Had to euthanize my baby today...

[kestrel42]

I got home from work and found my beautiful Americauna down in the hen house being pecked to death by her sister hens. Rushed her to hospital but things looked bad. She had a fever, couldn't move her legs, could barley raise her head and had a heart murmur. I thought about hospitalizing her overnight, but it just seemed silly to do it when her chances were so bad. So $200 later I have a dead chicken in the refrigerator and another decision to make- should I send her in for a necropsy to determine why she died? The vet was not a chicken expert but had some exp w chickens. She thought it might have been mereks since there were neurological losses, but the heart murmur is a weird symptom that indicates it may have been something else. Any advice? This was a favorite bird of mine...

 

[Davian]

Hopefully it wasn't mareks...if it was, your entire flock could be in trouble.

 

[JosieChick]

So sorry for your loss

It is so hard to lose a bird, they each have a special place in our heart. It might be worthwhile to send her in for necropsy, it would give you information on why she died so you can learn from her death and also watch your other birds if it is something that the others could become ill from. SO sorry again, it is always the favorites

 

[faerielady]

Quote:
E. coli can mimic Mereks.

 

[kestrel42]

Thanks for the kind words. She WAS a cool bird. She showed no overt signs of illness prior to today but she had stopped laying a few weeks ago. I thought it was just the time of year. She was my only bird to lay non brown eggs so hers stood out! She was almost 8 months old-I thought that mereks usually hit them younger than that?