Hen mysteriously died today

[ctsanders1]

Quote:
Definitely a stress. And of course they drag down the host, and definitely cause serious illness. It's very similar to worms in dogs. Except the birds actually get hundreds of small ones and usually die before the worms are anymore than a half inch.

I do agree that worms will only compound problems.

I also agree that given the signs (which they don't really show, except breast section malnourished and skeleton like), that it doesn't 100% make it worms.

However, it is a good practice to worm your animals for many reasons, because it most definitely can save several lives.

 

[ctsanders1]

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One added note.... animals usually stray away from the rest of the flock when they know they are sick. The egg box is the most comfortable, dark sanctuary for the bird to be and away from the others. Might not have been an issue with the birds reproductive system, but yet she happened to die there because of it feeling "safe" for her. Then again, it could have been a problem in the reproductive system.

 

[Clay Valley Farmer]

Original post

She had shown no signs of being sick, ill, tired or anything else that I can think of that might lead you in a certain direction.

Post #2

WORMS.

Worm your birds. If you have it happen again and you notice their breast area is bony and they are light and sick feeling.... that's exactly it.

2nd last post

I also agree that given the signs (which they don't really show, except breast section malnourished and skeleton like), that it doesn't 100% make it worms.

 

[ctsanders1]

Quote:
Post #2

WORMS.

Worm your birds. If you have it happen again and you notice their breast area is bony and they are light and sick feeling.... that's exactly it.

2nd last post

I also agree that given the signs (which they don't really show, except breast section malnourished and skeleton like), that it doesn't 100% make it worms.

That last thing I said was kind of confusing. I'm 90% confident in what I've said to be true. I was just saying I'm not swearing that the particular chicken died because of worms, though that's where I'd put my money. Basically I don't want to say "I'm 100% correct and anything else is out of the question" because I'm always open to being wrong.​

 

[SugarDuck]

I don't have a problem treating for worms as a precautionary step. We just don't feel like that is the problem and granted we could be wrong. She just did not exhibit any signs of being ill, tired or even reclusive from the rest of the flock. We don't even have separation in flocks due to age any more. They pretty much all roam together. Just seems odd how sudden it was. I think what was leaking from her vent was of an egg nature. We've been doing some searching on line about hens dying in this manner and I've seen some similar pictures to what we saw.