Hen just up and died

chickychick67

Hatching
11 Years
Apr 12, 2008
2
0
7
Hi, I'm new to this forum and come to it heartbroken. Today we found one of our hens hiding under the lawn tractor and when I brought her out, she did not fight me, had no desire to flee. She could not walk when I set her down, but could stand. She kept her beak open and drank water from my 11 yr. old's hand. I saw no injuries, no discharge anywhere, nothing odd except she kept her beak open a bit and was very droopy. I tried to find someone to help, and after 5 phone calls (where the heck was everyone today????) to vets, 4-H chicken people and the feed store guy, I went to the local farm supply store and bought antibiotics. I had created a comfy little box for her with the front cut out and sequestered her in the emplty horse stall. When we returned, she was dead, out of the box, had tipped it over, and was still warm. Her comb and wattle were pale, sort of pale pale pink and aside from the lethargy, there were no other symptoms and just yesterday she seemed fine! Can anyone help me understand what might have happened? She was only about 10 mos. old.
 
I couldn't begin to guess what happened to your chicken, but I just wanted to offer my sympathy :aww
 
something frightened her badly enough to where she hid under that tractor....shock and not drinking would be enough to cause the sudden death...
next time have electrolytes in the waterer and get her rehydrated before you even think about giving her antibiotics , though in this case I do not believe the medication had anything to do with it.
so sorry you lost her :aww
 
I thought she knew the end was near and hid herself to await the end. I did not even get a chance to give her antibiotics, just water. In researching, I think it could've been botulism from the compost pile, but maybe we'll never know. Thanks for your sympathy. Luckily we are brooding chicks that we bought a few weeks ago so they give us hope.
 
many allow their birds to scratch in the compost pile but I do not believe that is a good idea personally. You may indeed be correct...botulism from a maggot would cause death quickly....that or any other toxin the insect might have been carrying. Good luck with your new chickies :aww
 

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