Help

[LyndaNks]

HI there everyone, i need help...I found one of my chickens (a black australorp 25 week old hen) very lethargic this morning sitting in the bottom of the coop not moving but breathing. When my husband went to open the main coop door to let them out to free range this one did not move so he picked her up and she was still very lethargic. We allow our chickens to free range all day and they go in their coops at night like normal. All weekend we never noticed anything weird with her or never noticed her laying in the coop at all, she was out with the rest ALL weekend until this morning when we found her like this. My hubby put her in the barn by herself with food and water until i got home from work to find her dead. I feel so bad for her bc I am not sure if she was sick or this is a fluke? My question is....is there something I should be doing to protect the rest of the flock incase she was sick? Also, if she was how would we know? She had no symptoms (obvy ones like normal comb, no limping, laying around by herself etc) and we have 24 chickens total. I did call our vet and one who does chickens and they said to wait to see if any others pop up sick or dead!~?? I hate to do that if its something i can help the others with.Has anyone had this happen before? Is there something I could check on her to tell or is it too late since she has passed? The vet said tests would come back un-true bc she has already been dead for awhile.....

Thanks for any help and advice in advance

 

[Abriana]

I'm so sorry to hear that she died. She possibly could have been egg-bound. Or she could have just had something wrong with her and it wasn't anything you could prevent. I don't know too much about chicken sicknesses, but I am sure others who do will offer some more helpful advice.

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC, and sorry that you lost your pullet. A necropsy can be done by your state vet if you can refrigerate the body, and ship it on ice. Many times when a pullet comes near the point of laying, they can have a stuck egg, or die from a problem with organ failure such as heart failure. You can check inside her vent with a gloved finger to feel for a stuck egg. Crop impaction is another common problem in chickens. I hope you can figure it out, but many times chickens just suddenly die. Let us know if you need contact info for your dept of agriculture or state poultry vet.

 

[PD-Riverman]

Chickens, all different ages die---without notice---its happen to me a number of times in the last 50+ years. I seen one 1 yr old hen getting on the roost---slipped, then looked like she was trying to hold on to the roost pole hanging by holding on with her head then she fell backwards and starting flopping----I guess she broke her neck. If I had not of seen this---I would have no idea why she died.
Yes if you have more that is getting sick and dying---that's time to move fast. I had about 8 or 10 to die with in 3 or 4 days----I drove 6 hrs and had a necropsy done---I lost some more in the next few days waiting on the results----when I got them I got to work doctoring----I lost 28 but it could have been worse because I had right at 1000, BUT they were showing signs of being sick----which most sick do! Good Luck

 

[LyndaNks]

I'm so sorry to hear that she died. She possibly could have been egg-bound. Or she could have just had something wrong with her and it wasn't anything you could prevent. I don't know too much about chicken sicknesses, but I am sure others who do will offer some more helpful advice.

I did hear about being egg bound (especially since she is young and they are all just starting to lay for us) and thought maybe this could be the case but wouldn't i feel it if that were the case? Thanks so much for the reply!

 

[LyndaNks]

Welcome to BYC, and sorry that you lost your pullet. A necropsy can be done by your state vet if you can refrigerate the body, and ship it on ice. Many times when a pullet comes near the point of laying, they can have a stuck egg, or die from a problem with organ failure such as heart failure. You can check inside her vent with a gloved finger to feel for a stuck egg. Crop impaction is another common problem in chickens. I hope you can figure it out, but many times chickens just suddenly die. Let us know if you need contact info for your dept of agriculture or state poultry vet.

I did mention this option to my vet and they said she really needed to go in the fridge long ago? IDK is this something I should do to find out? If so, is it expensive?---Thanks for the advice

 

[Abriana]

I did hear about being egg bound (especially since she is young and they are all just starting to lay for us) and thought maybe this could be the case but wouldn't i feel it if that were the case? Thanks so much for the reply!

i have never had an egg bound hen, but i would imagine you could feel it, but maybe not in all cases. If you just noticed it one day, and the same day she died, it probably wasn't an egg issue. In many cases, there is plenty of time to treat and cure before death occurs.

 

[LyndaNks]

Chickens, all different ages die---without notice---its happen to me a number of times in the last 50+ years. I seen one 1 yr old hen getting on the roost---slipped, then looked like she was trying to hold on to the roost pole hanging by holding on with her head then she fell backwards and starting flopping----I guess she broke her neck. If I had not of seen this---I would have no idea why she died.
Yes if you have more that is getting sick and dying---that's time to move fast. I had about 8 or 10 to die with in 3 or 4 days----I drove 6 hrs and had a necropsy done---I lost some more in the next few days waiting on the results----when I got them I got to work doctoring----I lost 28 but it could have been worse because I had right at 1000, BUT they were showing signs of being sick----which most sick do! Good Luck

Thanks so much for your replies..shoot i hate to lose chickens but everyone local is telling me it was probably fluke and to wait to see if anymore die..seems harsh to wait for that but idk. I thought the vet would tell me to treat all of them just incase but I guess thats not necessary? I do put a splash of ACV in their water and we change the waters 1-2 times a day. As far as their poop goes, we have mulberry trees they eat the berries off of so their poop is all so dark can't really tell if there is blood in any of them really- even then, having 20 some chickens i would NEVER know who was who's. lol

 

[LyndaNks]

i have never had an egg bound hen, but i would imagine you could feel it, but maybe not in all cases. If you just noticed it one day, and the same day she died, it probably wasn't an egg issue. In many cases, there is plenty of time to treat and cure before death occurs.

Thats what I was thinking. Everyone I have talked to said she would have been showing signs of being sick for a few days atleast or she would be off in the coop by herself laying there and she was with the flock normal all weekend! I just didn't know if i should be treating them all with an antibiotic or something but the vet doesn't think this is necessary.

 

[LyndaNks]

I don't even know if she (the hen that died today) has been laying or not but since we don't know how she died will the eggs be ok from the rest of the flock?