Hen passed away, not sure from what

[Jaymez]

So my hen passed away today and I'm trying to figure out from what and if I need to worry about the rest of my flock. So I knew she was sick but I didn't think she was this sick untill yesterday. So I'll start from the beginning, as you can see I have a previous post about it. It first started when I noticed her eye was crusted and swollen shut, I flushed it and got it open and saw her eye looked white. I posted her photos on here for help and concluded her 2d or 3rd or whatever it's called eyelid was stuck and the swollen eyelids where irratated by an injury of some sort. I kept cleaning it out and putting a strong antibiotic cream on it. She was acting completely normal and eating and drinking untill yesterday so I didn't think she was too ill and decided if it still didn't change I would take her to the vet. Well yesterday I found her very weak and not moving very much. She was in the coop so I brought her out to see if she would chipper up but she didn't really. I decided to put her in a puppy pin in the coop with her sister so she wouldn't be picked on or lonely but she didn't move, eat, or drink just rested there. I brought her in for the night in a crate with some food, water, and hay to keep her warm. This morning I found her very weak and little responsive. She pooped once and I rinsed it off her because it was stuck. I moved her in her crate near the fire place to keep warm. By mid day she was practically unresponsive but I could see her breathing so I was hoping she would make it to her vet appointment tomorrow morning. At one point I thought she died but she didn't since she hasn't eaten or drank I tried getting her to drink some pedialite out of a syringe making sure to tilt her head down just in case so she wouldn't drown if she didn't swallow and I think she drank a bit. But then I went to check her and she looked to not be breathing. I brought her out the crate and she was completely limp and I could tell she passed. I checked her mouth and it had mucus in it. Anywho if you read all that thank you, and I'm just wanting to know what was wrong with her and if I need to be watching or even treating my flock just in case. No one else in the flock had or has anything wrong but I still worry plus i would like to know what took her life. Personally my idea is that she got injured in the eye or something in it and it got infected and then yesterday decided to take over her body or something. Any ideas or advise would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Eggcessive]

So sorry that you lost her, but do you still have the body where you could refrigerate it until morning? In most states, you can take or send the body to your state vet lab for a necropsy that can tell you the cause of death. Many times a swollen eyelid with white gunk can be caused by a respiratory disease. But it is hard to know for sure.