In the last couple of days, two of my hens showed the same symptoms and died in less than 24 hours.
One was almost 2 years old, she was standing still with drooping wings in the coop around midday, and didn't follow the others. She was immediately isolated and given a strengthening liquid mixture (contains eggs among other things), but barely moved and just stood still most of the time. Her comb and face were becoming more pale and she felt almost "empty" around the back end, so it couldn't have been an egg (she was hormone chipped). Her crop was half full, but nothing seemed wrong the day before so I don't know if it emptied overnight and she just ate a lot in the morning. No droppings to check, she didn't feel thin and her feathers looked very healthy. She ate when fed, but became more and more listless, and couldn't stand after a while. She passed away about an hour after that.
The other one was almost 4 years old and rarely came in contact with the first hen, but they live in the same coop. She was perfectly fine the day before, but the second day she also had a half full crop, and the same symptoms of standing around listless also around noon. She was isolated too and would mostly lie down, while getting the same mixture that she would eat when fed. Her comb was even paler. She laid eggs occasionally before, but had the same "empty", almost emancipated, feeling towards the rear. She didn't feel thin anywhere else and also had shiny, healthy feathers. She became weaker, but after a few hours she would stand and drink on her own again. She left some droppings, some normal, one was wet and very white. She survived the night, but was worse in the morning and died about 24 hours after the symptoms were discovered.
I unfortunately didn't check either of them closely in the morning, and only noticed the problems around noon. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary the day before for either of them. They've both had medical emergencies before but completely different ones, and are different breeds of bantams, weighing around 350-400 grams. Nobody else has shown any signs of catching this yet, but given how quickly it develops I'm worried more will.
There seems to be an illness going through the coop, but I can't identify what it is. I've searched for the symptoms as much as I could but haven't found anything concrete yet. I've considered sour and impacted crop which doesn't quite match, Marek's which I know the flock has but never occurred this way, parasites that has never been much of a problem but I saw no traces of that, avian influenza which it doesn't quite match either and there's no known outbreaks, coccidiosis which isn't a perfect match either, or poisoning or mouldy food, which is also highly unlikely. The coop is well ventilated and they get fresh water at least every other day, and their food is stored in closed containers until it's served. No new chickens have been brought in for years, and there's nothing toxic outdoors where they forage. There are wild birds in the area and potentially rats, but they shouldn't be able to enter the coop itself or the food containers.
I've never had anything like this in years, and I'm running out of ideas as to what it could be or what I can do. Given how fast it happened a veterinarian sadly wasn't an option, and knowledge is limited outside of common industry problems. It's too late to send these in for testing but the option exists for a fee.
I know they hide their symptoms, but given how fast it happened and to two very different birds I'm wondering what it really is. Am I missing something obvious, does anyone have any insight?
One was almost 2 years old, she was standing still with drooping wings in the coop around midday, and didn't follow the others. She was immediately isolated and given a strengthening liquid mixture (contains eggs among other things), but barely moved and just stood still most of the time. Her comb and face were becoming more pale and she felt almost "empty" around the back end, so it couldn't have been an egg (she was hormone chipped). Her crop was half full, but nothing seemed wrong the day before so I don't know if it emptied overnight and she just ate a lot in the morning. No droppings to check, she didn't feel thin and her feathers looked very healthy. She ate when fed, but became more and more listless, and couldn't stand after a while. She passed away about an hour after that.
The other one was almost 4 years old and rarely came in contact with the first hen, but they live in the same coop. She was perfectly fine the day before, but the second day she also had a half full crop, and the same symptoms of standing around listless also around noon. She was isolated too and would mostly lie down, while getting the same mixture that she would eat when fed. Her comb was even paler. She laid eggs occasionally before, but had the same "empty", almost emancipated, feeling towards the rear. She didn't feel thin anywhere else and also had shiny, healthy feathers. She became weaker, but after a few hours she would stand and drink on her own again. She left some droppings, some normal, one was wet and very white. She survived the night, but was worse in the morning and died about 24 hours after the symptoms were discovered.
I unfortunately didn't check either of them closely in the morning, and only noticed the problems around noon. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary the day before for either of them. They've both had medical emergencies before but completely different ones, and are different breeds of bantams, weighing around 350-400 grams. Nobody else has shown any signs of catching this yet, but given how quickly it develops I'm worried more will.
There seems to be an illness going through the coop, but I can't identify what it is. I've searched for the symptoms as much as I could but haven't found anything concrete yet. I've considered sour and impacted crop which doesn't quite match, Marek's which I know the flock has but never occurred this way, parasites that has never been much of a problem but I saw no traces of that, avian influenza which it doesn't quite match either and there's no known outbreaks, coccidiosis which isn't a perfect match either, or poisoning or mouldy food, which is also highly unlikely. The coop is well ventilated and they get fresh water at least every other day, and their food is stored in closed containers until it's served. No new chickens have been brought in for years, and there's nothing toxic outdoors where they forage. There are wild birds in the area and potentially rats, but they shouldn't be able to enter the coop itself or the food containers.
I've never had anything like this in years, and I'm running out of ideas as to what it could be or what I can do. Given how fast it happened a veterinarian sadly wasn't an option, and knowledge is limited outside of common industry problems. It's too late to send these in for testing but the option exists for a fee.
I know they hide their symptoms, but given how fast it happened and to two very different birds I'm wondering what it really is. Am I missing something obvious, does anyone have any insight?
