Help! Second chicken sudden death in less than 12 hours.

[I raise tiny dinosaurs]

We are fairly new to the backyard chicken scene. We only have 5 (2 barred rocks, 1 road island red, 2 australorp). My 17 year old is the chicken farmer and LOVES his chickens. They follow him around and want to be petted and picked up. No signs of anything amiss yesterday, but when he went out this morning, found one of the australorps out in the yard dead. No signs of injury or illness. Vent looks good, crop was empty, although it was early and they would have just come out of the coop. We checked the other four and they all looked ok. There is a tiny spot of (dry) white in the corner of 2 of the birds mouths. We have kept a close eye on them today and this evening we went to go make sure they were still doing ok and were roosting in the coop. All 4 chickens were in the coop, but our other australorp started screaming and throwing her head down into the floor of the coop repeatedly and then just died. My son is devastated and super worried that there is something wrong and he will loose all of his chickens. We checked the others again tonight. All vents look good, no sign of diarrhea, eyes are clear and not oozy, beaks and feet look health (outside of the TINY spot of white noted above that we aren't sure is anything anyway), crop's are full but not over full. Birds eating and drinking today and were active despite the weather (Arizona. it was 109 today). Anyone have any ideas on what this could be and how to stop it before it takes more birds?

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[igorsMistress]

I’m so sorry for your loss! The only way to know for sure is to send one of them for necropsy. The body should go in the refrigerator, not freezer, and you don’t have to send them to a place in your state. Here’s a link to the state labs, I’ve heard that TX is the cheapest.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/➡-necropsy-disease-testing-state-labs-info.1236884/

 

[FrostRanger]

I second getting a necropsy, anytime a mysterious illness causes death in the flock, it's a good idea to get a necropsy

 

[I raise tiny dinosaurs]

I’m so sorry for your loss! The only way to know for sure is to send one of them for necropsy. The body should go in the refrigerator, not freezer, and you don’t have to send them to a place in your state. Here’s a link to the state labs, I’ve heard that TX is the cheapest.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/➡-necropsy-disease-testing-state-labs-info.1236884/

That's a good idea. I didn't know to look out of state. I had looked for a local to me place to do a necropsy and they charge almost $3000 for it. Thank you for the info!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

We are fairly new to the backyard chicken scene. We only have 5 (2 barred rocks, 1 road island red, 2 australorp). My 17 year old is the chicken farmer and LOVES his chickens. They follow him around and want to be petted and picked up. No signs of anything amiss yesterday, but when he went out this morning, found one of the australorps out in the yard dead. No signs of injury or illness. Vent looks good, crop was empty, although it was early and they would have just come out of the coop. We checked the other four and they all looked ok. There is a tiny spot of (dry) white in the corner of 2 of the birds mouths. We have kept a close eye on them today and this evening we went to go make sure they were still doing ok and were roosting in the coop. All 4 chickens were in the coop, but our other australorp started screaming and throwing her head down into the floor of the coop repeatedly and then just died. My son is devastated and super worried that there is something wrong and he will loose all of his chickens. We checked the others again tonight. All vents look good, no sign of diarrhea, eyes are clear and not oozy, beaks and feet look health (outside of the TINY spot of white noted above that we aren't sure is anything anyway), crop's are full but not over full. Birds eating and drinking today and were active despite the weather (Arizona. it was 109 today). Anyone have any ideas on what this could be and how to stop it before it takes more birds?

Welcome To BYC

I'm sorry for your loss.

I agree, the best way to find out what's happening is to send a bird to your state lab for analysis.

Curious about the white spot on the beak you mention 2 different times. Do you have photos?

How old are the birds and what do you feed?

 

[StinkyAcres]

It sounds like maybe she had convulsions when she died? I'm wondering if it's the heat. What are you doing to help them cool down?

 

[PHquail]

My wife's chickens are dropping like flies due to obvious suffocation/aspiration, being perfectly healthy just hours before.

I wish you luck, we are torn up as well and trying to find a solution.