I had four cuckoo maran chicks. They are living with four black australorps and four golden comets. I went out to the shed where their brooder is and one of the marans was dead.
Yesterday evening, she had a dirty bum. It was not abnormally so, it was just a little bit dirty. Her poops looked fine. I cleaned her off to prevent it from turning into pasty butt. I used a wet paper towel, so I know water did not get in her lungs. (With some of my others I had put them in a bowl of warm water when it was pasty butt, because it worked better, but with her, I just didn't think I needed to.) After I cleaned her up, we were holding her and she was super sleepy. It didn't seem out of the ordinary, the marans a really young. We were a little concerned, but I thought she would be fine. I put her in the brooder and she didn't run off with the flock the way she normally did, but I just thought she was sleepy. I came out an hour and a half later and she seemed fine again: active and happy. That was the last I saw of her, because I closed up the shed. By this morning she was dead.
Should I be concerned that she died of some sort of disease? I know that happens with chicks, but I want to make sure the others will be fine. I did have all of the babies in a little pen to play in the grass that morning. I don't think she would have caught something doing that. I have been taking them out for a little bit occasionally to get them immune to the germs in the dirt, or whatever. I really don't think that that could have cause it.
Yesterday evening, she had a dirty bum. It was not abnormally so, it was just a little bit dirty. Her poops looked fine. I cleaned her off to prevent it from turning into pasty butt. I used a wet paper towel, so I know water did not get in her lungs. (With some of my others I had put them in a bowl of warm water when it was pasty butt, because it worked better, but with her, I just didn't think I needed to.) After I cleaned her up, we were holding her and she was super sleepy. It didn't seem out of the ordinary, the marans a really young. We were a little concerned, but I thought she would be fine. I put her in the brooder and she didn't run off with the flock the way she normally did, but I just thought she was sleepy. I came out an hour and a half later and she seemed fine again: active and happy. That was the last I saw of her, because I closed up the shed. By this morning she was dead.
Should I be concerned that she died of some sort of disease? I know that happens with chicks, but I want to make sure the others will be fine. I did have all of the babies in a little pen to play in the grass that morning. I don't think she would have caught something doing that. I have been taking them out for a little bit occasionally to get them immune to the germs in the dirt, or whatever. I really don't think that that could have cause it.
I feel so bad!
