abitaman633
In the Brooder
- Jan 17, 2018
- 10
- 16
- 26
TLDR version: Seemingly strong, healthy chicken found shaking and died hours later.
Hopped on here to write a message about a suddenly sick Plymouth Rock (~9 mos old) who appeared perfectly healthy as of yesterday. Most upbeat, top-of-the-pecking order chicken that we have. Unfortunately the chicken died in the middle of writing this.
Put our chickens in the coop last night and let them out today. The now deceased bird did not come out (which I did not think abnormal as often one stays behind to lay). We checked in the late afternoon after noticing she had not come out all day and saw her laying on her side with an egg (covered in feces) next to her. She had laid the egg on the floor of the coop and not in the nesting box where she normally lays.
Her comb was very light and she was shaking. We immediately brought her inside to the warmth and she continued to shake, twitch/flop her head, then lay steady with her eyes closed slightly shaking. She drank water when we gave it to her at first and ate a bit of strawberry. She gained color in her comb and seemed like she was coming back and slightly opened her eyes. The shaking started again and once in awhile she would raise up and twist her head. She died a few hours later.
When we first found her we thought maybe it was the cold. Temperatures got down to ~20 degrees last night. We have a coop that has a ventilation outlet and a square (~1'x1') at the bottom where a ramp leads out. I've read that chickens easily withstand these temperatures and to not put our heat lamp in there so I did not think the cold would have been a factor
The chicken had exhibited no odd symptoms and was doing great as of yesterday. She had no swelling in the eyes and a check of her body revealed no injuries or mites. There was no odd smell coming from her. None of our other 4 birds have exhibited symptoms. Only odd note is that the last 3-4 nights I have found that 2 of the birds don't go inside the coop at night. I have to pick them up and put them in there. Tonight with the now deceased chicken gone, the two that have been sleeping outside are sleeping inside.
It seems as though the problem could have been neurological--although it seemed to come on so quickly. Could she have gotten ill and then become a lot worse due to staying in the coop all day in cold temps with no food/water? Ideas would help. In the meantime I will keep close eyes on the rest of the flock.
Hopped on here to write a message about a suddenly sick Plymouth Rock (~9 mos old) who appeared perfectly healthy as of yesterday. Most upbeat, top-of-the-pecking order chicken that we have. Unfortunately the chicken died in the middle of writing this.
Put our chickens in the coop last night and let them out today. The now deceased bird did not come out (which I did not think abnormal as often one stays behind to lay). We checked in the late afternoon after noticing she had not come out all day and saw her laying on her side with an egg (covered in feces) next to her. She had laid the egg on the floor of the coop and not in the nesting box where she normally lays.
Her comb was very light and she was shaking. We immediately brought her inside to the warmth and she continued to shake, twitch/flop her head, then lay steady with her eyes closed slightly shaking. She drank water when we gave it to her at first and ate a bit of strawberry. She gained color in her comb and seemed like she was coming back and slightly opened her eyes. The shaking started again and once in awhile she would raise up and twist her head. She died a few hours later.
When we first found her we thought maybe it was the cold. Temperatures got down to ~20 degrees last night. We have a coop that has a ventilation outlet and a square (~1'x1') at the bottom where a ramp leads out. I've read that chickens easily withstand these temperatures and to not put our heat lamp in there so I did not think the cold would have been a factor
The chicken had exhibited no odd symptoms and was doing great as of yesterday. She had no swelling in the eyes and a check of her body revealed no injuries or mites. There was no odd smell coming from her. None of our other 4 birds have exhibited symptoms. Only odd note is that the last 3-4 nights I have found that 2 of the birds don't go inside the coop at night. I have to pick them up and put them in there. Tonight with the now deceased chicken gone, the two that have been sleeping outside are sleeping inside.
It seems as though the problem could have been neurological--although it seemed to come on so quickly. Could she have gotten ill and then become a lot worse due to staying in the coop all day in cold temps with no food/water? Ideas would help. In the meantime I will keep close eyes on the rest of the flock.
I don't think I can be of much help in this, but I wanted to offer my condolences.
