4-6 month old Buff Brahmas died - new chicken owner

[NwChickOwner]

Hello,
Our family recently started keeping chickens. The mixed flock has a 480 square foot run and 100 square foot coop for 11 chickens. Three geese also sleep in a divided section in the coop but don't stay in the run. Today, we left the house for a few hours and came back to our Buff Brahmas dead. I put on gloves and noticed her hip bone was protruding, I'm not sure if she was very thin or if she had died in a position that made it look like this. There was no eye or mouth discharge or crust. She was beautiful, but small. She was the easiest to pick up. This chicken was our 6-year old's favorite chicken so it has been hard and we are looking for some guidance so this hopefully doesn't happen to another (we understand will never know for sure what happened without a necropsy). The 6-year old that would sit and watch them for hours told us that the chicken has acted sleepy for a few days and very sleepy this morning. We noticed she was lethargic yesterday but then she was acting fine and wish we would have realized she could be sick. We now know if a chicken is acting lethargic that we need to help it but we are trying to figure out possibilities of what could have happened. Please, any and all advice from experienced chicken owners would be appreciated.

 

[Debbie292d]

I'm so sorry for you and your child's loss. It's hard not to get attached to them.

You didn't mention her age, but I'm still going to guess that may have been the most common chicken illness, Coccidiosis as being lethargic is the number one symptom. The only thing with that is, other chickens would get it too. Had you happened to notice if her poop was different? If you see another chicken acting like that or see any blood in their poop, I'd rush to get them all on Corid.

Otherwise, maybe try upping their immunities by alternating probiotics and vitamins every other day for a few weeks. We use either raw vinegar (1 tablespoon per gallon of water), Hydro Hen, or Greek yogurt for the probiotics and Nutra Drench for the extra vitamins/minerals.

 

[NwChickOwner]

I'm so sorry for you and your child's loss. It's hard not to get attached to them.

You didn't mention her age, but I'm still going to guess that may have been the most common chicken illness, Coccidiosis as being lethargic is the number one symptom. The only thing with that is, other chickens would get it too. Had you happened to notice if her poop was different? If you see another chicken acting like that or see any blood in their poop, I'd rush to get them all on Corid.

Otherwise, maybe try upping their immunities by alternating probiotics and vitamins every other day for a few weeks. We use either raw vinegar (1 tablespoon per gallon of water), Hydro Hen, or Greek yogurt for the probiotics and Nutra Drench for the extra vitamins/minerals.

Thank you for responding. She was about 4-6 months old. No different poop, we went through the run and coop. This morning we disinfected the coop after fully emptying everything out of it, just in case I guess. All other chickens are acting totally normal. We are wondering if the other flock members turned on her and starved her out for some reason.

I want to implement your immunity suggestions. Do you add the vinegar every day or is that every other day?

 

[SmiYa0126]

Thank you for responding. She was about 4-6 months old. No different poop, we went through the run and coop. This morning we disinfected the coop after fully emptying everything out of it, just in case I guess. All other chickens are acting totally normal. We are wondering if the other flock members turned on her and starved her out for some reason.

I want to implement your immunity suggestions. Do you add the vinegar every day or is that every other day?

I would recommend to put a couple of feed dishes out, with strategic clutter so that it's out of sight so that everyone can eat. I'm so sorry

 

[NwChickOwner]

I would recommend to put a couple of feed dishes out, with strategic clutter so that it's out of sight so that everyone can eat. I'm so sorry

Thank you! We added more to the coop and run. It was shocking because according to everything else we read, there was enough. But after adding more, the chickens seem more relaxed so I think that was probably an issue. Its so rough when you try so hard and then still have a tragedy happen.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Thank you! We added more to the coop and run. It was shocking because according to everything else we read, there was enough. But after adding more, the chickens seem more relaxed so I think that was probably an issue. Its so rough when you try so hard and then still have a tragedy happen.

I agree, it's tough. We mostly learn from mistakes.

 

[Debbie292d]

Thank you for responding. She was about 4-6 months old. No different poop, we went through the run and coop. This morning we disinfected the coop after fully emptying everything out of it, just in case I guess. All other chickens are acting totally normal. We are wondering if the other flock members turned on her and starved her out for some reason.

I want to implement your immunity suggestions. Do you add the vinegar every day or is that every other day?

Raw vinegar as a probiotic I alternate with vitamins, so it would be every other day at most as sometimes we just do a day of plain water too.

 

[DLA]

Thank you for responding. She was about 4-6 months old. No different poop, we went through the run and coop. This morning we disinfected the coop after fully emptying everything out of it, just in case I guess. All other chickens are acting totally normal. We are wondering if the other flock members turned on her and starved her out for some reason.

I want to implement your immunity suggestions. Do you add the vinegar every day or is that every other day?

just don't add vinegar to metal waterers. it leaches toxins out of the metal.

 

[nuthatched]

Sorry you lost her. Vinegar, unless raw and concentrated, won't do anything besides make the water slightly acidic.

 

[theoldchick]

Sorry for your loss. Since your hen was smaller and easily handled, she might have had a congenital defect such as malfunctioning heart. Chickens with this condition will do well until they get to a certain size. Sometimes pullets at the point of lay will develop problems when the reproductive tract develops abnormally or develop a uterine tear which results in death. Though you may never know what exactly happed to your hen you can do basic improvements such cleaning waterers and feeders, keeping food sources clean, cleaning up feces. You can take a fecal sample to your vet to test for parasites. I feel for your six year old as I remember losing my favorite hen at that age.