Hello. I am brand new here and pretty new with owning my own chickens (it's been about one year).
Yesterday I was late getting out to the chickens. It was almost dark. When I opened the door, Curious Georgia was sitting in the nesting box with her head facing the back corner. I thought it was kinda weird since the girls usually do all their laying earlier in the day. I checked under her and found 3 eggs. I thought maybe all 4 girls are laying again and Georgia was just getting at it late. It did seem weird that when I petted her and got the eggs out from under her that she didn't protest or try to move. Usually they don't like a lot of petting. That should have been a red flag to me.
This morning I went out to check on them, and when I opened the door, there was Curious Georgia. dead and partially hanging out of the nesting box.
I am so sad and feeling terrible that I didn't realize something was wrong yesterday. My best guess is that she ate too much of the cardboard and plastic in the coop that was intended to keep the drafts out. Georgia was always the worst one when it came to eating the cardboard. The cardboard and plastic are now removed. I only installed them because 2 of the hens began molting in the coldest part of winter. Now they're fully feathered and it isn't as cold as often, so the extra "insulation" is probably not an issue.
I also noticed this morning that at least one of the girls has extremely watery stool. What might that be caused from? They have plenty of feed, grit, and water. Is is an illness? What should I do?
Yesterday I was late getting out to the chickens. It was almost dark. When I opened the door, Curious Georgia was sitting in the nesting box with her head facing the back corner. I thought it was kinda weird since the girls usually do all their laying earlier in the day. I checked under her and found 3 eggs. I thought maybe all 4 girls are laying again and Georgia was just getting at it late. It did seem weird that when I petted her and got the eggs out from under her that she didn't protest or try to move. Usually they don't like a lot of petting. That should have been a red flag to me.
This morning I went out to check on them, and when I opened the door, there was Curious Georgia. dead and partially hanging out of the nesting box.
I am so sad and feeling terrible that I didn't realize something was wrong yesterday. My best guess is that she ate too much of the cardboard and plastic in the coop that was intended to keep the drafts out. Georgia was always the worst one when it came to eating the cardboard. The cardboard and plastic are now removed. I only installed them because 2 of the hens began molting in the coldest part of winter. Now they're fully feathered and it isn't as cold as often, so the extra "insulation" is probably not an issue.
I also noticed this morning that at least one of the girls has extremely watery stool. What might that be caused from? They have plenty of feed, grit, and water. Is is an illness? What should I do?