Chicken died while I was holding her upside down.....

[chkn]

If they aren't feeling well you shouldn't handle them like that. (I found out the hard way too a couple months back I had my rooster on his back while I was putting on some sevin.) I don't know how long your hen had the maggots but she must have been ready to die anyway and that just pushed her over the edge. They go pretty quick once the maggots set in. It's treatable though. I think it's probably a good idea for anyone here with an ill chicken to check them over for maggots right from the get go. The flies are terrible this year.

 

[DrinkTheRainbow]

Quote:
X2 Yea I was thinking that too and yes we have been getting A LOT of flies...nasty creatures...

 

[BrattishTaz]

I have always been told that holding a bird upside down can cause its lungs to collapse. I was told that it is not common but possible. There have been a fews posts on BYC where it resulted in death. I'm sorry you lost your bird, it sounds like she may have been weakened by other issues as well.

 

[kentonsredhen]

I just read this article online so now I am pretty concerned about ever holding my chickens this way again to check for mites or lice. Is there some other way that works for holding them?

Q. Someone told me to hold my rooster upside down by the feet to calm him down--is that a good idea?
A: No. That's a terrible idea.

Birds' respiratory systems are completely different ours, so holding your rooster upside down can cause him real problems. For example, a bird's lungs are right next to the spine and upper ribcage, so it is hard for a bird that is upside down to breathe, since the weight of all his organs will be pressing on his lungs and some of his air sacs. Normally, he will breathe via changes in pressure in the air sacs. So... when the pressure changes "unnaturally," it can make it difficult for him to compensate. Chicken's lungs can't expand like ours do, either.

Being hung upside down is pretty uncomfortable for humans, but we breathe by using a muscle called the diaphragm, which is a dome shaped muscle between the chest and the abdomen. Birds don't have a diaphragm--they have air sacs, and breathe by changes in pressure in their air sacs. Some of the air sacs even extend into their bones (pneumatic bones), and the sacs act as a bellows to ventilate the lungs. They include cervical sacs, interclavicular sac, humeral sacs (these are parts of the interclavicular sac that extend into the bones of the humeris), thoracic sacs (anterior and posterior), abdominal sacs and so forth.

The reason holding a rooster upside down to "calm" him works is that he can't breathe properly. Birds have been known to die this way. If you have an aggressive rooster, we recommend you try the method listed in the related questions below for addressing that aggression.

 

[Pele]

I agree, holding birds upside-down should be avoided unless it has a case of sour crop, and other methods have already been tried to correct it.

Your bird probably lost the contents of her crop when you held her upside-down, and breathed it into her lungs. A weak bird would not be able to maintain their crop, and could easily be disoriented enough to not hold their breathe while it empties. HOWEVER, please don't take that to mean that I believe you caused her death. If she was that weak, it was probably just shortening her life by a couple of hours.

I am a HUGE advocate of towel-wrapping chickens if you ever need to do anything medical with them. A quick and gentle wrap with the towel will prevent struggling, and if you cover their eyes in the process, it keeps the bird calm while you do whatever you need to do with them. It works for quick inspections, wing clipping, splinting, operations, ointment application, etc.

Hope that helps!

 

[frizzle lilly]

I had a hen with a prolapse.She also had some scaley legs. Well ,. I proceeded to put preparation H on the prolapse, and oil her scaley legs . After I got through, I turned her back over to see drool coming out of her mouth. She was dead. I tried to massage her traich. and blow in her face. She had a large extended spot on the side of her neck. She never gasped for air. She was gone. I am so sorry , I feel as though I killed her. I am heartbroke. I will never do that again. I am just heartbroke. She was one of my best hens. an egg a day. Even with a prolapse she gave me an egg a day. I will miss her. Her name was Molly.

 

[casportpony]

I had a hen with a prolapse.She also had some scaley legs. Well ,. I proceeded to put preparation H on the prolapse, and oil her scaley legs . After I got through, I turned her back over to see drool coming out of her mouth. She was dead. I tried to massage her traich. and blow in her face. She had a large extended spot on the side of her neck. She never gasped for air. She was gone. I am so sorry , I feel as though I killed her. I am heartbroke. I will never do that again. I am just heartbroke. She was one of my best hens. an egg a day. Even with a prolapse she gave me an egg a day. I will miss her. Her name was Molly.

Sorry for your loss... FWIW, I never treat mine if they have water in their crops, it's too easy to make them aspirate. I'm not saying that's what happened, fluid coming out of the mouth often happens when they die. Can you cut her open and see what was on her neck? That might help you and other people.

 

[winterhorses]

I know this is an old thread, but I just had to chime in that the almost exact thing just happened to me, though she had mites/fleas instead of maggots. She was perfectly fine (had just pooped, too) except for irritation and feather loss around her rear where she'd been picking at it. I held her at an almost horizontal angle on her back in my lap, maybe -5 to -10 degrees down, so I could get the droppings ball off. She struggled a little bit maybe 3 times over 5 minutes, but I thought she was just unhappy about being restrained.

When I glanced at her head, which I hadn't supported, after I'd gotten most of the stuff off, I saw that her face was deep purple. I immediately righted her, but she spasmed once and then died. I was absolutely horrified at what I'd done. Angel was a good girl, and I feel terrible.

 

[Intheswamp]

Don't beat yourself up over it, winterhorses. We sometimes learn things the hard way...and we're all human and will make mistakes.

Best wishes and sorry for your sad loss,
Ed

 

[casportpony]

I know this is an old thread, but I just had to chime in that the almost exact thing just happened to me, though she had mites/fleas instead of maggots.  She was perfectly fine (had just pooped, too) except for irritation and feather loss around her rear where she'd been picking at it.  I held her at an almost horizontal angle on her back in my lap, maybe -5 to -10 degrees down, so I could get the droppings ball off. She struggled a little bit maybe 3 times over 5 minutes, but I thought she was just unhappy about being restrained.  

When I glanced at her head, which I hadn't supported, after I'd gotten most of the stuff off, I saw that her face was deep purple.  I immediately righted her, but she spasmed once and then died.  I was absolutely horrified at what I'd done.  Angel was a good girl, and I feel terrible.  

So sorry for your loss. Try not to be too hard on yourself... Accidents do happen to all of us.

-Kathy