Hen died out of no where

[colette peters]

As disappointing as this event is, it happens all the time.
What is really sad is when people don't have a necropsy and lab work performed and the event remains a mystery forever.

True. I’ve been struggling thinking “WHY”??? She was perfect the day before.
I spent 160$ for an exam and to euthanize my poor Loretta Saturday.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

True. I’ve been struggling thinking “WHY”??? She was perfect the day before.
I spent 160$ for an exam and to euthanize my poor Loretta Saturday.

What killed the other bird?
I hate to speculate on a mature bird that dies suddenly with no symptoms without knowing the entire history regarding nutrition, housing, management, flock health, etc. It would be a guess at best.

Vets are expensive. I wouldn't use one to euthanize unless it was at the vet college in order to do the necropsy.
Holding the bird under one arm and stretching the neck with the other hand will kill just as quickly for no cost.

 

[HAPPYCHICKENLADY17]

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

so sorry

 

[colette peters]

What killed the other bird?
I hate to speculate on a mature bird that dies suddenly with no symptoms without knowing the entire history regarding nutrition, housing, management, flock health, etc. It would be a guess at best.

Vets are expensive. I wouldn't use one to euthanize unless it was at the vet college in order to do the necropsy.
Holding the bird under one arm and stretching the neck with the other hand will kill just as quickly for no cost.

I couldn’t break her neck. I can barley kill an insect.
I lirterally have no idea what killed her. Nothing has changed with her environment all the same 12 hens, coop, run all the same. I clean the coop out every 3 weeks, and take the run. For her 3 years of life. She’s been vaccinated.
The only thing I changed was the feed last week. I bought bar ale pellets with oyster shells, corn added
and also added last week some nutrition/electrolyte powder for chickens. Got it all at our local feed store.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Vaccinated for what?
I don't understand pellets with oyster shell and added corn.
Were the chicken pellets fed in one container, oyster shell in another container and corn in another container or strewn as a scratch grain?

 

[colette peters]

Vaccinated for what?
I don't understand pellets with oyster shell and added corn.
Were the chicken pellets fed in one container, oyster shell in another container and corn in another container or strewn as a scratch grain?

She was vaccinated for Merck’s
and the feed by bar ale is a 50lbs bag all mixed up for you. I’ve attached a pic for you to see what I’m using.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Sent her off today to Davis labs. But hopefully I’ll have some closure and answers for her sudden death.
It’s hard stuffing your little girl in a box on ice.
We miss her dearly

You are doing the right thing, please let us know what you find out.

 

[kmom08]

Following. I'm so sorry about your hen. I had something similar happen in 2016 with a 2 1/2 year old hen. No signs of egg bound, but she went down hill quickly. No one else in the flock was affected. I'm curious as to what they find in the necropsy.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Following. I'm so sorry about your hen. I had something similar happen in 2016 with a 2 1/2 year old hen. No signs of egg bound, but she went down hill quickly. No one else in the flock was affected. I'm curious as to what they find in the necropsy.

I had a nice Wyandotte hen die suddenly so I did my own necropsy. She was loaded up with fat. You couldn't even see the gizzard that was encased in fat. I immediately put that flock on a diet.
Another hen started going down hill fast. I tried to get her to a vet but it was a Friday and I couldn't get an appointment till Tuesday. I said, "she'll be dead by then". They said to bring her in and they would observe her over the weekend. I said, "I can observe her here".
I decided to hand carry her to our vet school - over 5 hours round trip. It turned out to be cancer.
I've had them do 3 other necropsies. All were roosters that died suddenly and in all cases it was heart attack.
I have yet to discover a disease in my flocks.

 

[colette peters]

@Wyorp Rock, @ChickenCanoe, @Arwon
@kmom08
got my results back and maybe you can help me understand what happened. This was on the report:

1. Intestinal obstruction - proximal duodenum impaction with plant roughage.

The proximal portion of the small intestine is obstructed by a course plug of tangled matted plant fibers. A final will be sent when the rest the tests are completed.
Examined was a adult hen 3 years of age that was in good postmortem condition and in good nutritional condition. The crop is distended with course roughage admixed with small amount of grit. The proventriculus and ventriculus contain course green to brown roughage admixed with grit. The proximal portion of the duodenum is obstructed by a fibrous plug of mixed coarse plant fibers that firmly dilates the lumen of the proximal duodenum by 2 cm in diameter over a length of 6 cm. Distal to this obstruction the rest of the digestive tract is relatively empty with no remarkable gross lesions. In the respiratory tract is no remarkable gross lesions. The heart is grossly unremarkable. The liver is unremarkable. The kidneys are unremarkable. The ovary has several yellow ova over 1 cm in diameter. The oviduct is empty. No remarkable gross lesions are noted in the peripheral nerves.
Ugh. Am I getting at that she died from eating grass? I did come back from a hike and I grabbed two hand fulls of minor lettuce for them. That’s all I can think of. They are not free range in a field as they don’t have any exposure to lots of live green. This is so saddening