Hen & rooster died within a week of one another

[SelenaAndPaul]

We had a hen, about 7 months old, die last week. She was fine one afternoon, and then the next morning when I went out to feed, she was just laying there, not moving. I picked her up and examined her for injuries, but there were none. She wouldn't stand or even hold her head up. I put her back in her coop, and my husband checked on her again about 45 minutes later and she was dead.

Yesterday, when I went out to check on them after work, my rooster (also about 7 months old), was just laying there not moving. I picked him up and checked him over, and put him back down. We thought he was just terribly worn out, as the rooster in the next pen has been fighting with him through the fence. I put him in front of the water, and he drank quite a bit. He then jumped up on his box to settle in for the night. This morning, he was dead.

I am worried that a sickness of some kind may be in our chicken family. We have two separate groups: The rooster that just died had 4 hens and was penned up. The other rooster roams the yard during the day with his hens. There are 2 with him. There were 3, but the one died.

We have placed antibiotics in their water and will continue with that for 5 days. I just don't want to lose any more! Help!

 

[LittlePip21]

Could you give me some more details on the bodies? how were they laying? were there any abnormalities on the bird? (Lumps, mucus, strange odors, distended crop or abdomen etc.) how about comb and waddles?. Also, I would check your living birds for abnormalities, and check on what there poop looks like, that might help. also, I'm so sorry for your loss

 

[rebrascora]

Hi. I to sympathise It's bad enough losing one bird but two in short succession is heartbreaking.
The best thing to do would be to take the guess work out of it and send the cockerel off for a necropsy.

Unfortunately my money would be on Marek's disease based on the age of the birds and two dying within such a short space of time. Did you buy all these birds from the same place at the same time or have you added to the flock in recent weeks? The introduction of a new bird is often the trigger for trouble and carriers can look perfectly healthy even if you quarantine them for a month.

Hope I'm wrong.

Barbara

 

[SelenaAndPaul]

They were both laying flat on their bellies with their neck stretched out. There were no abnormalities; they looked healthy in all ways. I do know that the rooster's poop was very watery.

 

[SelenaAndPaul]

Both rooster & chicken came from the same place. As a matter of fact, they were all supposed to be hens, but one turned out to be a rooster. There is one chicken left from that group. We have not introduced any new ones in awhile. We got some Delawares about 3 months ago. All we have gotten were chicks, except for the original rooster, which we got from a friend. He was already full grown. We have had him for almost a year.

 

[rebrascora]

If you don't want to pay for a necropsy, and you feel able, you could do a basic one yourself and take photos. There is a thread here on BYC where we post necropsy photos and there are a few of us who have a bit of experience at identifying what looks abnormal. I appreciate it is not something everyone can get their head around though, particularly if their dead chicken was a pet.

This is the link to that thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...xxx-graphic-necropsy-photos/330#post_18033559

The Delawares may have been the carriers and it lain dormant until the stress of adolescence triggered it, but it can be carried on cloths hair and footwear, so if you had visited someone else's flock or a poultry fair or auction,. you could bring it back to your flock on your person....Marek's is that widespread and easy to pick up.