- Oct 26, 2007
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I posted elsewhere here that I found my 8 year old, seemingly healthy easter-egger Brownie dead on the floor of the coop this morning. 8 years ago I bought 17 hens and have only 6 left now, due to various happenings/illnesses.
Since they are fairly old, I tend to not be quite as compulsive about checking them all over all the time, if they seem perfectly normal.
I had been finding some poop with yellow in it for a couple months on the roost. I guess I, maybe wrongly, assumed that this was a normal variation in their poop.......especially since they were older. It was brown poop with yellow the color of cooked egg yolk.
As I was checking Brownie over after she died, I realized that she was probably the one pooping the brown and yellow. (she had it on her feathers around her vent).
Should I have known that this was a sign of something?? Her abdomen was normal, as was her crop. She was of good weight and her feathers were gorgeous. The only thing I find a little disconcerting was a lump under her one foot. (bumblefoot??). But she hadn't been limping at all. She seemed to eat fine, and exercised around in the run without any problems. The only thing I noticed for awhile was that she was the first one to get on the roost at night.......like she was tired. But it still seemed within normal limits to me.
Is there some illness/infection that I should have suspected with the yellow in her poop? It wasn't runny.......it was all of normal texture.
I'll be really bummed if I could have prevented her death...........but tell me what you think.
I have noticed over the past couple of years that if a hen is going to have ovary/egg-laying problems, its usually in the spring. I don't believe she's laid an egg in this past year.........but alot of mine haven't. I blamed it on their age.
Thanks.
Since they are fairly old, I tend to not be quite as compulsive about checking them all over all the time, if they seem perfectly normal.
I had been finding some poop with yellow in it for a couple months on the roost. I guess I, maybe wrongly, assumed that this was a normal variation in their poop.......especially since they were older. It was brown poop with yellow the color of cooked egg yolk.
As I was checking Brownie over after she died, I realized that she was probably the one pooping the brown and yellow. (she had it on her feathers around her vent).
Should I have known that this was a sign of something?? Her abdomen was normal, as was her crop. She was of good weight and her feathers were gorgeous. The only thing I find a little disconcerting was a lump under her one foot. (bumblefoot??). But she hadn't been limping at all. She seemed to eat fine, and exercised around in the run without any problems. The only thing I noticed for awhile was that she was the first one to get on the roost at night.......like she was tired. But it still seemed within normal limits to me.
Is there some illness/infection that I should have suspected with the yellow in her poop? It wasn't runny.......it was all of normal texture.
I'll be really bummed if I could have prevented her death...........but tell me what you think.
I have noticed over the past couple of years that if a hen is going to have ovary/egg-laying problems, its usually in the spring. I don't believe she's laid an egg in this past year.........but alot of mine haven't. I blamed it on their age.
Thanks.
