problem was, is to send her off for a necropsy. If that is not an option and you feel able to, you could cut her open yourself and take photos of what you find. It really helps me to figure out why my chicken died and figure our if there was anything I could have done to help her, so that I know for next time I see those symptoms. It can be really fascinating if you can get over the "ick" factor.

There are a number of things that could have caused the symptoms you describe. Knowing her age and laying history might help us to narrow it down, but there is no way to know for sure other than necropsy.

Regards

Barbara

 

[3 of everything]

Thank you for your reply, Barbara. I’ve got to get past the tears to be able to do the necropsy. I know it’s important. Just not quite ready yet.
-Diane

 

[lilmillefleur]

If you're squeamish, it's best to send the body to a vet for necropsy. Especially if it's a loved pet your'e dealing with. Sorry about your hen. I love her name!

 

[3 of everything]

That’s a really good idea. I’m assuming it’s best to send her to someone who specializes in poultry and not our dog and cat’s vet. I’m not sure who that would be locally. We are in Spokane WA. I’ll start Googling it.

 

[rebrascora]

I entirely understand. I know how emotional it is to lose a chicken that you love. For me, it helps to be practical and learn what I can from it.... I do still cry too... but focussing my mind on learning helps me through it. I appreciate that not everyone feels the same though.
Your state Ag Dept or Veterinary University would be the best bet and probably cheaper than a private vets practice as well as being more knowledgeable about chickens. There is a list somewhere of facilities that offer this service in the USA. Price varies.... some are even free but may charge for disposal of the body afterwards. There are instructions somewhere on how to package them and send them off. They need to be refrigerated (not frozen) until they are sent. I'll see if I can find more info.

I'm struggling to find the list of states and labs for necropsy .... @Wyorp Rock @KikisGirls can you help out

 

[Saaniya]

Ohhh I feel for ur baby
I think ur baby might having a bacterial infection but yelloish egg yolk like droppings indicate Egg yolk peritonitis
And pale comb is because she is suffering from anemia caused by mites ..mites are culprit for healthy chickens get sick and weak they are the vampires of chickens ..give ur birds a clove of raw garlic or in water it will avoid mites

I feel so teary by ur post I love chickens so much ..
Take care for other chickens now I suggests to clean it whole once ..

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

I do not think you should add antibiotics to the flocks water without knowing for sure what you are dealing with, especially if the others are not showing symptoms of anything. Sorry about Hot Sauce

Gary

 

[rebrascora]

I do not think you should add antibiotics to the flocks water without knowing for sure what you are dealing with, especially if the others are not showing symptoms of anything.

I absolutely agree. Antibiotics should not be used prophylactically. It is why antibiotic resistance is on the rise and one of the reasons why they were removed from general sale in the US last year..... because people were using them inappropriately.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

@3 of everything I'm sorry for your loss

Here's a link to your state lab, you should be able to call or find more information about getting a necropsy here: http://waddl.vetmed.wsu.edu/

In the meantime, you will want to refrigerate the body to help preserve her for testing. Instructions may be on the website how to preserve and ship, but here is a thread that shows you how to do this https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/how-to-send-a-bird-for-a-necropsy-pictures.799747/

If you don't mind, please keep us posted on what you find out.