My pet Golden Comet passed away at the age of 7 on the morning of August 16, 2021. Before she died, she stayed in a coop in the garage every night and I took her out to an outdoor enclosure every morning.
The night before she died, I heard some ruckus in the indoor coop and went to check on her. I put her inside her kennel cab to get a better look at the coop (fearing there might have been rodents that startled her). But while I was looking she started behaving violently, screaming, jumping and flapping her wings inside the cab. I immediately took her out but found nothing in the cab that could have attacked her. I put new bedding in the coop and placed her back in. I gave her mealworms and water but she seemed uninterested (she just sat there and looked around). I left the light on and decided to check again the next morning. Unfortunately, the next morning she was dead. Her head was limp outside the coop (one side of the coop is made of wooden railings). She was on her side and it almost looked like she was trying to squeeze through. The food bowl was overturned with the mealworms mostly gone.
Does anyone know what could have been the cause of her unusual behaviour? The indoor coop that I kept her in every night is inside the garage, safe from other animals (although it's possible mice could've crawled in the garage). Now that I think about it, she had been kind of lethargic for the past couple of days (but it wasn't unusual given the summer heat and her age). She ate all the vegetables that I gave her but ate less of the other feed (mealworms, cracked corn, millet...). Could this have been Sudden Death Syndrome? What caused her violent tantrum the night before? Why did she die in such a weird position?
I am deeply saddened by her death, any closure would help. Thanks.
The night before she died, I heard some ruckus in the indoor coop and went to check on her. I put her inside her kennel cab to get a better look at the coop (fearing there might have been rodents that startled her). But while I was looking she started behaving violently, screaming, jumping and flapping her wings inside the cab. I immediately took her out but found nothing in the cab that could have attacked her. I put new bedding in the coop and placed her back in. I gave her mealworms and water but she seemed uninterested (she just sat there and looked around). I left the light on and decided to check again the next morning. Unfortunately, the next morning she was dead. Her head was limp outside the coop (one side of the coop is made of wooden railings). She was on her side and it almost looked like she was trying to squeeze through. The food bowl was overturned with the mealworms mostly gone.
Does anyone know what could have been the cause of her unusual behaviour? The indoor coop that I kept her in every night is inside the garage, safe from other animals (although it's possible mice could've crawled in the garage). Now that I think about it, she had been kind of lethargic for the past couple of days (but it wasn't unusual given the summer heat and her age). She ate all the vegetables that I gave her but ate less of the other feed (mealworms, cracked corn, millet...). Could this have been Sudden Death Syndrome? What caused her violent tantrum the night before? Why did she die in such a weird position?
I am deeply saddened by her death, any closure would help. Thanks.
