Chicken half dead out of the blue

[jfays]

HELP! I found one of my hens half dead this morning laying on the coop floor. PLEASE no rude comments. I’m incredibly heartbroken. I know at this point she isn’t going to make it, I’m just trying to figure out the cause now. I brought her inside to be safe and warm as she passes. I’m putting her symptoms below and all references. Please, I know I can’t save her but if anyone has any insights. I’ve never had a chicken turn so out of the blue and so badly so quickly.

FOR REFERENCE:

- she was acting completely and utterly fine yesterday. Not even a single small symptom. She was running around and free ranging with everyone. Drinking and eating.

- I got a new rooster a few days ago. He’s been separated and just started mingling yesterday with the hens. He’s smaller than all them as he’s a silkie. He acts totally normal and healthy and was also separated from his previous flock before I got him. Yesterday her and him were sparring some, normal as new chickens do with one another. Nothing serious.

- I checked her over in case he had hurt her and there’s not a single mark on her, no blood, and nothing on her body feels abnormal.

- last night was our first freezing night. It got down to 12 degrees but the coop is draft free and remained around 26 degrees.

SYMPTOMS:

- she was laying on the floor of the coop barely hanging on. She’s not lifting her head, but she’s holding it up. She’s not standing or moving. She’s just extremely lethargic and almost gone.

- I tried to give her some water and vet RX in a syringe (I know how to do it safely and properly) and she had no interest and took it down but then did a bit of the “air gasping”. She’s not doing it now though.

- when I hold her she sounds a little wheezy and “stuffy” almost like you sound when you have a bad cold. I can also feel her deep breathing when I hold her.

 

[nuthatched]

How long did you quarantine the new roo?
What do you feed your birds?
What's her age?
Is she laying and has she laid recently?
Try giving her some sugar water in a syringe, I'd stop the vetrx orally.
How does her crop feel?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

HELP! I found one of my hens half dead this morning laying on the coop floor. PLEASE no rude comments. I’m incredibly heartbroken. I know at this point she isn’t going to make it, I’m just trying to figure out the cause now. I brought her inside to be safe and warm as she passes. I’m putting her symptoms below and all references. Please, I know I can’t save her but if anyone has any insights. I’ve never had a chicken turn so out of the blue and so badly so quickly.

FOR REFERENCE:

- she was acting completely and utterly fine yesterday. Not even a single small symptom. She was running around and free ranging with everyone. Drinking and eating.

- I got a new rooster a few days ago. He’s been separated and just started mingling yesterday with the hens. He’s smaller than all them as he’s a silkie. He acts totally normal and healthy and was also separated from his previous flock before I got him. Yesterday her and him were sparring some, normal as new chickens do with one another. Nothing serious.

- I checked her over in case he had hurt her and there’s not a single mark on her, no blood, and nothing on her body feels abnormal.

- last night was our first freezing night. It got down to 12 degrees but the coop is draft free and remained around 26 degrees.

SYMPTOMS:

- she was laying on the floor of the coop barely hanging on. She’s not lifting her head, but she’s holding it up. She’s not standing or moving. She’s just extremely lethargic and almost gone.

- I tried to give her some water and vet RX in a syringe (I know how to do it safely and properly) and she had no interest and took it down but then did a bit of the “air gasping”. She’s not doing it now though.

- when I hold her she sounds a little wheezy and “stuffy” almost like you sound when you have a bad cold. I can also feel her deep breathing when I hold her.

I'm very sorry about your hen

It can be hard to know what has caused the sudden decline.

It's good that you've moved to her to a quiet place. It would be good to give her drops of sugar water but perhaps hold her up a little straighter to see if she can swallow the drops easier.

There's really no way to know if she's suffered injury or if some other underlying condition is the cause of her decline unless you lose her and have a necropsy. Your state lab can do this for you, you can look them up here.
Alternatively, you can do your own informal investigation, looking at the internals for anything that stands out like reproductive problems, fatty liver, etc.

Could be she was suffering from something that is not even related to adding a new rooster. It's not uncommon for a hen to spar with a newbie.

 

[Eggcessive]

So sorry about your hen. She might have suffered an injury from the rooster that is not showing up, or he could be a carrier of a disease. I hope that you can revive her with the sugar water or some electrolytes.