Emergency!! chicken almost dead, not moving

[Weeg]

At least ask your mom. My mom would never take a chicken to the vet, but would send it to a lab. Jus make it seem really important. That profile picture is so cute! I am again sorry of your loss and that there was nothing more you could do for him.

 

[Sapphire Sebright]

wow thank you guys so much for being so helpful. If I could I would, but unfortunately I know my mom wouldn't agree. She's one of those people who doesn't believe in veterinary care for chickens, so she would think the idea of a chicken autopsy is ridiculous. I guess I'll just keep my eye out for anything I see around that could have been poisonous, or any mold. I'll probably deep clean the coop he was in just to be safe. My profile pic is him as a chick btw, he was so adorable

Would you be able to attempt an amateur "autopsy" yourself? Just try cutting him open and inspecting the innards for any issues. You could even open the crop and stomach to see if there's any sign of mold or anything else that he might have swallowed.
If not, I totally understand -- not everyone can stomach looking at a creature's guts, especially if that creature was previously a pet.
Sorry again about your rooster.

 

[Weeg]

Would you be able to attempt an amateur "autopsy" yourself? Just try cutting him open and inspecting the innards for any issues. You could even open the crop and stomach to see if there's any sign of mold or anything else that he might have swallowed.
If not, I totally understand -- not everyone can stomach looking at a creature's guts, especially if that creature was previously a pet.
Sorry again about your rooster.

I was thinking this too, you would have to know what you were looking for, but I bet some of these members could guid you there. I have always wanted to do my own necropsy too, but didn't at the same time! Being a minor, I would need more info on how to do it, and a good self preparation first!

 

[FolkSonginC]

I was thinking this too, you would have to know what you were looking for, but I bet some of these members could guid you there. I have always wanted to do my own necropsy too, but didn't at the same time! Being a minor, I would need more info on how to do it, and a good self preparation first!

Would you be able to attempt an amateur "autopsy" yourself? Just try cutting him open and inspecting the innards for any issues. You could even open the crop and stomach to see if there's any sign of mold or anything else that he might have swallowed.
If not, I totally understand -- not everyone can stomach looking at a creature's guts, especially if that creature was previously a pet.
Sorry again about your rooster.

I don't think I could... I want to be a vet, which means blood and guts and surgery, but I don't think I could do it on my own pet. I don't know why but it almost feels worse doing it on something dead, too. but I totally get the curiosity! The only thing I can think of that seems plausible is that there's mold somewhere, so I'll inspect everything tomorrow. Would mold cause the struggling to breathe though? Not sure if this means anything because I don't really know what the crop is supposed to feel like, but when I picked him up I think it was sticking out a bit and kind of hard. That's actually something he had as a teen, for a while his crop stuck out and didn't have any feathers on it and was kinda hard. I was super concerned but then it seemed to go away. I would be curious to know if that's related somehow

 

[Weeg]

I don't think I could... I want to be a vet, which means blood and guts and surgery, but I don't think I could do it on my own pet. I don't know why but it almost feels worse doing it on something dead, too. but I totally get the curiosity!

I am gonna 1000% gonna be a vet! I would probably plan on doing it, and then start to make a cut, see my own pets blood, insides, ad then have to stop and dispose of it. If he had a hard large crop, then it was likely impacted, and could have caused this. I am not experienced with impeached crop though, so I could be wrong.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

It would be hard to know unless an investigation is done.
The hard crop going away, sounds like it was emptying.
There's many causes of a bird having difficulty breathing, if he was in the process of dying, reduced oxygen and labored breathing is not uncommon.

 

[FolkSonginC]

It would be hard to know unless an investigation is done.
The hard crop going away, sounds like it was emptying.
There's many causes of a bird having difficulty breathing, if he was in the process of dying, reduced oxygen and labored breathing is not uncommon.

it was like that for a week or so then seemed to go away on its own, not overnight. I guess the reduced oxygen makes sense, that must have just been because he was close to death

 

[KaleIAm]

I'm very sorry for your loss. It's so sad to lose a pet.

State necropsies are usually much cheaper than when done at a private vet. I understand not everyone is willing to spend money on their birds, but it doesn't cost anything to find out how much the fee is. It might be in your price range and potentially save your entire flock. But hopefully it was an isolated event.

You asked about mold, and yes mold can cause respiratory issues, but in my experience symptoms come on more slowly.

 

[FolkSonginC]

I'm very sorry for your loss. It's so sad to lose a pet.

State necropsies are usually much cheaper than when done at a private vet. I understand not everyone is willing to spend money on their birds, but it doesn't cost anything to find out how much the fee is. It might be in your price range and potentially save your entire flock. But hopefully it was an isolated event.

You asked about mold, and yes mold can cause respiratory issues, but in my experience symptoms come on more slowly.

It's not so much the price, she just thinks the idea of getting a chicken necropsied is strange and she wouldn't agree to taking time out of her day to bring it somewhere to get necropsied. I actually asked her about it once before when one of my parakeets died mysteriously, so I already know the answer.

I agree now that it probably wasn't mold, I went looking all over this morning and I didn't see anything unusual. I checked their food thoroughly and it was fresh and dry, so I honestly have no idea what it could have been. I'm not sure if there are any poisonous bugs in maine that he could have eaten? seems like a longshot. I was thinking maybe they had spilled some food and it got rained on and developed mold, and he ate it before i could notice. But they don't usually spill much and maine is going through a drought right now, so that seems unlikely.

 

[Eggcessive]

This gets me thinking, you didn't use any permethrin around the coop, or on the chickens did you? And if you did, did you use Durvet? Duvet brand permethrin contains gasoline, which is toxic.

Where did you get that information? Can you post the product you say contains gasoline? Here is the Durvet label:
https://www.durvet.com/product/permethrin-10/

OP, very sorry for your loss. You may never know what caused the seizures and death, but hopefully, there is nothing that will affect your other chickens.