Hey all,
Yesterday I bought a 3-week old blue copper marans chick from a woman who raises show birds. I probably paid more than I should have. I noticed a little lethargy when I first put her in the brooder with the other chicks (2 new with her and 4 chicks I had already). She was standing facing a corner, acting antisocial. I was worried, but she eventually got interested in the food and water, so I decided she was just stressed about being introduced to strange chicks and a strange environment. She looked normal this morning. Tonight, I noticed her opening and closing her beak and neck-stretching. She was flexing her vent, too. It looked like she was straining her whole body repetitively. I picked her up and turned her over to check for a blocked vent, and noticed that although the vent was clean, she was missing a lot of her fuzz on the backside. (She must have come like this. She was one of the larger chicks in my mixed 1-3 week bunch, they have lots of space to spread out in their enclosure, and I haven't seen any feather-picking.) Next I turned her back over and checked the crop, which felt empty. As I did this, her head began to droop and she flapped/convulsed and died in my hands. The whole thing took maybe two minutes from the time I noticed she was sick (but alert) to dead. What could cause this?
I know it's hard to diagnose without more info. I didn't notice any diarrhea, but I can't remember if I saw her poop at all yesterday. I did see her peck at food and drink a little last night. Looking for any educated guesses/similar experiences.
I have changed all the bedding ,food, water for the other chicks in case she had something contagious. They all seem healthy and are enjoying spreading the new hay around.
Yesterday I bought a 3-week old blue copper marans chick from a woman who raises show birds. I probably paid more than I should have. I noticed a little lethargy when I first put her in the brooder with the other chicks (2 new with her and 4 chicks I had already). She was standing facing a corner, acting antisocial. I was worried, but she eventually got interested in the food and water, so I decided she was just stressed about being introduced to strange chicks and a strange environment. She looked normal this morning. Tonight, I noticed her opening and closing her beak and neck-stretching. She was flexing her vent, too. It looked like she was straining her whole body repetitively. I picked her up and turned her over to check for a blocked vent, and noticed that although the vent was clean, she was missing a lot of her fuzz on the backside. (She must have come like this. She was one of the larger chicks in my mixed 1-3 week bunch, they have lots of space to spread out in their enclosure, and I haven't seen any feather-picking.) Next I turned her back over and checked the crop, which felt empty. As I did this, her head began to droop and she flapped/convulsed and died in my hands. The whole thing took maybe two minutes from the time I noticed she was sick (but alert) to dead. What could cause this?
I know it's hard to diagnose without more info. I didn't notice any diarrhea, but I can't remember if I saw her poop at all yesterday. I did see her peck at food and drink a little last night. Looking for any educated guesses/similar experiences.
I have changed all the bedding ,food, water for the other chicks in case she had something contagious. They all seem healthy and are enjoying spreading the new hay around.
