Hen Suddenly Died! - Why??? :(

[TheLadyChickens]

Hey everyone!

Our Australorp, Bella, got a slight cough about a day or two ago and I was completely shocked to find her dead in the coop this morning! All of our birds are pretty healthy and happy, aside from the dusting we had to give them earlier last month due to some bird lice. Is there a known disease that acts this quickly? She had a cough, seemed very lethargic and tired and this illness swept through her fast! I want to make sure my other hens are protected! I use conditioner and vitamins in their water, they had been dewormed around August and I keep their coop pretty tidy!

Any insight would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

 

[BasicallyHeather]

I wish I had some answers for you... but in the meantime, I just wanted to say sorry for your loss

 

[TheLadyChickens]

Quote:
Awww! Thank you! I let unknowingly let out a dramatic gasp when I found her this morning

Poor thing! The rest of the flock seems happy and healthy! I'm trying to research now

 

[rcentner]

how old was she? I have had birds that died in just 2 short days of illness. I noticed them look tired and be coughing or sneezing and find them dead in the coop 1 or 2 days later. A really good idea would be to send her out for a necropsy, if it is an upper respiratory virus you could lose more chickens unless something is done. I don't want to worry you cause random chickens will pass away from heart attacks and things that we can do nothing about or even know about. If you have a necropsy done you will know why she died and how to keep the rest of your flock safe.

Sorry for your loss

 

[TheLadyChickens]

She was about 8-9 months old when we got her, so almost year old now? She did seem really tired the other day and I think I heard her cough but she was not a fan of having to get up and move around. I'm wondering if I should send her in for a necropsy like you said, do you know how much they cost? Thank you!

 

[rcentner]

check this out, talks about how to locate a place in your area to get it done
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=40141

nevermind...the links dont work

but basically, look up your state agriculture area and find state vets, inquire there

 

[chickitup]

found my rooster's favorite hen dead in the bushes with no signs of trauma. Two days later found another healthy one dead in the nest at the end of the day with no sign of trauma, her neck was crooked down and her butt was wet & weird looking.????
What is up???

I have noticed brown diarrhea around the place for about a week, they free range and get locked up at night in a huge area, most roost in a tree inside the pen, instead of their houses. None have been laying much for about a week, I went from 6 to 8 eggs a day (11 layers) to maybe 2 if I'm lucky. I figured it was the weather, cold at night hot during the day.

We did introduce several new chicken a few weeks ago, with a young rooster in the bunch. When we put them together after a week penned up, there has been squabbling and a few fights. The egg laying smoothed out and everything seemed fine till last week when I saw the diarrhea, then this week the dead chickens.

We're old fashion and just fill the waters every day, and clean the houses once a month and nothing has gone wrong for 2 years. We had chickens all my life and never paid much attention to them, except using lice powder, and maybe some ACV in their water is they got to feeling punie??

We're going to clean/disinfect/ACVin water/and a yogurt mash, and go to our local grange in the morning for help, any ideas you could add to help?
Thanks