Found one of my flock dead

[ObiWanHenobi]

Morning all,

Found one of my flock dead (Dorothy) this morning in the coop. I've promptly removed the body and noticed that the poop underneath was black, signaling some internal bleeding? I didn't see any signs of predation or disease. Her comb and waddle were very pale though, but I thought it was because she had been molting. Her appetite was fine as far as I could tell. She was 3ish years old. Should I clean the coop entirely?

One of the two others (Blanche) just finished molting and looks quite healthy - bright red comb/waddle and is eating/drinking and I believe laying again. The other's (Rose) waddle and comb are bright red but it looks like she has a bit of blood at the top of her beak and around the comb. I've included pics.

Egg production had been off for the flock as a whole, but we had been dealing with vermin and our neighbour's dog that barks incessantly, often near the coop.

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

[azygous]

Open her up and take photos as you go. The secret to photos that give us maximum information is to balance closeups with corresponding contextual photos so we can better identify what we're seeing and also have scale to bring us closer to reality.

There are many of us here who can stop by and comment. We'll holler for them to come see your photos.

My own experience with necropsies is that I can now identify tumors. Others know their way much better around internal organs and they can stop by and comment. You may find "hardboiled" eggs in the abdominal cavity. That would tell you the hen died from internal laying. Dark murky fluid in the abdomen can mean end stage liver disease.

You might cut open intestines and discover a heavy worm load killed the chicken. Some organs may be enlarged grotesquely, and they will be a clur an avian virus may be present in your flock.

 

[The-White-Elephant]

Morning all,

Found one of my flock dead (Dorothy) this morning in the coop. I've promptly removed the body and noticed that the poop underneath was black, signaling some internal bleeding? I didn't see any signs of predation or disease. Her comb and waddle were very pale though, but I thought it was because she had been molting. Her appetite was fine as far as I could tell. She was 3ish years old. Should I clean the coop entirely?

One of the two others (Blanche) just finished molting and looks quite healthy - bright red comb/waddle and is eating/drinking and I believe laying again. The other's (Rose) waddle and comb are bright red but it looks like she has a bit of blood at the top of her beak and around the comb. I've included pics.

Egg production had been off for the flock as a whole, but we had been dealing with vermin and our neighbour's dog that barks incessantly, often near the coop.

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!

Welcome to BYC!

Sorry for the loss, I hope you don’t lose any more. These people can help you more than I can: @azygous @Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock @cmom @MysteryChicken

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry that she died.
Without necropsy, there's no way to really know why. If you still have the body, then consider sending it to your state lab for analysis or if you can do your own informal necropsy, taking a look at the organs you may be able to get a bit more info.
A 3 year old hen, I would probably suspect reproductive issues or heart failure, but that's just a suspicion unless you take a look.

You can find your lab here https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html

Hens that are in molt or just finishing up molt are usually not in lay. As days get longer, then laying resumes. Look your Gals over for lice/mites too.

Having to deal with vermin can be a pain. Do an onsite search for some tips to trap and/or poison them, depending on your setup. I usually trap, but have used bait stations as well (secured where the birds don't have access).

 

[azygous]

The body of this dead cicken can tell you more about why she died than we can.

Refrigerate the body and locate a state agricultural animal testing lab and have a necropsy done. Or you can cut her open and see what you can see. Often, what killed a chicken has obvious clues, and can help you understand how the death may have consequences for the rest of the flock.

Give us your location and we can help you find the lab if you wish to go that route.

 

[mccmeadows]

Thanks for all the info. I live in Southwestern Ontario and will look to see if there are labs nearby. I'll take another look at the two remaining hens to see if there are lice/mites.

The vermin have been taken care of for the most part. I trapped diligently throughout the summer and haven't found rat poop in the coop for months. Laying didn't seem to resume as normal though.

I believe the only place you can send for a necropsy in our area is Guelph University. It’s the only place we could find in the summer when we were looking, but we didn’t end up being able to get to them.

 

[ObiWanHenobi]

Open her up and take photos as you go. The secret to photos that give us maximum information is to balance closeups with corresponding contextual photos so we can better identify what we're seeing and also have scale to bring us closer to reality.

There are many of us here who can stop by and comment. We'll holler for them to come see your photos.

My own experience with necropsies is that I can now identify tumors. Others know their way much better around internal organs and they can stop by and comment. You may find "hardboiled" eggs in the abdominal cavity. That would tell you the hen died from internal laying. Dark murky fluid in the abdomen can mean end stage liver disease.

You might cut open intestines and discover a heavy worm load killed the chicken. Some organs may be enlarged grotesquely, and they will be a clur an avian virus may be present in your flock.

This is excellent, thank you. I'll do that over the weekend and share more photos.

 

[ObiWanHenobi]

I'm sorry that she died.
Without necropsy, there's no way to really know why. If you still have the body, then consider sending it to your state lab for analysis or if you can do your own informal necropsy, taking a look at the organs you may be able to get a bit more info.
A 3 year old hen, I would probably suspect reproductive issues or heart failure, but that's just a suspicion unless you take a look.

You can find your lab here https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html

Hens that are in molt or just finishing up molt are usually not in lay. As days get longer, then laying resumes. Look your Gals over for lice/mites too.

Having to deal with vermin can be a pain. Do an onsite search for some tips to trap and/or poison them, depending on your setup. I usually trap, but have used bait stations as well (secured where the birds don't have access).

Thanks for all the info. I live in Southwestern Ontario and will look to see if there are labs nearby. I'll take another look at the two remaining hens to see if there are lice/mites.

The vermin have been taken care of for the most part. I trapped diligently throughout the summer and haven't found rat poop in the coop for months. Laying didn't seem to resume as normal though.

 

[azygous]

From the photo of the feathers, the dead hen was extremely dehydrated, perhaps also underweight. That would also very likely cause a pale comb. The chicken was either too sick to drink or was being bullied away from food and water and became too weak to keep trying to get to food and water.

 

[ObiWanHenobi]

Welcome to BYC!

Sorry for the loss, I hope you don’t lose any more. These people can help you more than I can: @azygous @Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock @cmom @MysteryChicken

Thank you!