Heartbroken - Need answers 😭

[Eggcessive]

At that age I doubt that it was Mareks. For what it is worth I did a couple of necropsies earlier this summer on 2 old hens about 7-8 yeras old and found ascites, cancer, and lash egg material. When cancer spreads it can leave those light colored nodules along organs and intestines. These things are very common in older hens.

 

[Tre3hugger]

Don't beat yourself up. 5 is a nice age for a hen. Live and learn!

 

[Mumtomany]

It's very hard to know when to make the call. You did the best you could without having a way to know what was going on

Thank you. We need a crystal ball for these things

 

[BarredRockMom]

Unfortunately, there isn't always a clear cut path when trying to help our friends. A lot is trial, error & frankly praying that you're doing the right thing. Sometimes it all works out & other times there's nothing to be done but apply TLC & a quick, merciful end to the suffering.

It looks like she was riddled with tumors, sadly. There's no way to know that at the beginning of your efforts to nurse her back to health. All of the tumors wreaked havoc on her internal organs & created a lot of fluid build-up, as you know.

You did the absolute best thing for her every step of the way, from recognizing that something wasn't right, to trying to nurse her & keep her comfortable, to ending her suffering & now sharing her story with us.

I suspect that you feel terrible that you didn't know sooner & submit that you were reading the signs as best you could. Instead of feeling guilty that you didn't know sooner, acknowledge that you couldn't have guessed that things were like you ultimately found them to be. While it's a horrible thing & very sad, give yourself a chicken hug from your baby & know that she thanks you for helping her to be at peace & out of pain.

It's the absolute WORST part of having chickens yet it's the most important part.

Sorry for your loss. And take some comfort that this isn't something that many of us have seen before, so there's a rarity factor, too.

 

[Mumtomany]

At that age I doubt that it was Mareks. For what it is worth I did a couple of necropsies earlier this summer on 2 old hens about 7-8 yeras old and found ascites, cancer, and lash egg material. When cancer spreads it can leave those light colored nodules along organs and intestines. These things are very common in older hens.

What is considered an old hen. I have got 3 hens that came with the property so must be at the very least 10 years old. I’ve been here 7 years and the previous owners said they were getting old. There were 5 that came With the property and 3 of them are still here.

 

[Mumtomany]

Unfortunately, there isn't always a clear cut path when trying to help our friends. A lot is trial, error & frankly praying that you're doing the right thing. Sometimes it all works out & other times there's nothing to be done but apply TLC & a quick, merciful end to the suffering.

It looks like she was riddled with tumors, sadly. There's no way to know that at the beginning of your efforts to nurse her back to health. All of the tumors wreaked havoc on her internal organs & created a lot of fluid build-up, as you know.

You did the absolute best thing for her every step of the way, from recognizing that something wasn't right, to trying to nurse her & keep her comfortable, to ending her suffering & now sharing her story with us.

I suspect that you feel terrible that you didn't know sooner & submit that you were reading the signs as best you could. Instead of feeling guilty that you didn't know sooner, acknowledge that you couldn't have guessed that things were like you ultimately found them to be. While it's a horrible thing & very sad, give yourself a chicken hug from your baby & know that she thanks you for helping her to be at peace & out of pain.

It's the absolute WORST part of having chickens yet it's the most important part.

Sorry for your loss. And take some comfort that this isn't something that many of us have seen before, so there's a rarity factor, too.

Thank you so much for your kind words

 

[Mumtomany]

Thank you.

 

[BarredRockMom]

*sigh*. Ten year old hens....we should all be so lucky to have our friends that long!

 

[Eggcessive]

Yes, 10 years is quite a feat. I have several 8 year olds and recently lost two of my 9 year olds, my oldest. According to most literature, oviduct cancer and reproductive infections are common after 2 years, especially in some of the production hens who lay every day.

 

[M Brennen]

She was 5 years old. I’ve never seen so many lumps before all over everything inside her. She was in such a bad way. She must have been suffering for such a long time if her internals were that bad . I’m wondering if there were signs and I just didn’t pick up on them. Lately I’ve been leaving for work in the dark and coming back in the dark and I’ve just been checking their food and water and with a flashlight counting them each night to make sure everyone was home. I’m gonna watch everyone like a hawk from now on

It’s hard to recognize something like that. Chickens get sick and sometimes we never know what with or why. Thank you for sharing your story. I am sorry you had to go through that.