Acute Pullet death

[Stewzoo]

This morning when I left everyone looked good. Water was fresh, food was full. Tonight, I just did my nightly "tuck in" check and opened the door to a 8wk old pullet in the final throws of life. I took her out and she died with in 30 seconds. What causes this? It is baffling. I do have a few chickens with the sneezes. I changed pine shavings 4 days ago and the sneezing has increased. She did not have any nasal discharge or eye discharge and was a healthy weight.

 

[Gargoyle]

I'm sorry to hear this. Any more details you can give? any sign of mites? Any color change to the comb? Anything odd with the poop or with how they walk or eat?

I wonder if the new pine shavings were a problem, maybe very fine dust or from a place that used treated wood for the shavings... just speculating.

 

[teach1rusl]

Really, the possibilities are endless. It could range from internal issues/defects to the bird getting into something toxic to a bee sting, to just about anything really, if the chick seemed perfectly healthy before. It could even be something like a broken neck...
Some sneezing is normal, and if you saw it increase after changing bedding, I'd guess it's (sneezing) dust related (the bedding is not cedar, right?).
Sorry about the chick...

 

[Gargoyle]

Good point, she's young, she could have fallen off the perch and hit her head or broken her neck.

 

[Stewzoo]

The bedding is pine shavings. The kind I have always used and never had an issue with. No other changes. It was just so random. I gave them some cantaloupe this morning...but that is not anything "new" as they have had it before. Stools were fine, and as far as I saw she was acting normal this morning and running around with the others. It was a warmer day today, but I don't think it was heat related.

 

[Stewzoo]

I did feel her neck after she was gone. It didn't feel broken. I thought that same thing as well.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sneezing can be a sign of many diseases--Infectious bronchitis, mycoplasma, allergies, dust and many more. If your pullets are young they can be very susceptable to diseases more than a grown chicken. Have you been to other people's farms or coops, or have you been to chicken swaps or shows? You can bring home many diseases on your shoes, clothing, etc. It may be too late to find out the cause of this pullet's death, but if you have any further, I would contact a local source to find out about getting a necropsy done by a state poultry university.