The Orpington is considered one of the largest breeds, and unfortunately prone to congestive heart failure and sudden death because of their large size.
Acute heart failure is commonly called a Heart Attack. This is more common in large fowl that have been bred for size, especially cock birds but also in hybrid broilers that put on weight quickly.
The condition is made worse by poor genetic variation by breeders, inbreeding. Particularly if buying chicks from local pet shops.
I recently had a blue orpington 4.3 years old develop what appeared to be a respiratory illness. Having done everything in my power to relieve her of her distress, taken her to two separate vets and bird specialists. Who could not find anything wrong with her. With no other information to go with we assumed it was bronchitis or pneumonia. But there was no mucus or discharge or swelling or conjunctivitis in the eyes. Making diagnosis more difficult.
Her symptoms appeared as the temperatures started to rise at the end of spring. First her voice disappeared, after several weeks she began wheezing, and coughing occasionally.
After two weeks the condition began to progress rapidly with labored breathing, extending neck as if she is chocking. Breathing through her mouth. Wheezing. The wheezing sound was likely fluid in her lungs. But not rapid breathing like you get with pneumonia. Her coughing would increase during the night, a classic sign of congestive heart failure. Towards the end her comb would turn blueish. Another symptom of organ failure.
We continued to treat it as if it was a respiratory illness by giving her plenty of raw eggs with a bit of orange fruit. This helps create proper mucus so that respiratory illnesses can clear out faster. Raw butter to soothe her trachea from all the coughing
She was fed mostly a high quality raw diet all her life, which maybe bought her some time and why the condition had developed so gradually.
After three weeks under our care, a heat wave of 85 degrees had hit our location. Her breathing became more labored. So we brought her indoors during the day so she can enjoy AC, but unfortunately it was too late, and she began to choke from the fluids in her lung and finally had a heart attack,. Horrible to watch having cared for this wonderful creature for so many years.
There was so little information online about this subject that we initially thought it was respiratory system but now we are 100% certain it was a heart failure.
Had we had a proper diagnosis early on we could have probably avoided this catastrophic event by making essential changes to her diet and environment.
Like having her sleep outdoors in a cage rather then a coup, to increase air circulation and cool her down in warm weather.
Diet: A diet rich with raw unsalted butter, Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds. More orange fruits like papaya, carrot. Raw eggs are especially helpful in helping to reverse the heart condition if detected early enough. Live mealworms. Raw ground beef.
I would have also included a little starch in her diet, Like steamed rice or wheat. Twice a week. To help reduce strain on her heart.
Avoid cooked food, processed food, oatmeal, millet. Pasteurized dairy. Grumbles and chicken feeds with ingredient names that you do not understand.
Watch her weight, from getting too high.
Stress, minimize teasing or handling her, avoid exciting her too much, generally just let her enjoy as much space and freedom with her flock.
Avoid transferring from home to home or separating orpingtons from their siblings, they are particularly sensitive to these kind of lifestyle changes at older ages. As are many chickens.
One strange symptom we should have paid more attention to , is slight deformations on her eggs especially when she gets stressed. A sign of illness , organ problems.
