4 month old Silkie died

[SwedeinAZ]

I have 7 chickens and 7 ducks. One of my ducks died without warning at 3 months old and today my Silkie died and she was 4 months old.
Last week, she laid her first 4 eggs and then she had some strange behavior- isolating herself and strange neck movements with an open beak. This lasted 2 days and she died. Any ideas about what could be happening? Is it normal for chickens/ducks to just die out of the blue like this when young?

 

[slordaz]

sounds like gape worm, although it's rare. was she stretching her neck?
That particular nasty worm lives in the trachea instead of the gut

When was the last time you dewormed the flocks?

@casportpony
@azygous

 

[SwedeinAZ]

sounds like gape worm, although it's rare. was she stretching her neck?
That particular nasty worm lives in the trachea instead of the gut

When was the last time you dewormed the flocks? Yes- she was making a strange neck tucking and stretching movement.
I haven’t dewormed them! They are four months old. How often should I do it?

@casportpony
@azygous

sounds like gape worm, although it's rare. was she stretching her neck?
That particular nasty worm lives in the trachea instead of the gut

When was the last time you dewormed the flocks?

@casportpony
@azygous

 

[SwedeinAZ]

Yes- she was ducking and then stretching her neck in a strange way. Beak open.
How often should I deworm? She was 4 months old. Thank you for your help.

 

[slordaz]

anytime you see a chicken doing that, you should sanitize everything and probably treat. gape worm lives in the throat instead of the gut. I will defer though on medication for gape worm dosage and length, usually if I have to treat one unless they are in quarantine I treat the whole flock. to @Eggcessive as I have not treated for gape worm just know it's different than regular worms. Also you can either do your own necropsy minus the lab stuff or send off a refrigerated double bagged carcass to the state vet so you know exactly what you are dealing with

 

[SwedeinAZ]

I appreciate it! This is all new to me. Great advice and I will look into those options.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. Weird neck movements can also sometimes be from adjusting the crop when something is a little stuck, and some chickens can suffer from neurological symptoms or wry neck as well. Necropsies can be helpful to find the cause of death, especially if it might be some contagious illness. If she had a crop impaction problem, that could have made her ill and she could have hidden it. Wry neck and other neurological signs can be a sign of Mareks disease or a brain injury. It is always guessing game if we lose a chicken. Some people do their own necropsies at home to look for anything abnormal with the organs, but most state vets will perform a necropsy, sometimes for less than $30 to diagnose what was wrong. Some are more expensive depending on the state. Here is a list of state vets:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

 

[SwedeinAZ]

Thank you for the information. That’s very helpful. I especially don’t want my other chickens to get something preventable and die too.