Hello everyone! I have been checking out this site again lately because a few days ago I noticed my 3 year old Orpington, Penny, was sitting in the corner of my coop just haning out. She had been hanging there a lot of the few days before that. I didn't really think much about it since she was going into the hen house every night with the other chickens and nothing really seemed out of the norm. But the other day I noticed when she got up that she was limping on her right foot. I took her out and checked her foot for any splinters or whatnot but couldn't see anything. She is actually very large so I figured she probably hurt her leg flying down from the nesting box she sleeps in every night. Her sister died suddenly a couple of months ago, what of I never knew.
I don't think it could be Marek's disease since she's older and I have no new chickens that could have brought the disease in. Her comb was still nice and red and her eyes clear. I've had her in a dog crate inside my huge rabbit enclosure (6 foot by 8 foot by 6 foot tall) right next to the chickens so she could see them every day. She was eating and drinking just fine. But I noticed that her butt had some poop stuck all over it from just sitting all day so I decided to give her a bath. The water wasn't really cold (I live in San Diego and let the water sit for a day to reach a nice temperature) and she seemed okay for the 2 or 3 minutes I was cleaning her rump area. I only had her in enough water to reach her butt. When I took her out and put her down on the lawn, she collapsed. She tried getting up but couldn't and then started flapping all over the place and suddenly died.
I know she hasn't laid any eggs for a little while and I've had chickens die before from being egg bound, so I know it wasn't that. She never labored in her breathing and looked just fine other than having a sore right leg. She even limped around a little before getting her bath. Any ideas of what may have happened?
RIP my beautiful Penny along with your identical sister Henny. They were the best chickens and I will miss them terribly.
Heidi
I don't think it could be Marek's disease since she's older and I have no new chickens that could have brought the disease in. Her comb was still nice and red and her eyes clear. I've had her in a dog crate inside my huge rabbit enclosure (6 foot by 8 foot by 6 foot tall) right next to the chickens so she could see them every day. She was eating and drinking just fine. But I noticed that her butt had some poop stuck all over it from just sitting all day so I decided to give her a bath. The water wasn't really cold (I live in San Diego and let the water sit for a day to reach a nice temperature) and she seemed okay for the 2 or 3 minutes I was cleaning her rump area. I only had her in enough water to reach her butt. When I took her out and put her down on the lawn, she collapsed. She tried getting up but couldn't and then started flapping all over the place and suddenly died.
I know she hasn't laid any eggs for a little while and I've had chickens die before from being egg bound, so I know it wasn't that. She never labored in her breathing and looked just fine other than having a sore right leg. She even limped around a little before getting her bath. Any ideas of what may have happened?
RIP my beautiful Penny along with your identical sister Henny. They were the best chickens and I will miss them terribly.
Heidi
