I went outside to let the girls (6) three RR's and 3 Barred Plymouth rocks, when I opened the door to the coop all were there to greet me. I looked down to invite them out and all but Blondie came out. she sat there at the threshold. Her comb and wattle was barely pink and limp, she was lethargic and turned around and went to the back of the coop and sat down on the ground. That was not like her at all she was the perkiest and most forward of them all and she had the reddest comb and wattles.
I opened the back door and gently took her out and she seemed cold. I sat with her awhile and realized she was doing badly. I took her into the house and put her in a small cardboard box with a towel on the bottom and one wrapped around like a nest. I calmed her and she just hung her head.
I desperately looked in my "The Chicken Health Book", but that got me nowhere. I put a heat lamp on near her to help warm her up as I saw her give a shiver. My laser thermometer had a reading of 96 degree F, not 103 as it should be. I tried under the wing and around the head same. While I was looking on line she became a bit distraught and looking for her flock. Then she laid back down and had a seizure and died. All that within one hour of finding her. She was AOK this morning when I looked out and checked on them in the coop. I performed a sort of necropsy and from an amateur all organs looked fine, no sign of worms, she had fine fat tissues, all looked normal. The crop had food in it and plenty of water with the normal grower (liquefied) and remnants of scratch with sorghum and millet and cracked corn in there. I will watch the rest of my chicks closely. They were all fine a bit of go as I gave them a treat of white rice. They were all perky and chatty. This was a very sad event.
Anyone have any thoughts as to cause?? I think she ate something that poisoned her. No sign of bites, scratches or ticks or mites. A clean and healthy otherwise chicken.
I opened the back door and gently took her out and she seemed cold. I sat with her awhile and realized she was doing badly. I took her into the house and put her in a small cardboard box with a towel on the bottom and one wrapped around like a nest. I calmed her and she just hung her head.
I desperately looked in my "The Chicken Health Book", but that got me nowhere. I put a heat lamp on near her to help warm her up as I saw her give a shiver. My laser thermometer had a reading of 96 degree F, not 103 as it should be. I tried under the wing and around the head same. While I was looking on line she became a bit distraught and looking for her flock. Then she laid back down and had a seizure and died. All that within one hour of finding her. She was AOK this morning when I looked out and checked on them in the coop. I performed a sort of necropsy and from an amateur all organs looked fine, no sign of worms, she had fine fat tissues, all looked normal. The crop had food in it and plenty of water with the normal grower (liquefied) and remnants of scratch with sorghum and millet and cracked corn in there. I will watch the rest of my chicks closely. They were all fine a bit of go as I gave them a treat of white rice. They were all perky and chatty. This was a very sad event.
