I think she has worms...UPDATE: She died

[4broomes]

Poor little girl! I knew it was bad when I had to put her in the house last night and this morning she was gone.

We won't do a necroscopy so will never know exactly what it was. Whatever it was, it was fast! She layed on Tuesday and was gone on Friday.

Could worms have killed her that fast? I'm at home all day so keep a pretty close eye on them and I only notice that she looked a bit pale on Tuesday. My other hen looks fine but I will worm her when the meds arrive.

Could bad food have had the same effect? It's been really rainy here and last time I cleaned out the feeder there was a bit of mold at the bottom. Now I'm wondering if that made her

sick.....

She was a good layer for about 1 months (only 7mos old) and was super sweet. She had 3 days of symptoms - pale comb and face, runny poo, drinking but not eating. She was a black cochin bantam.

I have 2 chicks in the brooder and don't want anything to happen to them. We now only have 3 chickens so any loss is a big one.

Any thoughts on what might have killed her would be appreciated.

 

[SeaHen]

I'm so sorry for your loss! The only guess I can make is coccidiosis, as I lost a young hen to that a few years ago and she had the same symptoms. It can be a particular problem during wet weather because the organism thrives in moist soil and feces. Though the disease is species-specific, I've also had goats infected with it due to living where it rains 8 months of the year. Do you think it's a possibility?

 

[4broomes]

Well, this has been the RAINIEST May on record so everything is just constantly wet so I can see that as a possibility though there were no bloody droppings. I'll read up on it a bit more.
Are some breeds of chicken more susceptible than others?

Thanks for your input!

 

[Highlander]

I would say the mold was the culprit. It can take a chicken down very quickly.

 

[4broomes]

Yes, now that I've read up a bit on mould that was probably the culprit. It would explain the speed of death. She was smaller and younger than my other layer so that may be why the other one seems fine.

I will be keep a much closer eye on the feeder in future that's for sure! And as it is not raining at the moment I've opened up the coop to give it a good air out/dry out and will lay down some new hay.

One thing this sad episode has done is to make me more aware of good animal husbandry.