Hen died out of no where

[colette peters]

My 3 year old hen died out of no where this morning. She’s been laying regularly, was with her flock yesterday with no symptoms of weakness or being any were near lethargia.
This morning I noticed she was hiding in the coop. Grabbed her and right away I knew she had hours to live. Panting, shivering and doughy crop.
I took her ASAP to the vet they examined her. Not egg bound but breathing was raspy and said she seemed very uncomfortable in the abdomen.
Any ideas of how my hen showed no signs of illness 12 hours ago, and by 7am she dies??? She was the mother hen and we are devastated.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Unfortunately chickens can hide signs of illness well. Did the vet perform a necropsy? That's the only way you will know for sure why it happened. Sorry.

 

[Glitterchicks]

My 3 year old hen died out of no where this morning. She’s been laying regularly, was with her flock yesterday with no symptoms of weakness or being any were near lethargia.
This morning I noticed she was hiding in the coop. Grabbed her and right away I knew she had hours to live. Panting, shivering and doughy crop.
I took her ASAP to the vet they examined her. Not egg bound but breathing was raspy and said she seemed very uncomfortable in the abdomen.
Any ideas of how my hen showed no signs of illness 12 hours ago, and by 7am she dies??? She was the mother hen and we are devastated.

I've got no answers but I'm so sorry

 

[Wyorp Rock]

My 3 year old hen died out of no where this morning. She’s been laying regularly, was with her flock yesterday with no symptoms of weakness or being any were near lethargia.
This morning I noticed she was hiding in the coop. Grabbed her and right away I knew she had hours to live. Panting, shivering and doughy crop.
I took her ASAP to the vet they examined her. Not egg bound but breathing was raspy and said she seemed very uncomfortable in the abdomen.
Any ideas of how my hen showed no signs of illness 12 hours ago, and by 7am she dies??? She was the mother hen and we are devastated.

I'm sorry for your loss

It would be just speculation on our part - sounds like a reproductive problem complicated with crop issues and possibly Ascites.
The only way to know for sure would be to have a necropsy. Does your vet still have the body so they can do one for you? If not, refrigerate the body and send it to your state lab for testing. They will give you a report of their findings.
Your state lab https://cahfs.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/

 

[Litchfieldgirls]

Sorry for your loss....she could have eaten something if they were out the day before. It can happen that quickly. Just keep an eye on your other chicks.
good luck and hugs to you!

 

[colette peters]

I'm sorry for your loss

It would be just speculation on our part - sounds like a reproductive problem complicated with crop issues and possibly Ascites.
The only way to know for sure would be to have a necropsy. Does your vet still have the body so they can do one for you? If not, refrigerate the body and send it to your state lab for testing. They will give you a report of their findings.
Your state lab https://cahfs.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/

I still have her but we don’t have two frigerators and don’t think I can put her in our food fridge.
I’ve always wanted to send my other girls to Davis for examination but I never can fridgerate them.

 

[Krazy4Chicks]

So sorry for your loss! Hopefully it's not the Virulent Newcastle Disease that's going around in CA. If you still have the body, please call the Sick Bird Hotline at 1-866-922-2473. They can test it to see what caused the death.

 

[Ms Clucky]

Mold? How old was she?

 

[colette peters]

She was 3ish I put her in the fridge and I’m going to send her to Davis for examination on Monday.

 

[colette peters]

I'm sorry for your loss

It would be just speculation on our part - sounds like a reproductive problem complicated with crop issues and possibly Ascites.
The only way to know for sure would be to have a necropsy. Does your vet still have the body so they can do one for you? If not, refrigerate the body and send it to your state lab for testing. They will give you a report of their findings.
Your state lab https://cahfs.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/

I’m putting her in the fridge and sending her to Davis on Monday over night for examination