2 dead hens

[posky01]

Yesterday, I noticed a hen acting a little strangely and not moving around as she should. I thought she was just hot and chilling in the shade. I got busy and forgot. I remembered later and looked out the window to notice she wasn't there anymore. Good deal. Nope. We found her dead in the barn. I know it could've been a number of things. Then this a.m. I found another hen dead jn the coop. None of them act sick. None of them look sick. I did notice these 2 withdrawing somewhat from the others and really haven't been eating with the rest. But, we free range, so I wasn't worried they wouldn't get enough to eat. Should I take one to the vet to see if what they had contagious? I'm a little scared about that. This may have been going on for a while. We recently removed a rooster from them since he got into a fight with our other rooster. Would that have affected our hens? Also, we had to take our rooster to the vet for an eye injury (from the rooster fight), could he have unintentionally brought something home? We held him the entire time other than the examining table and scale. I assumed they kept that super clean. I haven't noticed any worms in their poop. No coughing or wheezing sounds. No weak birds.

 

[azygous]

Yes, by all means ask your vet how to go about getting a necropsy on the two dead chickens. Unless you do that, you will only be guessing what killed them.

Two possibilities come to mind as cause of death. One is heat stroke and the other is coccidiosis. If the weather continues to be hot, you might want to use electrolytes in their water until the weather gets back to normal.

Having your vet do some random fecal floats on flock poop can determine if they are experiencing a heavy load of coccidia that is treatable.

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

There is now way to know what it is if it is some kind of sickness. If it is not then I would go with heat stroke.

 

[posky01]

Yes, by all means ask your vet how to go about getting a necropsy on the two dead chickens. Unless you do that, you will only be guessing what killed them.

Two possibilities come to mind as cause of death. One is heat stroke and the other is coccidiosis. If the weather continues to be hot, you might want to use electrolytes in their water until the weather gets back to normal.

Having your vet do some random fecal floats on flock poop can determine if they are experiencing a heavy load of coccidia that is treatable.

I actually found out the TN department of agriculture does Necropsies for free. Taking them in as we speak. Thank you for the help.

 

[posky01]

I finally got the report back. Cause of death is bacterial pericarditis. What causes that? Is it contagious to other chickens and/or humans? How to treat that?

 

[azygous]

Probably not directly contagious, it's usually caused by a secondary bacterial infection, often E.coli, and a run-down immune system, in the presence of a chronic respiratory disease or an avian virus.

 

[posky01]

Probably not directly contagious, it's usually caused by a secondary bacterial infection, often E.coli, and a run-down immune system, in the presence of a chronic respiratory disease or an avian virus.

Thanks. They checked all that, everything was negative. One test failed that was e. Coli. So they couldn't say if it were positive or negative. How do we keep our ladies healthy from bacterial infections?

 

[azygous]

Same way you keep people safe. Good hygiene. Good nutrition to strengthen immune systems. Non-crowded living conditions.

 

[WIchickMama]

Same way you keep people safe. Good hygiene. Good nutrition to strengthen immune systems. Non-crowded living conditions.

this--make sure to wash water and feed containers regularly!

 

[posky01]

Thank you so much. As long as it isn't contagious to humans, I won't worry about it. I put ACV in their water along with some chicken vitamins. They all seem healthy to me. Plus, they free range, and their laying boxes are kept clean. Idk where the bacteria came from. Unless we shouldn't put feed on the ground? But, the report said most likely the bacteria was introduced through the oviducts.