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

[casportpony]

.

 

[dlbickar]

Our favorite hen was fine, had a lot of drie

 

[dlbickar]

Our favorite hen was fine, she was eating running around and I noticed a lot of pooed dried up on her butt. I got her turned her over butt up,started cutting poopy feathers off, maybe 3min or so. When I was done turn her over and she was deadI feel horrible! Did she suffocate? My heart aches so much!

 

[casportpony]

Our favorite hen was fine, she was eating running around and I noticed a lot of pooed dried up on her butt. I got her turned her over butt up,started cutting poopy feathers off, maybe 3min or so. When I was done turn her over and she was deadI feel horrible! Did she suffocate? My heart aches so much!

Very sorry for your loss. Sounds like your hen was very sick and the added stress of handling her was too much. Don't beat yourself up because it can happen to anyone. . Just the other day it happened to me.

 

[rebrascora]

I'm sorry for your loss. There is usually a reason why they have a poopy butt. Often it is caused by ascites (water belly) or a reproductive malfunction where a mass in the abdomen is already putting pressure on the internal organs including the respiratory system. In these cases, turning a hen on her back or holding her upside down by the feet will dramatically increase the pressure on her lungs, air sacs and heart which can then prove fatal, particularly as they struggle to try to right themselves.
People don't seem to realise that a soiled butt is not something that randomly occurs but is usually an indication of abdominal swelling preventing the poop from dropping clear.... ie. it is a side effect of a more serious issue. Abdominal swelling from whatever cause (excessive fatty deposits, ascites, salpingitis, internal laying, tumour etc) is usually fatal sooner or later but turning hens with it upside down will be likely to hasten the process considerably.

The only time I do it is when a bird has a crop that needs emptying and is going to die anyway if I don't clear it and then I hold them against my chest and lean forward so that they are not fully upside down and I can monitor them closely and stand back up to give them regular breaks

 

[BantyChooks]

I'm sorry for your loss. There is usually a reason why they have a poopy butt. Often it is caused by ascites (water belly) or a reproductive malfunction where a mass in the abdomen is already putting pressure on the internal organs including the respiratory system. In these cases, turning a hen on her back or holding her upside down by the feet will dramatically increase the pressure on her lungs, air sacs and heart which can then prove fatal, particularly as they struggle to try to right themselves.
People don't seem to realise that a soiled butt is not something that randomly occurs but is usually an indication of abdominal swelling preventing the poop from dropping clear.... ie. it is a side effect of a more serious issue. Abdominal swelling from whatever cause (excessive fatty deposits, ascites, salpingitis, internal laying, tumour etc) is usually fatal sooner or later but turning hens with it upside down will be likely to hasten the process considerably.

The only time I do it is when a bird has a crop that needs emptying and is going to die anyway if I don't clear it and then I hold them against my chest and lean forward so that they are not fully upside down and I can monitor them closely and stand back up to give them regular breaks

Almost all my birds of one particular breed have poopy rears, both hens and roosters. Any ideas as to why that is? They're in good flesh but not overweight.

 

[micstrachan]

I’m so sorry for your loss.

Question for those more experienced... is it stressful for a chicken if you gently tuck her head under your arm pit to inspect her vent? I do this and they seem pretty calm with it. How much is too much of a tilt (lifting her back end up to inspect the vent.) If you’re not supposed to tilt a chicken at all to inspect her vent, how else do you do it?

 

[casportpony]

I’m so sorry for your loss.

Question for those more experienced... is it stressful for a chicken if you gently tuck her head under your arm pit to inspect her vent? I do this and they seem pretty calm with it. How much is too much of a tilt (lifting her back end up to inspect the vent.) If you’re not supposed to tilt a chicken at all to inspect her vent, how else do you do it?

You should be able to handle most chickens without worrying about this happening, but when handling a sick bird one must learn how to sport signs of respiratory distress and be ready to put them down until they recover. Maybe I should take some pictures of how I inspect vents.

 

[micstrachan]

That would be great!

 

[CClipperton]

One of my chickens had a lot of poop on her and I saw she wasn't looking so well for a few weeks. Her comb was discolored and droppy. I held her upside down by her legs and saw that there were maggots on her vent eating her alive. When I turned her back up, she was dead. Could I have killed her by hanging her upside down. It was only about 30 seconds.....could that have shocked her into death or can chickens not breathe when they are held like that. I usually dust my chickens for mites that way, but now I am worried.

The maggots: It's called fly strike here is some wiki info https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myiasis

Holding them upside down can harm them if it's too long but I don't think that's the case. Chances are due to the Fly strike she had she was anemic, discoloured comb would indicate that, I'm not to familiar with flystrike but my friend had it happen to a couple of his hens. They deteriorated very quickly. I don't think you did anything wrong, she most likely was already close to passing. I'm sorry you lost your girl.