Hen not fully recovering from unknown illness

[Kiki]

I'm sorry for your loss. Did this girl have any symptoms?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

@KikisGirls @Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive @rebrascora very sad news. My BO hen, Snowflake, that was sick is doing great but her companion, Jasmine, (barred rock) started acting ill the last few days. She’s been inside the past 2 nights and I’ve been syringe feeding her. She was alive this am and died suddenly about an hour ago. My children are absolutely heartbroken and I am still in shock. What could this be? We are also worried about how her best friend is going to handle this. So sad.

I am so sorry to hear about Jasmine

Sadly, it's hard to know why a chicken died without further investigation. Refrigerating and sending her body for necropsy to your state lab https://tvmdl.tamu.edu/ would give you some answers. Alternatively, if you are up to it, you could perform an informal necropsy yourself looking in the abdomen, at internal organs, etc. Some of us do this and post photos on the necropsy thread - this is for sharing/input and educational purposes https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ntains-graphic-necropsy-photos.823961/page-40

It's very understandable if you do not wish to do this since you have children. I do take a look inside my hens, but then give them a burial along with a handpainted rock as a marker.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. It is always hard to know what was wrong without eiether getting a necropsy by a state vet, or at least doing one at home, and inspecting the organs for something obviously wrong. If you do that, take pictures of the organs. Let us know if you need contact info for your state vet.

 

[Lifewithchicks]

I'm sorry for your loss. Did this girl have any symptoms?

She was lethargic, not eating or drinking. Gave her a warm Epsom salt bath last night and noticed her abdomen was swollen. Now I’m thinking maybe egg yolk peritonitis. I wish I would have come to the conclusion last night and started antibiotics. She has had runny poop off and on for awhile and I did notice her drinking lots of water a while back. I just feel guilty that I should have done more. I didn’t expect her to pass so quickly.

 

[Lifewithchicks]

Sorry for your loss. It is always hard to know what was wrong without eiether getting a necropsy by a state vet, or at least doing one at home, and inspecting the organs for something obviously wrong. If you do that, take pictures of the organs. Let us know if you need contact info for your state vet.

I have had to pry my daughter away from her body and we are planning a burial this afternoon. I don’t think she’d be ok with an autopsy

 

[Lifewithchicks]

I am so sorry to hear about Jasmine

Sadly, it's hard to know why a chicken died without further investigation. Refrigerating and sending her body for necropsy to your state lab https://tvmdl.tamu.edu/ would give you some answers. Alternatively, if you are up to it, you could perform an informal necropsy yourself looking in the abdomen, at internal organs, etc. Some of us do this and post photos on the necropsy thread - this is for sharing/input and educational purposes https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ntains-graphic-necropsy-photos.823961/page-40

It's very understandable if you do not wish to do this since you have children. I do take a look inside my hens, but then give them a burial along with a handpainted rock as a marker.

Yes, I don’t think I’ll be able to with the kids. They are very distraught. We saved some of her feathers and are going to have a burial for her later. I thought about the painted rocks. We lost one very early on to unknown causes but this is our first real loss of now our mature original flock of 3 years, and we are very close to our hens and spend time with them everyday. It’s truly heartbreaking. Even my 2 year old son was crying.

 

[Kiki]

I'm so sorry...it's tough losing a pet. I would recommend either sending her body for a necropsy so you have a for sure answer.

 

[rebrascora]

I'm so very sorry you lost a hen and more concerning that it was a different one.
It is hard enough to diagnose a hen when you have it sitting in front of you, so guessing at what yours might have died from, would be just that.... guessing. I too would recommend a necropsy. Some state agricultural diagnostic labs are subsidised for such investigations.... definitely cheaper than going through a veterinary practice. I'm one of those that does my own and you learn a lot from it once you overcome the emotional aspect. You can even use it as an educational opportunity with your children if they are not too young. If you are matter of fact about it, they will be too. I remember helping my mother at her friend's farm plucking and dressing chickens at Christmas..... I was the softest child imaginable, but I coped with this process because the adults were calm and purposeful and they showed me that if you pull the sinews in a chickens leg, it causes the toes to curl and relax.... which was neat....in fact I took the chicken's foot into school the next week to show all my friends. I was probably about 10. You could research online with them to find diagrams and then try to identify the parts that you find inside. I appreciate it is not for everyone, but just making the suggestion. If you do decide to go that route, with or without the children, please take plenty of photographs so that we can help you make sense of what you find.

 

[Kiki]

Just in case...
http://tvmdl.tamu.edu/species/avian/

 

[rebrascora]

When you say she was drinking lots prior to this and had a swollen belly, I am wondering if she had Fatty Liver Haemorrhagic Syndrome. This is where the liver becomes impregnated with fat and loses it's structure and ruptures, leaking fluid into the abdominal cavity. It can kill pretty quickly. It generally affects larger built birds and can be related to diet..... in particular a carbohydrate rich diet due to too much scratch/corn/bread/rice etc. No sure what you feed but might be worth assessing your flocks diet just in case the treats have got out of hand..... some people also experience this with whole grain (often organic) feeds where the hens can pick out their favourite components of the feed, as oppose to a pellet or crumble which is homogenous.
Of course it may also have been a reproductive issue like Salpingitis or internal laying although it usually takes weeks or months for those to become lethal and you often see the bird waddling and struggling for breath. Antibiotics alone are rarely effective in such cases and usually only buy the hen a few weeks longer.