Deceased chicken within 24 hours

[CrabbeCottage]

Hi everyone,

I’ve just joined the forum to ask advice on the death of my little Pekin bantam girl Olive. This time yesterday Olive appeared to be her usual happy and healthy self, in fact I was grumbling as she seemed to be going broody yet again clucking away being very vocal (she was only 1 year old) She was lying in the sunshine when I called her and the others back into their run for treats and to lock them up for the evening. She didn’t move which set alarm bells ringing and when I picked her up I immediately felt she was wet underneath and my hand was covered in smelly liquid (completely clear with a slight orange tinge) her bottom was also really mucky and her crop spongy and squishy. She was rather gurgly and breathing was laboured.
I took her up to the house for isolation and piece and quiet, washed the poop off and googled like crazy what to do next!
I tried some natural yogurt but she wasn’t interested and so lethargic.
I checked on her overnight several times but no change and very early this morning she let out a squawk and died.
I’ve kept chickens for quite a few years now and have had several who seem to have died this way.
Perfectly healthy one minute and within a day, lethargic, diarreah, a bit gaspy and alway with this awful smell. I know sour crop smells... well, sour and fermented but I don’t think it’s that. This odour smells like strong pungent urine that’s been left out in the sunshine to ferment.
I’m just at a loss and feeling really disheartened, worried in case the others fall ill too.

Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading,

Julie

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi there, welcome to BYC!

Sorry for your loss.

If you are int he US and still have the body or if it happens again, I suggest a necropsy to find the cause. Here are links to help with that...
How to Send a Bird for a Necropsy

State poultry labs

AT 1 year old, how many times had she already been broody? Was she allowed to sit those times or what happened? What is her breed? What do you feed on a regular basis including treats and supplements. This has happened before? What was the age of bird then? How many and what species of bird in how much space? Labored breathing is common end of life thing when systems are shutting down. Was there any respiratory symptoms in your flock, ever? When was Olive's last egg? Sorry so many questions, just looking for clues to help.

ETA: adding your general location to your profile can help others make the best suggestions possible at a glance without having to ask first.

 

[Elsveta641]

I second the suggestion to get a necropsy. I do know Coryza causes a stinky liquid from the mouth and nose. Some are sick a long time, some recover. But some just lay down and die suddenly

 

[CrabbeCottage]

Hi, thanks for the quick response! Olive was a Pekin Bantam (the little cream girl at the front of my profile picture) and had gone broody once before roughly about a month ago, I didn’t let her sit on the eggs but continually kept removing her from the nest boxes. I don’t know exactly when her last egg was laid but it was within the last few as I commented to my husband that we’d had an egg from each girl that day.
Food wise, they’re on layers pellets. Treats are occasionally greens, rice and melon, strawberry tops etc a handful of mealworms and corn each evening to coax them back into the run. I sometimes give a bit of bread but have decided to stop that just in case it’s too gluey and hard to digest.
The previous chickens that died in similar circumstances were 3 hybrids, they all laid an enormous amount of eggs in the first year and on the second year one by one (but months apart) they became ill. Just like poor olive, one day fine the next runny bottoms, gaspy then dead... oh, and one laid a number of rotten eggs too, there’s a smell I’ll never forget!! After reading a few chicken articles they led me to believe that premature death can be quite common with hybrid hens due to the sheer number of eggs that they produce hence the reason we went back to Pekin bantams, the last lot we had lasted years with no notable illness and they’re first and foremost pets... the eggs are a bonus!
Space wise the run is about 8m square with lots of branches to climb and roost on, they get let out to roam the veggie patch as soon as I’m home from work and the coop is my sons old play house with lots of space.
My only other thought was she’d eaten something that was poisonous, on several occasions the gate from the veggie patch was open and the chooks all come up to my flower garden which has foxgloves, lupins and all manner of things that are probably on the forbidden list.

I did look into Coryza, but no discharge from nose or mouth.

I’m in Kent in England, I wouldn’t even know where to start getting a necropsy... I don’t even think my local vet deals with chickens. I’ll pop in and have a chat with them on Monday.

Sorry for the super long post!

Ps) I have a poop picture from Olive if that would be of interest?

Thanks again for your help and time.

Julie

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Okay, I have so many "toxic" plants, including Foxglove that is probably not the issue unless they are locked in with it. Something can be considered toxic if it causes a mild headache or the like and may not be deadly per say.

England, that's the UK.. @rebrascora is that where you are and do you have any necropsy resource links? TIA

one day fine the next runny bottoms, gaspy then dead... oh, and one laid a number of rotten eggs too

The rotten eggs would have been a sign of something like Salpingitis or other internal reproductive infection, disorder, possibly even cancer... which is the more common cause of hybrid layer death than just exhaustion or depletion from laying too many eggs. (though my research shows nutrition can heavily impact them.. http://veterinarycalendar.dvm360.com/avian-reproduction-and-reproductive-diseases-proceedings)

It's amazing just how intricate life is. How many things ALL have to work together for us to even breath... 1 mineral out of whack and it's lights out. All it takes is ONE out the billions of cells in a body to get the wrong signal and not perform it's task. I'm in awe everyday and the things we (mostly) take for granted.

Runny bottoms... if they were egg bound standard droppings may not be able to pass. Usually deadly within 48 hours, but with NO droppings. They will *usually* stay in the box trying to lay the egg. I have confused a broody for egg bound and an egg bound gal for broody once. Different hen, both huge lessons.

Or if they had a crop blockage and no food was passing then they might not have anything to pass and just be liquid. This usually presents with excess thirst and not eating followed by lethargy and often showing signs fairly well. Believe it or not, we LOVE to see poop pics on here.

All birds close to passing will breath heavily as the systems shut down, even newly hatched chicks. Most animals will breath heavily under ANY stress, like when you take a cat or dog to the vet. So to me that could have been more of a failure symptom than respiratory illness. Ya gotta follow ALL the symptoms and you didn't mention any sneezing, wheezing, discharge type stuff.

Something like fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome might cause very similar symptoms as described and is often genetic but enhanced by excess treats one or the other on their own might not be as much of an issue... I would limit the meal worms (high fat) and scratch (low protein and low nutrient), if you mean a handful of each (2) night maybe switch to a handful (1) of both or alternate nights.

What's especially difficult is so many things can all look the same in poultry.

One resource that might be good for review...
https://ucanr.edu/sites/poultry/Resources/dz/

I wish I could be more help. There are several thread on here on how to perform you own basic necropsy should you ever be feeling that brave! A few folks with lots of experience who can help look at pictures to identify anything that's out of the ordinary. Sometimes it becomes abundantly clear very shortly into the procedure.

Hopefully you will get some more input.