Chicken dying and no idea why!!

[MrsTush]

**video attached**

I am devastated right now
One of my RIR, my BIGGEST chicken is dying and I can't figure out what the heck happened. She's only a year old and was vaccinated as a chick.
She's one of 15 hens plus 6 ducks. They were all out in the backyard with me yesterday, ate fine and all outethemselves in their coop last night. I always go check everyone and lock up and they were all roosting and fine.
This morning when I opened the coop she was laying on the floor. Everyone else was normal and have all been doing the usual today.

I can't feel anything wrong or impacted. Vent looks fine, she doesn't smell and nothing feels broken. She won't hold her head up at all. She just kind of twitches it when she breathes. She's still fighting me when I move her. I've given her small amounts of honey/water, tried some yolk on her beak and a little vit. B with the water. It's been over 12 hours and she's the same. There's no vets open today so I've been googling anything I can find but I'm stumped.

Any ideas??

 

[Weeg]

**video attached**

I am devastated right now
One of my RIR, my BIGGEST chicken is dying and I can't figure out what the heck happened. She's only a year old and was vaccinated as a chick.
She's one of 15 hens plus 6 ducks. They were all out in the backyard with me yesterday, ate fine and all outethemselves in their coop last night. I always go check everyone and lock up and they were all roosting and fine.
This morning when I opened the coop she was laying on the floor. Everyone else was normal and have all been doing the usual today.

I can't feel anything wrong or impacted. Vent looks fine, she doesn't smell and nothing feels broken. She won't hold her head up at all. She just kind of twitches it when she breathes. She's still fighting me when I move her. I've given her small amounts of honey/water, tried some yolk on her beak and a little vit. B with the water. It's been over 12 hours and she's the same. There's no vets open today so I've been googling anything I can find but I'm stumped.

Any ideas??

Could she have gotten into anything toxic? Mold possibly? That can kill very quickly. How much does she weigh? Any symptoms at all before hand? Where are you located? Can you weigh her? Was there a significant drop in water intake from this hen recently? You probably have no way of knowing, but if for some reason you did notice that I thought I'd ask. Anyone else showing any symptoms?

 

[Weeg]

@Wyorp Rock @azygous @Eggcessive
Also, what are you feeding?

 

[Sara S]

Do you have male ducks? Maybe something happened with them trying to mate her, but I don’t know much about ducks.

 

[MrsTush]

Could she have gotten into anything toxic? Mold possibly? That can kill very quickly. How much does she weigh? Any symptoms at all before hand? Where are you located? Can you weigh her? Was there a significant drop in water intake from this hen recently? You probably have no way of knowing, but if for some reason you did notice that I thought I'd ask. Anyone else showing any symptoms?

That's what I don't understand. She's a big chicken, maybe 8 lbs. No symptoms and none of the others are acting different. The weather has been really nice here so the girls are out in the yard all day. No mold anywhere and they eat a mix of stuff. Flock raiser, oats, black oil sunflower seeds and occasional cracked corn for a bribe. They have several water sources that I fill at least once a day.
I spend a lot of time outside with my chickens and they've all been fine.
Not knowing what's going on scares me for the other ones.

 

[MrsTush]

Do you have male ducks? Maybe something happened with them trying to mate her, but I don’t know much about ducks.

I have one but the ducks have a separate yard and my Drake sleeps in a crate in the coop at night. He's never in contact with the chickens.

 

[Sara S]

I have one but the ducks have a separate yard and my Drake sleeps in a crate in the coop at night. He's never in contact with the chickens.

good, I‘m sorry I couldn’t be of more help, it’s horrible not having control over this kind of situation. Prayers for your chickie

 

[Weeg]

That's what I don't understand. She's a big chicken, maybe 8 lbs. No symptoms and none of the others are acting different. The weather has been really nice here so the girls are out in the yard all day. No mold anywhere and they eat a mix of stuff. Flock raiser, oats, black oil sunflower seeds and occasional cracked corn for a bribe. They have several water sources that I fill at least once a day.
I spend a lot of time outside with my chickens and they've all been fine.
Not knowing what's going on scares me for the other ones.

Where are you located? Are the oats mixed in with the feed or fed as a treat? Really hoping oats, BOSS, and corn are fed as treats.
The fact that they free range is a concern for two reasons.
1) Is there a chance she could have eaten/got bitten by any poisonous insects? @azygous lost two chicks to this once, and they declined very quickly.
2) Avian Influenza is going around right now, and any birds on restricted to a covered run are at high risk of catching it. This really depends on your location/state. Birds with AI will die within 24-48 hours of catching it. You would start to see more losses/symptoms though.

 

[Weeg]

If she passes, you can keep her body for a necropsy. That is going to be the very best way, and maybe even the only way to know what is happening. You can do one yourself, which I'd be happy to help with, or send one to your state lab. Keep her body cold but NOT frozen if this is the route you want to take.
I'm hoping it doesn't come to this.

 

[Eggcessive]

What is your general location? Most state vets will do a necropsy on a sick bird who dies to check for a cause of death. It is hard to say what is wrong, but it could be a virus of some sort. Was she vaccinated for Mareks disease? Are you in an area where avian influenza has been in the news lately? Here is a link where to contact most state vets:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html