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[Katherinecs]

Good morning. This is my first post although I have been following this amazing resource since I started thinking about getting chickens. I got five May 2016 and thought I was doing everything correct. Yesterday, I realized one was ill and this morning she was dead in the coop. I contacted two local chicken experts yesterday and did all they suggested such as warm bath, massaging her cloaca in case she was egg bound. Put organic apple cider vinegar in their water. They are free range and get a wide variety of organic food. She didn't seem injured and no predators were around.

My question is do chickens sometimes out of the blue get ill? I wonder what I did wrong that a chicken, who happened to be my favorite, dies? I am all teary and sad. Like I say, she was my favorite and being so new to chicken pals in the yard, this is heart breaking.

 

[Kiki]

I'm sorry for your loss.

How did her body feel?
Boney?
How did her crop feel?

Had you ever treated for worms?
Hi there!
Welcome to BYC and thanks for joining our flock!
This video should help you find your way around, enjoy!

 

[Katherinecs]

Thank you for responding KikisGirls. Her body felt normal and her crop empty. They have been treated for worms.

 

[Katherinecs]

Further to my post earlier, I took Bloomers to the vet and she did a necropsy with me there. No known cause of death. Her body inside and out looked like a really healthy chicken. Sigh. So very sad.

 

[Kiki]

Thanks for the update.

 

[Katherinecs]

Wow! Thank you SO much for these fabulous resources. I had no idea about fermented feed and will start one going today. I also realize from the article, I am feeding too much scratch. They do get organic layer mix but reading this I see where scratch is like French fries leaving them less interested in their better food. As you can imagine, I am really concerned about my remaining 4 chickens since we don't know why Bloomers died. Now I have something tangible I can do to keep the others alive. Feeling wonderful hope. Thanks again!

 

[Kiki]

I'm glad you liked those articles!
Good luck!

 

[MyISAbrownhens]

I'm so sorry about your hen. Chicken diseases can come very suddenly. It can happen very quickly too. Don't beat yourself up. Sometimes we do everything right we possibly can and something still happens. The illness could have been from wild birds or from parasites or something else. My suggestion would be to mix in a little food grade diatomaceous earth in their food to help ward off parasites. Hope this helps.

 

[Kiki]

Feeding DE will NOT kill internal parasites, that is a horrible myth.