Firstly, I hope I am posting in the right place.
I had a small flock of 4 bantam hens and one cockerel. The hens are mixed thorough breeds; Silkie, booted bantam and two welbar bantams, and the cockerel is a mix breed. They are all just about 11 months old.
Yesterday, I found our silver welbar Stella stood quite still and “panting”. It was a hot day, and I know that chickens can ‘pant’ on occasion when they are hot, but she was outside in the shade panting and not making any attempt to move. They are all friendly, but I picked her up after watching for a couple of minutes realising something was wrong. I placed her by the water bowl and she took a couple of sips but again made no attempt to move.
I brought her into the house being a bit cooler inside. She stood on a towel still seemingly panting, but I think that was just how she was breathing. She took a few steps and did a poo but didn’t go exploring like she normally would. The poo was normal and fairly solid. She was very lethargic and just stayed wherever you put her. She hadn’t made any noise in this time and wouldn’t eat or drink (not even a grape which were favourites). She eventually lay down and then her head started to drop to the floor. Towards the end, she was shaking quite a bit. I would say she had 3 or 4 bouts of shaking in about half an hour.
I called a vet, but she didn’t make it. She only lasted about an hour since bringing her inside. I am glad it was quite sudden and she didn’t suffer for long but does anyone have any ideas what could be the cause?
I couldn’t find any signs of any injuries, mites, fleas, worms, egg binding, or anything else unusual. She had laid just the day before. She had been our cockerels favourite for a time so she had feathers missing from her back and neck that we were keeping an eye on and were starting to grow back. She was bottom of the pecking order, but again, we always let an eye out that she wasn’t being bullied.
The others in the flock seem fine, although slightly out of sorts now Stella is gone, plus our Silkie Jet is broody.
Any thoughts or help would be appreciated as I don’t know whether to be concerned about the others. Photo of Stella nesting just last week, being watched by Vera the booted bantam.
I had a small flock of 4 bantam hens and one cockerel. The hens are mixed thorough breeds; Silkie, booted bantam and two welbar bantams, and the cockerel is a mix breed. They are all just about 11 months old.
Yesterday, I found our silver welbar Stella stood quite still and “panting”. It was a hot day, and I know that chickens can ‘pant’ on occasion when they are hot, but she was outside in the shade panting and not making any attempt to move. They are all friendly, but I picked her up after watching for a couple of minutes realising something was wrong. I placed her by the water bowl and she took a couple of sips but again made no attempt to move.
I brought her into the house being a bit cooler inside. She stood on a towel still seemingly panting, but I think that was just how she was breathing. She took a few steps and did a poo but didn’t go exploring like she normally would. The poo was normal and fairly solid. She was very lethargic and just stayed wherever you put her. She hadn’t made any noise in this time and wouldn’t eat or drink (not even a grape which were favourites). She eventually lay down and then her head started to drop to the floor. Towards the end, she was shaking quite a bit. I would say she had 3 or 4 bouts of shaking in about half an hour.
I called a vet, but she didn’t make it. She only lasted about an hour since bringing her inside. I am glad it was quite sudden and she didn’t suffer for long but does anyone have any ideas what could be the cause?
I couldn’t find any signs of any injuries, mites, fleas, worms, egg binding, or anything else unusual. She had laid just the day before. She had been our cockerels favourite for a time so she had feathers missing from her back and neck that we were keeping an eye on and were starting to grow back. She was bottom of the pecking order, but again, we always let an eye out that she wasn’t being bullied.
The others in the flock seem fine, although slightly out of sorts now Stella is gone, plus our Silkie Jet is broody.
Any thoughts or help would be appreciated as I don’t know whether to be concerned about the others. Photo of Stella nesting just last week, being watched by Vera the booted bantam.
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I’m so sorry! The only way to know for sure is having a necropsy done. If it happens again you can consider sending to your state lab. They usually don’t cost much but sure can be good to know what’s going on. Hopefully someone with more experience than I have can tell you if the seizure like activity is indicative of something.
I’d be interested to know if you found anything if you do decide to do a necropsy. 
She didn't have tarry stool. I did perform a necropsy and there was nothing remarkable whatsoever. No obstructions, no excess fluids, no visible inflammation or hemorrhaging. No visible work infections in the GI tract (although I did not check the heart and forgot to open the gizzard). This happens often in many necropsies, but it made me feel better that she didn't have a raging condition. . I didn't take samples for pathology, so no further diagnosis possible. Such is life, or, well, death. Others seem fine.
