Hen Died Suddenly!! Second Chicken Lost today :((

[carolina chicky]

This evening at 2:30 I went out to check on the hens and my 1 year old Red Star hen was in the nest box, like she was about to lay an egg. I came inside and at 7:00 went back outside and she was laying on the ground not moving much. I picked her up and felt her abdomen was swollen. I brought her inside, thinking she may have been eggbound. I soaked her in warm water and tried to feed her a little yogurt and Tums but she wouldn't eat A few minutes later I layed her right inside the washroom on a towel on the floor...
I was washing dishes about 5 minutes later I heard 4-5 loud bands on the washing machine...I went to check on her, thinking she may have tried to fly up onto the washer or something (although it was unlikely because she wasn't even walking or moving much at all). She was laying a few inches in front of the washing machine and her neck appeared to be broken

I can't figure out what happened.....her abdomen was swollen and some sort of liquid was pouring out of her vent when I brought her inside. Her comb looked bluish and she was gasping.
It seems that she just suddenly, in a matter of 5 hours, went from being fine to dead.
I lost a chick this morning so this day has been quite hard

Any ideas what could have happened to the hen??

 

[carolina chicky]

Anyone have any ideas? I don't want to lose any more...2 in one day was enough for a while

 

[chickenzoo]

With the swollen abdomen, and the liquid pouring out of the vent, blue colored comb, it seems she may have been laying internally or something to that affect. The fluid builds up inside and presses on the lungs and causes trouble with the heart I believe etc. . There is not much you could have done for her. So sorry you lost her.

 

[carolina chicky]

I wonder what caused her to break her neck....She was laying about 2 feet away from the washer when I walked out, and I heard 4-5 loud bangs on the washing maching then ran in and found her in front of the washing machine, facing it, with her neck broken. I don't know how or why she did this...

 

[Rebel Rooster]

When they die of heart failure like that... they will seize and their neck will appear to look broken, but it's just a natural reaction of her body to the heart failure.... so sorry...

 

[chickenzoo]

i don't think her neck was broken. Often when chickens die, they lose control over their neck and body fluids. They almost due seizure type motions and can flip around then go limp. So sorry.....

 

[carolina chicky]

I was so worried that she may have accidently banged her head on the side of the washing machine and broke her neck....
I am sooo scared now that I will lose more.....two losses in one day is too much to handle

 

[carolina chicky]

I can't believe how fast she went down....from 2:30 until 7 and she was gone...
She was such a sweet little girl. I didn't even see any signs of her being sick...she was acting perfectly fine until this evening.

 

[chickenzoo]

Chickens can hide illness or injury very well. It comes from the weak being singled out by predators. Often when they show anything they are very sick. My chicken that came running and collapsed and died was perfectly fine looking an hour before........ it happens and it's heart breaking.

 

[CrazyAnimalGirl]

I'm so sorry to hear about your hen. Almost the exact same thing happened to me. I was trying to treat her for Sour Crop (which I believe was atleast one of the problems) and after I emptied her out, she just became lethargic. I quickly got some chicken gatorade mixed up and was trying to drop it in her mouth but she was going... I put her on the counter to get something else and she raised up, honked, and what I thought was broke her neck. I just stood there cause I didn't know what to do and then it looked like she started seizing so I grabbed her neck just in case it wasn't already broken and I tried to hold her down but about 2 seconds later she died. Look up Sour Crop, even if your chickens are fine, you should know it for reference!!