Help! Chicken dying, head and neck swollen

[Wyorp Rock]

Update: another hen is dead! Also a broody with chicks. She was okay last night at sunset and dead this morning. No swollen head, no secretions from eyes or nostrils, no torticollis. No signs of an attack or a struggle. Just dead, lying there stretched out on her side, as if she keeled over. Taking her to a necropsy after work.

Oh no!

I'm glad you will be able to have her examined. When you find out the results, if you don't mind sharing with us, it would be appreciated.

 

[Petra Pancake]

DH is on the way to the institute right now with the body. I don't know how long it takes until there are results, but if and when there are, I'll post them.

 

[Petra Pancake]

Update: found the rooster dead this morning. Again, without warning. Last night at sunset he was still alive and looking normal. This morning dead with no outward signs of illness or injury. That's the 4th chicken dead in 2 weeks. I still didn't get results of the necropsy of the hen that died Tuesday.

 

[Wickedchicken6]

I'm so sorry to hear about the deaths in your flock.

I just read the entire post. It seems strange the deaths happen over night. Am I understanding it correctly that every death happened/sudden sickness happened over night? Is there any way a small predator could be accessing your coop during the night?

A couple things came to mind when reading about the first bird with the swelling.
I'm thinking @ Wyorp Rock that you were asking about the tongue specifically in case a poisonous spider/insect stung the hen on the tongue? That would illicit a reaction that would be equal on both sides of the head and neck and possibly tongue....am I close?

I've had lambs experience a severe allergic reaction. Their head became so badly swollen they couldn't lift they're head up. I consulted a vet. (who had sheep.)

His comment to me was if it was a bee or insect sting etc...only the area or one side of the head/neck would be swollen unless the sting/bite happened exactly in the middle of the face. Possible but highly unlikely. His suggestion that the reaction my lambs' had would've occurred from eating a toxic plant in the pasture.

Is it possible that your first hen could have eaten something toxic? Could the consecutive birds have eaten something toxic before night and it resulted in fatality by morning?

Could it be possible that the first bird isn't related to the the other deaths? I've had two completely separate issues happen with my sheep at the same time. Neither ended up being contagious, serious or related. (I hope when I read this in the morning..it makes sense.)

 

[Petra Pancake]

@Wickedchicken6, thanks for the input.
1- I thought about insect/spider/snake bites, but only one hen had that swollen head, the others didn't have any swelling on any part of the body.
2- Regarding plants or toxic food, after the first death two weeks ago I stopped free ranging and after the second death I even didn't let them in the run any more. They are locked up in the coop and there are no plants they could reach. They got only layer feed and a bit of bread since. The two broody hens among the four chickens that died were anyway in cages that were in the run even before that.
3 - A small predator like a weasel could possibly get in, my coop has a few weak spots. But would a predator not eat at least a bit of the bodies? And the baby chicks I have are still alive. They are without mothers. Their housing is made of the same materials as the coop and run and next to it. Wouldn't they be first choice especially for a small predator?
5- The roo must have died in the early morning. Last night I saw him roosting with the others. This morning he was dead in the far corner of the "open air" part of the coop. It looks like he walked there and then died and he wouldn't have walked at night. Also, rigor mortis was just beginning when I found him and he still felt a bit warm. I doubt a weasel or something similar could have dragged him.

It remains a mystery. Now I've noticed that one of my 3 remaining adult hens looks fluffed up and somehow "droopy". Hope she isn't the next in line. She is my favorite hen.

Hope they hurry up that necropsy. But it might be too late for my flock anyway or not treatble...

 

[Wickedchicken6]

#1 Oh...I hadn't even thought about snake bites. *shudder* We have small, non poisonous snakes. It is curious...that was quite a lot of swelling.
#2 I would likely have done the same thing as you.
#3 Your points are valid. I've never been hit by smaller predators such as weasels...but they leave a horror story in their wake. I believe they kill and bleed etc. A lot of massacre mostly just for fun. I'd also think that the baby chicks would have been taken. Good point.

I hope you get the necropsy results back very soon so you can find out what's going on. It's heartbreaking to hear of the difficulties you're having and not know what what's happening. At least if the cause is found...you can deal with things.

on fast necropsy results.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm so sorry to hear about your rooster.

I do hope you get your results soon.

The hens that are fluffed - what do their poops look like? Any loose droppings with mucous?
I really don't know here Petra...I'm just trying to think what could cause such a quick death. Newcastle and AI as discussed can come suddenly, just like Boltulism (toxins/poison).


@Wickedchicken6 yes, that was my line of thinking - some type of allergic reaction. At least that was what initially, on my part, I was hoping. It's always sad to think about diseases like AI, Newcastle, etc. The impact from these are devastating.

 

[Wickedchicken6]

@Wyorp Rock So I was on base then about your thoughts...thank you. I'm crossing my fingers that it's simple and fixable.

 

[OwO]

This may have already been mentioned, but I was wondering if maybe you have some wood shavings on the ground that are toxic? I put some decorative bark all over the ground of my run on Sunday and within 3 hours a chicken was near death so I removed all of it and isolated the ill chicken and she has recovered now. Honestly I have no clue if it was the bark that did that or not (I think it's possible she ate something toxic while free ranging due to how fast it happened) but I have heard that cedar is harmful to chickens, so it could be possible that is what is happening to your chickens.

 

[Petra Pancake]

@Wyorp Rock , I've seen one or two splashes of runny dark colored poop but most of the poop looks just normal. It's only one of the remaining 3 hens that's fluffed up a bit. They are all very silent today. No squawking, no egg song. Hope that's "only" their shock about the demise of their rooster.

@MelonHeadSeb, interesting idea but I don't use any shavings at all, just sand and dry earth. The sand is from the same bag I've been using for half a year and the earth is natural stuff scraped up from the back garden.