confused and needing help, URGENT, please reply!

[happinesshill]

We had a one year old buff just fall dead about a month ago. She was big, healthy, beautiful...nothing obviously wrong. We were really confused and thought about it long and hard but couldn't figure out what happened. Her crop was not swollen, she hadn't choked on anything. She was just laying dead by the water one morning.

Fast forward to tonight...a 7 month old buff is sitting on her roost, her wattles and comb are dark purple, her head is tipped back and she is making a horrible sound, desperately trying to get air. We watched her for a few minutes but it was getting worse and worse and we realized she was near death already. I had my son to put her out of her suffering, which was very sad for us, as we love our girls and hate to do that...but again, she was big, healthy and beautiful. No mites, nothing wrong with her vent. We cut open her crop this time, to see...and there was just a tiny bit of food, as if she hadn't eaten much today. I am very perplexed and not sure what to think.

Background...they have all had dry pox and gotten over it. They had just a bit of dark spots on the combs. Could this new killer be a wet pox version? How do I know if that is what it is?
Nothing else makes sense. They don't convulse, they don't have diarrhea, they don't have yellow mucous or discharge from eyes or mouth...NOTHING! They are gorgeous birds that just fall over dead.

We didn't see the first one die but now that I've seen this one dying, I wonder if they had the same thing? And if it's going to slowly kill all of our hens? I would like some advice on how best to diagnose what is wrong...I don't want to lose any more. That was just really, really sad today. I hated that I couldn't help her!

Thanks in advance.

 

[RanchoDelPolloLoco]

That's so sad. I am sorry I can't shine any light on the matter but there are many people on here that can probably help

 

[birdherder]

OH my gosh thats terible): im not a professional but im just guessing here but mabye its a gene problem from the buffs. did u buy them from a hatchery? idk im just thinking mabye your food is to thick

 

[Pickaduck]

Did you look inside the mouth of the one you had to put down? If she had wet pox you would definitely see it in her mouth/throat. And if there is a blockage that would be why her crop was not very full and the purple comb (that is usually a sign of low levels of oxygen in the blood).

In the case of the first loss sometimes chickens can just die of unknown causes (they can have heart attacks and strokes just like people can). It's sad but it doesn't always have to be because of an apparent reason.

I am very sorry for your losses and hopefully you'll figure out the cause!

 

[happinesshill]

They were two different ages...the first one was from our flock last year...the one that died tonight was from our new flock this year........

And no, she did not have any sores in her mouth. She looked perfectly fine. There was no blockage in her trachea and nothing seemed wrong with her crop.

What would wet pox look like inside of her mouth? Would there have been sores? Thanks!

 

[happinesshill]

I've been reading and reading. Nothing sounds like what I saw. I cannot find anything. I am desperate here, so bumping this...someone please advise!

 

[7kids12hens]

There would be obvious sores in the mouth. If I'm not mistaken, that's about the time mareks rears its ugly head. That can cause difficulty breathing.

 

[happinesshill]

UPDATE:
We think now that it is gape worms killing our hens. I am so devastated by this. From everything I've read, you can treat the hens but if they free-range (ours do) then they could become re-infected. It can live in so many hosts, how on earth do you keep your chickens from eating a grasshopper or a worm?? It's just crazy! I thought free-ranging was GOOD for them! Then I read that we would have to move our pen/relocate the hens. There is NO WAY we can do that. Our pen is huge and took 2 years to build to the size it is now. We have put so much time and effort into having them and have taken such good care of them. We love our girls (and one rooster) They are BIG, BEAUTIFUL birds and if I have to cull the whole group, I will be so depressed! It is the saddest thing ever. I just don't know what else to do. I cannot have them suffer, I don't see how worming them constantly will help anything (have read that they will build up an immunity to the wormer if it's given enough)....what else can I do? Seeing that hen die like that last night was the saddest thing, knowing nothing I could do would help.

DOES ANYONE ELSE have experience with this? What do you recommend?

 

[off-grid hen]

I don't know if you've come across this in your search, but I found this. http://poultrykeeper.com/common-articles-to-all-poultry/health/gape-worm-or-syngamus-tachea.html

I too have chickens that free range for a while during the day. We live in the center of 300 undeveloped acres of woodlands. We frequently have wild turkeys in our yard, chimunks, squirrels, bluejays, etc. I have not yet issues with gapewroms, or any other parasite- but my hens are just at the point of lay.

Good luck! And keep us posted please. I am not sure of the dose, but if you ask a vet or go to the website of the drug, it may help give you more info.

 

[happinesshill]

The link didn't work!