Chicken died

[dehowery]

We have 2 Ameraucanas (5-6mos old)1 black THELMA, 1 blue Louise. Louise died and what she did before she died...She was very active- flying and the whole thing- then she stopped and started to slowly walked everywhere (her balance slightly off). Then she would stop and stare off into space as if she saw something in the far distance. She had diarrhea but no blood or worms and it was not green-finally stopped eating with vigor and just sat under the bushes. She died. We checked her over as thoroughly as possible and did not find anything that might be suspect. THELMA who had digestive problems when younger (2-3 mos.) could not properly pass her food. Her craw was always full and we would massage it to get the food down thru her system. When we finally took both of them & our Poland (Henny penny) out of the teenage corral and let out with the rest of the girls(our chickens are free range in our yard) THELMA got magically better in about 2 days, her craw shrank and she was eating fine and passing good solid scat.. they have been out on their own with the rest of the flock for at least 2-3 mos. Louise died about 2 weeks ago ...About 3 days ago THELMA started showing the same signs as Louise. She does not have diarrhea, bloody stools or worms(that we can see) and she is still eating BUT she walks really slow now and stays under the bushes alot. I do not see any discharges anywhere on her body, she was walking with ruffled feathers a few days ago but it was really cold, she is not now. Our Poland who was with them the whole time in the teenage corral does not show any of these signs and neither do any of the adult girls in the flock. So that leads me to believe this is not a transmitted disease????? I HOPE ! I have not wormed the flock yet. Does anyone have any idea of what this could be I really don't want to loose Thelma too. ???? You can email me [email protected] because I am REALLY LOOKING FOR AN ANSWER BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

With their ages I always will suspect Mareks when behavior gets off. This time of year if you are wet it could be coccidiosis. If she had an underlying problem that prevented her from properly digesting her food she could have a birth defect.

Most young chicks stuff their crops full. Was it full first thing in the morning after removing the food to see if it emptied?

Being lethargic unfortunately is the main symptom of most diseases so it can be hard to guess at what could be wrong from that symptom alone. Taking her to a vet would be your best option.

 

[dehowery]

thank you for responding. The crop problem was when THELMA was 2-3 mos old, she no longer has this problem. I dosed the whole group when Louise died for coccidiosis. I called our Vet she doesn't do chickens because she doesn't know enough about their diseases. None of the chickens are wet they stay inside at night plus we don't get snow.
That was informative I only wish she fell into one of those symptoms.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sorry, hopefully someone else will come along and give better advice than me.