I need help understanding why my chicken died.

[anonymous12u]

She was just under a year old. She suddenly started to isolate herself from the other chickens. She was losing weight and had a pasty butt. So I gave her a bath and dried her off. We went to the vet and they couldn't figure out what's wrong so they gave us antibiotics and pain reliever for her. They also had us feed her with a feeding tube since she wasn't eating. We gave her medicine right away and a second feeding with the tube. We have her some Pedialyte as well. She was drinking well with that and seemed to perk up some since she wasn't really moving much before. We went to feed her and give her medicine today and she's passed away. She was dewormed, none of the other chickens are sick. She was weak and not eating. She had diarrhea. She kept shaking her head as well. Any ideas what could have been wrong with her? The others all seem fine so it's not contagious. I just want to know what to do if this ever happens again.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Did you have a necropsy done?

 

[anonymous12u]

Did you have a necropsy done?

No, she died this morning while I'm at work. I'll look into that being done.

 

[Eggcessive]

It could have been cancer or some organ or reproductive disorder, but the best way to find out is to have your state vet perform a necropsy. What state are you in? I do home necropsies on chickens I lose, but the state vet necropsy would be more thorough. Sorry for your loss. Here below is a list of state vets to contact, and keep the body cold, but not frozen. Youncan take the body innduring business hours or ship it overnight via Fedex. They might send you a prepaid shipping label:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html

 

[alicia-TX]

I have learned the hard way from Avian vets that chickens are very prone to cancer. I have lost two and both were most likely cancer according to the vet. I had one die from cancer (likely of the liver) and another from cancer in her reproductive organs. Both had diarrhea and were lethargic which were the first signs.

The hen that most likely died from liver cancer had bright green diarrhea that appeared pellet like. That is apparently a sign of liver issues of some kind. She drank water excessively which is another sign of liver issues. She had to be drained of fluid periodically because her liver was not fully functioning so her body cavity would fill up causing her to waddle.

The other hen died from cancer in her reproductive organs. She had diarrhea and was lethargic in the beginning. We put her on antibiotics and carprofen and put her inside for about two weeks just to make sure it wasn't just infection. She seemed to make a full recovery but never laid eggs again so I knew she was still sick. She was very happy and doing well for several months so we put her back with the other girls and let her be. She was eating well but I could tell she was losing weight. At the end she was very emaciated and stopped eating until she passed peacefully. She basically wasted away from cancer.

Sometimes you just don't know what causes it and you can't always fix it if you do. There was no treatment for these two even though the vet was pretty sure of the diagnosis for both.

 

[anonymous12u]

I have learned the hard way from Avian vets that chickens are very prone to cancer. I have lost two and both were most likely cancer according to the vet. I had one die from cancer (likely of the liver) and another from cancer in her reproductive organs. Both had diarrhea and were lethargic which were the first signs.

The hen that most likely died from liver cancer had bright green diarrhea that appeared pellet like. That is apparently a sign of liver issues of some kind. She drank water excessively which is another sign of liver issues. She had to be drained of fluid periodically because her liver was not fully functioning so her body cavity would fill up causing her to waddle.

The other hen died from cancer in her reproductive organs. She had diarrhea and was lethargic in the beginning. We put her on antibiotics and carprofen and put her inside for about two weeks just to make sure it wasn't just infection. She seemed to make a full recovery but never laid eggs again so I knew she was still sick. She was very happy and doing well for several months so we put her back with the other girls and let her be. She was eating well but I could tell she was losing weight. At the end she was very emaciated and stopped eating until she passed peacefully. She basically wasted away from cancer.

Sometimes you just don't know what causes it and you can't always fix it if you do. There was no treatment for these two even though the vet was pretty sure of the diagnosis for both.

Thank you for your help. That makes sense to me as to why the others are all fine. She was drinking a lot and had green diarrhea. I'll still get a necropsy done on her to know for sure. I have to know if there was anything I could have done differently to save her or not.

 

[myawesomepullets]

I’m sorry for your loss. This is basically what happened to my pullet a couple years ago when she was 9 months old. We did a necropsy and it turned out to be cancer, so I’d guess it’s maybe cancer.