1 hen died on Monday, another 1 sick today :-(

[JoyfulGirl36]

We have a small flock of 3 hens. Our SLW suddenly and unexpectedly died on Monday afternoon. She showed no signs of being sick, but that day she distance herself from the other 2. Now today, 1 of the BO's is distancing herself from the other one. She is just standing in one spot, staring straight ahead. Very docile. I wondered if she was too hot (it's currently 88 degrees here), so I put her in some cold water to cool her down (she was mouth breathing). It didn't seem to phase her a bit. She just went right back to standing in the same spot. HELP!! Is there anything I can do? What is happening?

 

[shinygirl]

Hi there, I am sorry that I really can't help answer your question, but I am experiencing the same right now. My flock of four became three today when one of our hens was found dead. She was essentially the leader of the pack, and since one of our girls is losing some feathers and Lily (the one who passed away) enjoyed pecking her, I had separated her from the other three. She was roaming around until dark in our backyard when my dad put her away for the night with the others. While she was squawking a good bit, she's usually pretty noisy and none of the other hens displayed any change in temperament. My dad is proposing a snake bite, but there was absolutely no blood or anything. It was pitiful... Please someone let me know if they can guess at her cause of death! My hens are pets, so this is devastating, and I do not want a repeat! Could she have eaten anything poisonous???