HELP! 1 CHICKEN DEAD ANOTHER SOON?

[austinclarksf]

Hello,

Yesterday afternoon I went into the coop to find my barred rock cochin laying dead on the coop floor. I inspected her, to find no clues whatsoever, and she was acting as normal as could be all the day before. I acquired her 3-4 months ago, she's been very healthy. She is maybe around 2-3 years old.

Now one of my other girls is lethargic and sleepy. She is a (up until now) very healthy Welsummer, approx 1 1/2 years old. After cleaning the coop yesterday, I noticed her lethargy. She is just laying around closing her eyes, picking up her head when called or bothered. This morning she is still in the coop, when she is normally the first one out. This is the first I've noticed of her lethargy.

All of my girls have been panting a lounging a lot, which I attribute to this heat spell- it's been over 100 for the past 5 days. But with one mysteriously dead and another looking sickly- HELP! I lost a barred rock over the winter to a respiratory disease, and since then almost all of my hens still have a little sneeze that comes and goes. They were all been treated with antibiotics at the time of her death. However, my barred rock was NOT sneezing, not even once. (It is very dusty and dry here in ABQ New Mexico, and their coop is dusty by nature.) My welsummer has a consistent sneeze, but she has stopped it since the lethargy set in.

There is always ACV in their water which I change daily, tons of fresh food available, I feed them weeds from the garden and organic veggie scraps, and I even give them yogurt regularly. Why are my chickens dying?!?!?

 

[austinclarksf]

Looking at her again, her comb is a sickly purple. When I try to provoke her to move, she does not lift her tail, and slowly waddles/staggers away and promptly lays back down, like it is painful to walk. Her breathing is labored and slow, but she is not sneezing, snotting, or coughing like my old hen was doing before I put her odnw last winter.

 

[Traucins]

Is her crop ok? Overful? Hard? Or feels like a water baloon?

 

[Traucins]

Chicken mites or lice?

 

[casportpony]

So Sorry... A purple comb, along with the other symptoms, is most likely a sign that she is going to die and there probably isn't anything you can do for her at this point.

If she is still outside, you should bring her in and put her in a warm, quiet spot.

You should probably send one or both off for a necropsy. If you're in the US, do a search for the state you live in with veterinary diagnostic laboratory. I live in CA, so I would search for "california veterinary diagnostic laboratory". Many states, like CA, have a free service, so check it out

Sorry for your losses,
Kathy

 

[ten chicks]

Hello,

Yesterday afternoon I went into the coop to find my barred rock cochin laying dead on the coop floor. I inspected her, to find no clues whatsoever, and she was acting as normal as could be all the day before. I acquired her 3-4 months ago, she's been very healthy. She is maybe around 2-3 years old.

Now one of my other girls is lethargic and sleepy. She is a (up until now) very healthy Welsummer, approx 1 1/2 years old. After cleaning the coop yesterday, I noticed her lethargy. She is just laying around closing her eyes, picking up her head when called or bothered. This morning she is still in the coop, when she is normally the first one out. This is the first I've noticed of her lethargy.

All of my girls have been panting a lounging a lot, which I attribute to this heat spell- it's been over 100 for the past 5 days. But with one mysteriously dead and another looking sickly- HELP! I lost a barred rock over the winter to a respiratory disease, and since then almost all of my hens still have a little sneeze that comes and goes. They were all been treated with antibiotics at the time of her death. However, my barred rock was NOT sneezing, not even once. (It is very dusty and dry here in ABQ New Mexico, and their coop is dusty by nature.) My welsummer has a consistent sneeze, but she has stopped it since the lethargy set in.

There is always ACV in their water which I change daily, tons of fresh food available, I feed them weeds from the garden and organic veggie scraps, and I even give them yogurt regularly. Why are my chickens dying?!?!?

Heat stroke/heat stress can kill chickens,they do not tolerate heat at all. Normal body temp is around 104-107 degrees Fahrenheit,when body temp. reaches anything around 113,chickens may be in danger. Purple comb can indicate circulation/heart issues. The purpose of the comb is to cool down chickens by circulating blood between comb and wattle. If you feel she may have heat stroke,cool her down immediately or she can die.

 

[casportpony]

Heat stroke/heat stress can kill chickens,they do not tolerate heat at all. Normal body temp is around 104-107 degrees Fahrenheit,when body temp. reaches anything around 113,chickens may be in danger. Purple comb can indicate circulation/heart issues. The purpose of the comb is to cool down chickens by circulating blood between comb and wattle. If you feel she may have heat stroke,cool her down immediately or she can die.

Very good info...I just lost one to heat stroke yesterday and have two other in my bathroom getting fluids.

-Kathy

 

[austinclarksf]

I took her in to the vet because she was in critical condition. They had a regiment of expensive ideas- but the vet and I agreed with casportpony the color of her comb and her listlessness was at a point of no return. They didn't charge me for euthanizing or for he exam. They are going to do an autopsy- $500 because they are the only vet open in this **** town on a Sunday. I had them do x-rays but the doc doesn't know enough about birds to tell me much other than she has metal in her stomach.

Anyone else want to take a gander? The doctor said it was probably not a respiratory problem with the lack of lung damage, and that it was not sour crop or eggbound. No mites or lice.







These were pics of the computer screen I took with my phone- sorry for the quality.

My main question is- what the hell do I do now? Thats two chickens in two days, to what? I'm going to clean the coop well and replace all the bedding. Still, I want to prevent any more loss from what could be killing my hens before I get the results from the autopsy.

I found a black widow in their nesting box a week ago that I killed instantly, but have not seen any cobwebs since. Do widows kill chickens? If my neighbors use roundup and other stuff on their lawns- could they be poisoning my hens? My girls do not go in their yards. What can I do to help cool the chickens down? They have access to water and shade, and their coop is well ventilated. Heat stroke is an instant kill, is it not? Even if it did take my barred rock, this hen was getting progressively worse over a day or so. Whats is going on here?

 

[austinclarksf]

As far as heat goes with- It cooled down last night considerably. When I went out to the coop at 6am this morning it was quite cool, and she was laying in this debilitated state.

 

[casportpony]

So sorry for you losses...

Interesting radiographs, I'm no expert, but one looks like it could be cancer, but the other looks like foreign objects, maybe in the gizzard?

Anyway, I lost two in one day awhile back, had necropsies done on both and they both died from unrelated causes, so maybe that's what's going on at your place.

$500 is way too much for a necropsy if you live in the US. I think that it would be less than $250 for you to ship her to UC Davis, and that would include tons of tests and shipping. Let me know if you need help on that.

-kathy