Help

[GeeseMama]

Hey! Hope everyone had a great holiday...

Was hoping I could get some help. My daughter's peahen, 7 months old, literally just dropped dead last night during the night. There were no symptoms, no signs, no change in anything. Nothing got a hole of it either. It is housed with another hen who is dearly missing her friend right now. They eat game bird feed, mealworms, eggs, fruits and veggies. They also free range during the day and are locked up at night. Does anyone have any ideas what would've happened? It's just crazy. She was totally fine last night when she was put into her cage/coup. And believe you me, these two peafowl are kept cleaner than most and have a huge cage with a huge coup that gets them completely out of the elements. It has not been really cold here for the last week. 30s at night and 40-50 during the day

 

[sylviethecochin]

I'm not a peafowl person, but I think you're going to have to get a professional necroscopy for this one. It sounds like an internal infection, maybe some sort of clostridial disease, and you'd want the medications to treat it, in case it's contagious.

Could also be a genetic issue.

 

[featherhead007]

Sorry for your loss

 

[KsKingBee]

Inspect the neck for a break. It is something that happens much too often peas will flush at night when something scares them. They will hit the roof or something hard and break necks. If you can not have a necropsy done you can skin the neck looking for either a spot where the neck flexes easily or for a blood clot.

 

[GeeseMama]

Inspect the neck for a break. It is something that happens much too often peas will flush at night when something scares them. They will hit the roof or something hard and break necks. If you can not have a necropsy done you can skin the neck looking for either a spot where the neck flexes easily or for a blood clot.

Thanks. There was not a break. She was checked over thoroughly and there were absolutely no physical signs of any damage. I checked and the hubby double checked

 

[GeeseMama]

I'm not a peafowl person, but I think you're going to have to get a professional necroscopy for this one. It sounds like an internal infection, maybe some sort of clostridial disease, and you'd want the medications to treat it, in case it's contagious.

Could also be a genetic issue.

I thought about the genetic issue or internal abnormality as well. But there were no signs of anything, no warning, not even a change in behavior.
As far as disease wise, again no signs or symptoms and none of the others are I'll (as of yet and hoping stays that way)

 

[Midnightman14]

Might've been bad genes reducing vigor and increasing chances of sudden death. I've had it happen before.

 

[GeeseMama]

Everyone else is fine so far. So we shall see, but I am thinking that it was something genetic. It's sad, she was only 7 months old and my daughter's pet

 

[casportpony]

I am very sorry for your loss. Would you consider doing a necropsy?

 

[GeeseMama]

I am very sorry for your loss. Would you consider doing a necropsy?

Thank you.
No. A necropsy was not an option from the beginning.The peacock is already buried in our little pet graveyard. This was my daughter's hen and it was a pet. She received two hens for her birthday. We have had some deaths in the family recently that she has had to cope with so needless to say the necropsy was not as important as her peace of mind. I honestly would really have liked to have o e done but she just wasn't having it, and that's ok at this point.