My Orpington Died Suddenly!

[MrOrpington]

My buff orpington of 2 years died suddenly this afternoon. She was fine yesterday and was out grazing. This morning I did not notice anything wrong, but I opened up the door for them to range while they were still roosted. When I returned home this afternoon she was in the coop while all the other hens were out in the yard. She was breathing hard with a little noise on her exhales and she would not stand. I carried her into the old doghouse we use for brooding to isolate her from the rest and she plopped down right away. Within the 20 minutes I left her in there to go clean the coop and sanitize where she was laying, she died. Any ideas what may have killed her? Thank you!

 

[Kiki]

I am sorry for your loss.

Do you still have her body?

 

[MrOrpington]

Thank you. No we incinerated her in fear of contagion. Rigor mortis set in quickly that is the only thing we noticed.

 

[nightowl223]

You missed out on finding out exactly what happened, but there were several things that could have caused it. She could have started laying internally and developed Egg Yolk Perotonitis if an egg broke inside - had she been walking standing a little more upright than the rest, sort of like a penguin? She could have developed a problem like a tumor in the oviduct, as heavy layers do sometimes, and I think the Buff Orpingtons have been bred for heavier and heavier laying over the years, though I may be mistaken. She could have gotten injured in some way to cause internal bleeding, and the wheezing was due to blood pressing against the lungs. Or she could have caught a fast-moving wet form of Fowl Pox that caused internal damage, since it is mosquito season already. Then there are the respiratory illnesses, anyone of which could have caused the wheezing, although they seldom bring on death that quickly.

I will keep my fingers crossed for you that you don't suffer any more losses.

 

[MrOrpington]

You missed out on finding out exactly what happened, but there were several things that could have caused it. She could have started laying internally and developed Egg Yolk Perotonitis if an egg broke inside - had she been walking standing a little more upright than the rest, sort of like a penguin? She could have developed a problem like a tumor in the oviduct, as heavy layers do sometimes, and I think the Buff Orpingtons have been bred for heavier and heavier laying over the years, though I may be mistaken. She could have gotten injured in some way to cause internal bleeding, and the wheezing was due to blood pressing against the lungs. Or she could have caught a fast-moving wet form of Fowl Pox that caused internal damage, since it is mosquito season already. Then there are the respiratory illnesses, anyone of which could have caused the wheezing, although they seldom bring on death that quickly.

I will keep my fingers crossed for you that you don't suffer any more losses.

I knew there were a lot of possibilities, but a general idea of things to watch for is helpful, so thank you for the feed back. I probably should have kept the body for examination, but I did not want to risk keeping her around. She was walking normal and was laying fine. SO it could have been internal damage, but I have no idea how it would have been caused. You are correct on the heavy laying though. I hope I do not either. Things seem ok with the rest of the flock knock on wood.