Hen died today

[Eggcrack]

My hens are 5 yrs old and one started acting lethargic about a 2 weeks ago. She was eating and drinking but moving slowly and all buffed up. About two days later she started diarrhea and her crop wasn’t emptying. I treated her for sour crop and she seemed to perk up a bit but 2 days later she was even worse and this morning I found her dead. I looked her over when I found her and she was just bones with diarrhea on her feathers. She lost an alarming amount of weight in a short amount of time even though I saw her eating normally. Any ideas wha might have caused this? I separated her from the rest of the flick at the first signed of illness. The rest of the flock is healthy.

 

[SkyAJK]

I am sorry for your loss.
It is really a mystery how she was going through. The educators here might be able to shred some light on this.

 

[talkinboutchickens]

I'm so sorry for your loss. One starting point could be to research about internal parasites which is a big possibility, i personally do not have any knowledge on that, but I know that diarrhea, weight loss, and lethargy are all symptoms.

Coccidiosis could be another possibility that you could look into.

 

[Eggcrack]

Thanks for your ideas. Very helpful.

 

[talkinboutchickens]

Thanks for your ideas. Very helpful.

Of course.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I'm so sorry for your loss. We do get so attached to our little girls, don't we? What breed was she? If she was a high-production hybrid, she may simply have reached the end of her years. The only way to know cause of death for sure would be to send her refrigerated (not frozen) body to a state lab where a necropsy could be performed. Do you still have her body?

 

[StinkyAcres]

The crop not emptying properly is often a sign of disease in other parts of the body. Cancer and reproductive disorders can cause the symptoms you noted. It's very likely there was nothing you could have done to save her. Sorry for your loss.

 

[Anon112]

The crop not emptying properly is often a sign of disease in other parts of the body. Cancer and reproductive disorders can cause the symptoms you noted. It's very likely there was nothing you could have done to save her. Sorry for your loss.

Yes, these were my first thoughts.

My most recent hen who had lethergy, weight loss, and loose poops had some sort of mass in her belly.

If your other hens seem to have normal droppings and are eating well, I wouldn't worry too much.

You might just pick them up to make sure they are all maintaining their weight.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

My hens are 5 yrs old and one started acting lethargic about a 2 weeks ago. She was eating and drinking but moving slowly and all buffed up. About two days later she started diarrhea and her crop wasn’t emptying. I treated her for sour crop and she seemed to perk up a bit but 2 days later she was even worse and this morning I found her dead. I looked her over when I found her and she was just bones with diarrhea on her feathers. She lost an alarming amount of weight in a short amount of time even though I saw her eating normally. Any ideas wha might have caused this? I separated her from the rest of the flick at the first signed of illness. The rest of the flock is healthy.

I'm sorry about your hen.

Without further investigation (necropsy) it can be hard to know why a hen has died. If you still have the body, refrigerate it and take/send it to your state lab for analysis. Alternatively, you can do your own information necropsy looking at the reproductive system and major organs. Sometimes you may find something. If you do your own, take photos and we'll try to help you with what you see.

We can make some guesses based on the symptoms you describe. You don't mention if she was actively laying eggs or not, but I'd say she likely had some type of reproductive issue. Very often you will see crop symptoms accompany EYP, Salpingitis, cancer, etc. Fatty Liver also comes to mind, this can be seen with any of these other conditions as well.

Even if you can't have a necropsy, it would be a good idea to take a sampling of poop to a vet to have a fecal float to make sure your flock doesn't need deworming.


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