Is my chicken dead?

[farmland5]

her body is warm but her feet are cold. . I don’t hear any breathing or feel any heart beat. Even got out my stethoscope and listened under left wing. Nothing.

This was so sudden.

 

[farmland5]

She is only 1 year old.

 

[farmland5]

We lost a chicken 2 weeks ago but it was 99 degrees that day. After that we bought a chicken tractor and relocated the rest to a spot under deep shade, fresh daily grass, big water container.

I may take her to the state lab tomorrow.

In hindsight, in addition to her comb being a little pale, I had noticed when I picked her up that she felt lighter than the others.

My kids are devestated.

 

[ForFlocksSake]

So sorry you lost one of your girls. I lost one of my small pullets to a snake 2 days ago and it's just heart breaking. Of course we expect it to happen occasionally but it still hits hard when it does.

 

[Eggcessive]

So sorry for your loss. It can happen occasionally at that age. Your state vet lab can do a necropsy tomorrow if you contact them in the morning, and keep her body cold in a cooler on ice. Here is a list of state vets:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html

 

[farmland5]

@farmland5

I'm sorry you lost your girl. How old was she?
Feel her chest. Can you feel her keel bone sticking out? How does her crop feel? Check her vent for any weird poop and look through her feathers around the base of her tail to see if there are any mites or if her skin looks red and irritated.

This can help you determine what might have been wrong or rule out some things.

Chickens hide their illnesses. A very sick chicken can often seem fine and then drop dead.

How do the rest of your chickens look? Any others looking pale or do you see any abnormal poop out there?

Yes, her kneel bone feels like it’s sticking out more than the others.

Her crop feels soft. I don’t feel any bumps. I do not see any mites.

 

[farmland5]

Thank you for your replies everyone.

I feel really bad that I missed detecting she was sick. I want to do whatever I can to prevent it from happening again. Even my husband was crying and asked me to order more Wyandotte chicks.

Any advice on cleaning the water containers? Or advice on weekly health checks…what to assess, etc.

I hope the state figured out what happened and give her back because the kids want to bury her.

 

[ChicNmom]

Thank you for your replies everyone.

I feel really bad that I missed detecting she was sick. I want to do whatever I can to prevent it from happening again. Even my husband was crying and asked me to order more Wyandotte chicks.

Any advice on cleaning the water containers? Or advice on weekly health checks…what to assess, etc.

I hope the state figured out what happened and give her back because the kids want to bury her.

I look mine over usually once a week when they go in for the night. I feel crops and undercarriages.


When they are out in the yard I look at backsides to make sure the vent area is clean and watch for off behavior.

When I lost my first 2 chickens the only thing I noticed was that in both cases, hens that were usually the dead last to go in at night went in early to roost. There may have been other signs but I didn't know to look for them back then.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Don't blame yourself. Prey animals like chickens are masters at hiding signs of illness as long as possible so as not to advertise their weakness to predators. It's a great survival skill, but frustrating to their caretakers.