Died instantly, in front of me..

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BeyondBlessed

Songster
Jun 10, 2022
94
166
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We were out of town for 2 days and came back and I gave our girls some scratch as I went to gather eggs.

They were excitedly eating and I noticed they had finished off their food. (I had filled it before we left, so they must've have just finished it this morning.) So, I also went to fill their food bin. As I was walking back with food.. I heard one of them yelp. The same sound they make when one of them pecks another. So, it wasn't super abnormal.. I just assumed one of them tried to get the treat of an alpha chicken.

So I get there and dump the food... and turn around to see one of the black copper marans spread eagle on the ground, with her head sideways and closing her eyes. I picked her up instantly and brought her out of the coop. I check her throat and only saw the scratch food in her throat from her going to town eating. Not stuck or anything... but just on its way down the throat.

I tried to do chest compressions (but literally had no clue what I was doing...) and it didn't do a thing. She was gone... literally instantly.

Is this what a heart attack looks like in a chicken?

I am so confused... because we have had 3 chickens die in the last 7 months or so. One was brand new to us... so it wasn't a big deal, and we had no clue of her history. (The farm was tested to be free of any illnesses.. and is who we buy our chicks from.) But two were almost a year old and we raised from chicks. We were purchasing organic food before... but recently switched to tucker milling non gmo when the prices became too much. We feed tons of veggies, fruit, egg shells, etc. I feel like we are doing everything "right." And have lost 3...

The first two were dead when we found them.. this was the first I saw happen. But I feel like most of the people we talk to have birds for years and years. What are we doing wrong? 😔
 
BeyondBlessed said:
We were out of town for 2 days and came back and I gave our girls some scratch as I went to gather eggs.

They were excitedly eating and I noticed they had finished off their food. (I had filled it before we left, so they must've have just finished it this morning.) So, I also went to fill their food bin. As I was walking back with food.. I heard one of them yelp. The same sound they make when one of them pecks another. So, it wasn't super abnormal.. I just assumed one of them tried to get the treat of an alpha chicken.

So I get there and dump the food... and turn around to see one of the black copper marans spread eagle on the ground, with her head sideways and closing her eyes. I picked her up instantly and brought her out of the coop. I check her throat and only saw the scratch food in her throat from her going to town eating. Not stuck or anything... but just on its way down the throat.

I tried to do chest compressions (but literally had no clue what I was doing...) and it didn't do a thing. She was gone... literally instantly.

Is this what a heart attack looks like in a chicken?

I am so confused... because we have had 3 chickens die in the last 7 months or so. One was brand new to us... so it wasn't a big deal, and we had no clue of her history. (The farm was tested to be free of any illnesses.. and is who we buy our chicks from.) But two were almost a year old and we raised from chicks. We were purchasing organic food before... but recently switched to tucker milling non gmo when the prices became too much. We feed tons of veggies, fruit, egg shells, etc. I feel like we are doing everything "right." And have lost 3...

The first two were dead when we found them.. this was the first I saw happen. But I feel like most of the people we talk to have birds for years and years. What are we doing wrong? 😔
Click to expand...
How often do you give the treats? Scratch Grains, Veggies, fruits, & whatever else?
 
Sorry for your loss. It is worse seeing one die suddenly in front of you. I witnessed several of my chickens die suddenly. Were they out of water as well as feed when you returned? If they were really hungry, I suppose she could have aspirated feed, but probably not likely. It would be impossible to tell you exactly what happened to her to cause her death without a necropsy. Your state vet could do one, and if that is not possible, you could open her up and look at her abdominal organs. Take pictures if you do, and post here for opinions. Here is a list of state vets if you want a necropsy:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html
 
:hugs Sorry to hear :hugs
Something similar happened to me, fed the girls an all was fine. I returned a few hours later, I found one of them dead. From the looks, she died as she walked; one her side with one foot in front of the other. Checking her over, no injury & I hadn't heard any odd noises coming from the CH. The body was starting to get stiff, it was the weekend and no way could I chill the body for a necropsy.
 
Thank you all so much! They get scratch maybe once a week.. to twice a week. They get veggies/weeds every other day or so... sometimes daily. It depends on what we have leftover that day from our meals.

They had a ton of water left still, and when we fed them.. I fed them enough for 3 days. There is typically food leftover when we get home in the morning.. but since we came back in the afternoon, I assume they finished it this morning.

She wasn't overweight at all. You could feel her bones as I was doing the chest compressions. She didn't seem to have an egg in her and her sac didn't feel full, either. She was always a bit "special needs" as she could never walk right.. and needed a splint when she was born. She got around fine though. She was near the bottom of the pecking order.. but didn't seem to get on anyone's nerves or anything.

We already buried her, unfortunately. So, we can't open it up to see what it could be. It just "felt" like a heart attack with how quick it happened. But I want to be sure we aren't doing to cause it.
 
BeyondBlessed said:
Thank you all so much! They get scratch maybe once a week.. to twice a week. They get veggies/weeds every other day or so... sometimes daily. It depends on what we have leftover that day from our meals.

They had a ton of water left still, and when we fed them.. I fed them enough for 3 days. There is typically food leftover when we get home in the morning.. but since we came back in the afternoon, I assume they finished it this morning.

She wasn't overweight at all. You could feel her bones as I was doing the chest compressions. She didn't seem to have an egg in her and her sac didn't feel full, either. She was always a bit "special needs" as she could never walk right.. and needed a splint when she was born. She got around fine though. She was near the bottom of the pecking order.. but didn't seem to get on anyone's nerves or anything.

We already buried her, unfortunately. So, we can't open it up to see what it could be. It just "felt" like a heart attack with how quick it happened. But I want to be sure we aren't doing to cause it.
Click to expand...
I'd cut all treats back to every other week, or at most monthly. You could mix it up. Too many goodies can be bad for their health. Keep them on their regular feed, if they free range, they can do that too.
 

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