Hen died out of no where

[colette peters]

Well I know it doesn’t make it hurt any less, but there are about 50 other things you would never want to see on a necropsy report that were not on yours.
RIP Loretta. I’m so sorry, it must be very hard to keep digging this all up.


When you say bedding..what are you referring to? Inside your coop under the roosts?

@Wyorp Rock Yes. Since you may think the Koop clean is maybe not the best choice.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

@Morrigan
@Wyorp Rock
I will read that.
I have just one hen in particular that seems to have reacuring crop issues. I think she’s really sensitive to change of feed and grassy things. Other than that all 11 are healthy.
But I will change their food again if you think the premixed oyster shells and cracked corn should be separate. I thought they would just pick out what they want.
But yes they have access to feed throughout the day out of a feeder. There are two of them filled at all times along with plenty of fresh water.

@Wyorp Rock what do you recommend I use for bedding/nesting box? Wood shavings?

@Wyorp Rock Yes. Since you may think the Koop clean is maybe not the best choice.

Well, I didn't say the Koop Clean is not the best choice...I'm saying that it's another possible "roughage" that was found blocking the intestines.
Personally I use straw and/or pine shavings in my coop. Straw in the run mainly in the winter. Sometimes I add pine needles or leaves to the run as well.

I'm not a fan of anything really being added to feed. The feed analysis looks o.k. to me as far as that goes, but it's already corn based, but has cracked corn and oyster shell added as well. If it were mine flock, they would be picking out all the cracked corn before they ate the pellets, I would also worry that they would have to hunt/pick around oyster shell to get to the pellets. That's me.

 

[Stephine]

I don’t think koop clean is a bad choice. There are pros and cons to most bedding choices... Koop clean is mostly short chopped hay. Straw has the disadvantage of offering mites a nice place to hang out (in the hollow stems). Pine shavings are worse if eaten. Rice hulls blow all over the place and are full of arsenic... and so on.
I think that we do our best to offer good conditions and then if a hen is set on killing herself, well at some point it’s on her. Mine are free ranging anfewbtimes a week and they could eat all kinds of stuffbthey shouldn’t if they were dumb enough to do that.... We can’t control everything - if we tried, they’d live like factory hens...

 

[colette peters]

Well I know it doesn’t make it hurt any less, but there are about 50 other things you would never want to see on a necropsy report that were not on yours.
RIP Loretta. I’m so sorry, it must be very hard to keep digging this all up.


When you say bedding..what are you referring to? Inside your coop under the roosts?

Well, I didn't say the Koop Clean is not the best choice...I'm saying that it's another possible "roughage" that was found blocking the intestines.
Personally I use straw and/or pine shavings in my coop. Straw in the run mainly in the winter. Sometimes I add pine needles or leaves to the run as well.
In the begging I used pine shavings then the feed store recommended I try Koop clean. Maybe I’ll switch back.

I'm not a fan of anything really being added to feed. The feed analysis looks o.k. to me as far as that goes, but it's already corn based, but has cracked corn and oyster shell added as well. If it were mine flock, they would be picking out all the cracked corn before they ate the pellets, I would also worry that they would have to hunt/pick around oyster shell to get to the pellets. That's me.

And this was the first time I got this mix as they were sold out of the organic one but that too probably had the mix blend.
I’ll switch as I didn’t realize it was corn based. With the added cracked corn.
Could you recommenced a good every day feed?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

From what I understand the Bar Ale is a good brand. They have ingredients and nutritional analysis on their website. It should also be on the tag attached to the feed bag as well.

Texas Kiki pulled most brand of feed and placed them in a comparison chart, you may find that helpful.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/feed-comparison-spreadsheet.1275920/

 

[colette peters]

From what I understand the Bar Ale is a good brand. They have ingredients and nutritional analysis on their website. It should also be on the tag attached to the feed bag as well.

Texas Kiki pulled most brand of feed and placed them in a comparison chart, you may find that helpful.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/feed-comparison-spreadsheet.1275920/

Thanks for that list. I’ve tried scratch n peck too but it always leave so much dust on the bottom and I don’t have the patience to save it and ferment it.

What do you use?

 

[HeartsDelight]

It was absolutely not miner's lettuce that caused her death. It is a very soft green -- stems and roots included -- and does not have substantial strings of any kind.

System backups like this usually weeks or months to develop, a little at at a time. I strongly suspect the brown fibers were either bedding or bamboo, and as she ate those things, they slowly formed a large tangle a little with each consumption.

There were green particles from the miner's lettuce present because masses of fiber form "nets" and pick up pieces too big to easily go though them, kind of like a dryer lint trap. The brown was the trap, the green was the lint.

This was a chicken that had been snacking on something she wasn't supposed to for quite some time. The timing of the miner's lettuce was incidental

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thanks for that list. I’ve tried scratch n peck too but it always leave so much dust on the bottom and I don’t have the patience to save it and ferment it.

What do you use?

I use an all flock feed. I make a fresh mash daily and they have dry pellets available as well.

 

[colette peters]

It was absolutely not miner's lettuce that caused her death. It is a very soft green -- stems and roots included -- and does not have substantial strings of any kind.

System backups like this usually weeks or months to develop, a little at at a time. I strongly suspect the brown fibers were either bedding or bamboo, and as she ate those things, they slowly formed a large tangle a little with each consumption.

There were green particles from the miner's lettuce present because masses of fiber form "nets" and pick up pieces too big to easily go though them, kind of like a dryer lint trap. The brown was the trap, the green was the lint.

This was a chicken that had been snacking on something she wasn't supposed to for quite some time. The timing of the miner's lettuce was incidental

Thank you for your response. When I get a call from Davis maybe I could ask what the tangled mass consisted of. If they could distinguish if it was bamboo or bedding/straw specifically. Because her habitat hasn’t changed in three years. Along with living around bamboo and her same bedding.
Unless the Gardner blew something in that she shouldn’t have eaten.
I appreciate everyone’s time to respond and giving me their best advise. I’ve learned a lot through this.