Hen's sudden decline: weak legs, can't stand, mouth breathing, disinterest in food/water

[Eggcessive]

Sorry that she is still having these spells. I would mKe sure that she is drinking plenty of fluids and eating. She could be suffering from some sort of seizure activity or she may be getting dehydrated. If she is having seizures or neurological symptoms, human vitamin E 400 iU plus human vitamin super B complex 1/4 tablet daily may help.

 

[Cinnaminute]

Sorry that she is still having these spells. I would mKe sure that she is drinking plenty of fluids and eating. She could be suffering from some sort of seizure activity or she may be getting dehydrated. If she is having seizures or neurological symptoms, human vitamin E 400 iU plus human vitamin super B complex 1/4 tablet daily may help.

Thank you, I was going to go out today (gave her some water and nutridrench off and on for the night) and get some but she passed away last night. I fell asleep at 2am and was so tired I just got up at 8am and found her gone.

I doubt it would've helped, but I can't help but feel like I should've given her that bath. But this probably would've happened again if she pulled through.

RIP my Tilly bug. She was gonna turn 3 the end of this month. This is the third chicken I've lost this year. The second one I've watched die from an egg problem in the past 2 weeks. Both I thought would pull through because they always have but know they might not. This sucks.

I'm gonna share some pictures of her soon.

 

[Bawkbok]

I'm sorry for your losses this year and for Tilly's passing. She knew you loved her. You did the best you could in caring for her for a lengthy time. It is always heart breaking to lose a hen and reproductive issues can be so frustrating as they are not easily fixed, if at all. Hugs.

 

[Eggcessive]

I am very sorry that you lost her. If you are up to it, your state vet could probably do a detailed necropsy on her. I usually have done home necropsies, but the vets can really check for a lot of things. I’m glad that she is not suffering.

 

[Cinnaminute]

@Bawkbok @Eggcessive Thank you both so much.

Tilly was one of my first 6 chickens. EEs from TSC. And it seems reproductive issues have been rampant with them. Or perhaps it only appears that way since they're the "older" bunch.

I do think Tilly has been having issues for a little while before these episodes started, maybe? I'm trying to rack my brain on a time frame. Tilly used to roost on top of the coop all the time with everyone. She'd jump up there, jump down, all that. But eventually she stopped doing that. Trying to remember exactly when that stopped. I know she was just doing that October last year. That was during fowl pox, so when tending to everyone, I saw her up there a ton. Plus, she and the others did that a lot to avoid my rooster. But he randomly passed away February 13th, without warning. I feel like February I might've seen her trying to hide from him rather than get on the coop. It's hard to say about roosting since everyone alternated being on the roost or cuddling up in the deep straw to stay warm. I think I remember her roosting in February/March during a very cold snap we had. So I guess this hasn't been visibly going on for too long.

I do want to add that between episodes, she was still having some lethargy and trouble balancing. Resting a lot during foraging and not doing any jumping up on things. Of course, that makes sense, considering the ordeal she was going through. Her legs would start to strengthen again, but it would take her almost a week before she could balance on my arm again when picking her up. And she completely gave up on roosting entirely since March. I had been trying to boost her with Nutridrench (since that has thiamine and vitamin E in it), which might've been helping a little. Who knows.

Anyway, sorry for rambling. My brain's gone into the whole "what could I have done better, what did I miss" mode. So I just wanted to put this out there in case anyone with similar issues can glean some info. Of course, only a necropsy can really answer. Debating if I should get one or not. It definitely seems very one-off. I may just bury her with the others under their tree. If I do just bury her, I'll definitely get a necropsy done on anyone repeating the symptoms. They're pets, so I'd rather "keep" them and lay them to rest here at their home with their other friends, alive and gone. But I definitely would part with that ideal if it seems to be something that could risk everyone.

Anyway, thanks again everyone for the help and kind words.

 

[Eggcessive]

You all have 6 different locations for state poultry vet labs in GA for necropsies where you could probably drive to. The body needs to be kept cold in a cooler. Here is the list:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry...L5h4Xt137GBu32pWJZSRUY5DYhQyVrd4ODmF-Ab8otocc
I can understand if you want to bury her, but some of us would like to get answers. Tell them it is just a backyard chicken and not commercial if you do one.

 

[Bawkbok]

I understand and can empathize with EE issues. Our introduction into chickens was with three EEs. We chose them based on what we read about personality, confinement, etc. They do have the nicest dispositions but my goodness, they are riddled with issues. We lost all three within the first 4 months. With more time and experience, I now know the local farmer we purchased them from was not up to my standards of care and we should have run the other way as fast as possible. Lessons learned.
I also understand your wanting to bury her. We too had our departure processes wishing to leave their bodies intact until our most recent reproductive problem with our beloved Golden Comet. We nursed her in and out of debilitation and back again numerous times over a year until it finally created so many issues and her bad days far out numbered her good. I had to muster all the emotional energy and confidence I could to perform my first culling and necropsy which speaks to Eggcessive's comment about getting answers. I had to know what took my bird and my desire to learn from her became the overwhelming driver. I consider it her parting gift in my knowledge bank with more experience going forward to more quickly identify issues with others and to become a smarter chicken owner. It is not an easy thing to do and I relied on BYCers for moral support and expertise on the 'how to' process. I share this to illustrate that sometimes one finds the courage they didn't know they had.