Lethargic Chicken fluid coming out of mouth, seizing, and died within minutes. What happened??!!

[morganrae3]

I had an 8 month old Salmon Favorelle named "Honey" who i noticed was laying weird in the dirt. I went up to her and she rolled on her side as if to take a dust bath but didn't move. She didn't scoot away as a pet her and when we picked her up to put her on her feet she went limp. She started having clear fluid come out of her beak. When we massaged her crop, more fluid came out and ground bits of food (?). Her crop felt empty, not like they usually do. She laid back in the dirt listless. She started having what looked like a seizure and died within 15 seconds.

Does anyone have any ideas what happened to my poor hen? My google searches turned up Ascites, sour crop, etc. Im not sure what it was. Im so sad to have lost her. I want to make sure my other hens don't follow suit. =(

Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I had an 8 month old Salmon Favorelle named "Honey" who i noticed was laying weird in the dirt. I went up to her and she rolled on her side as if to take a dust bath but didn't move. She didn't scoot away as a pet her and when we picked her up to put her on her feet she went limp. She started having clear fluid come out of her beak. When we massaged her crop, more fluid came out and ground bits of food (?). Her crop felt empty, not like they usually do. She laid back in the dirt listless. She started having what looked like a seizure and died within 15 seconds.

Does anyone have any ideas what happened to my poor hen? My google searches turned up Ascites, sour crop, etc. Im not sure what it was. Im so sad to have lost her. I want to make sure my other hens don't follow suit. =(

Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

No idea but it sounds like poison.

 

[morganrae3]

What could have poisoned her? Bad feed? We don't use any pesticides at all or rodent poison.

Thank you for the response.

 

[Eggcessive]

I had a chicken die just like that, and she had been sick for 2 days. It is common to have crop contents spill, and for seizure -like activity just before death. Mine even suffered a twisted neck just as she died. I believe the term is the "throws of death." I would refrigerate her body, and send it off to your state vet in the morning for a necropsy. That should pinpoint a cause of death. It can be fairly common to lose one suddenly at the time or shortly after first laying up to a year of age. Here is a link to help find your state vet: http://www.usaha.org/Portals/6/StateAnimalHealthOfficials.pdf

 

[loneskywolf]

Sounds like she ate something she should have, I found a list of poisonous plants and veggies that chickens should not eat the article was in hobby farms Apricots the leaves and pits, Azaleas all of the plant, Beans if there raw or undercooked, Bulbs from Daffodils, iris, narcissus, tulips and many others, Ferns bracken ferns, Foxglove all part very bad, Holly while not deadly will make them very sick, Lobelia all parts of plant, Lupine all part of plant, Nightshades not all plants in the family will cause death some make them very sick, Oak trees leaves and acorns are bad. The full list is in the artical called poison control from hobby farms.
Hope this helps

 

[JensChickies]

Wow, I am so sorry. It does sound like poison. Maybe a plant?? Or mushroom? I'm not sure just throwing out suggestions.

 

[dynomy]

Sorry for your loss. I had 2 Rhode Island Reds - of course they were my favorites in the flock- and they did the same thing. Acted sort of normal and after I separated them one of them started to throw up clear liquid and just keeled over. The other hung on long enough to get to a vet, but this particular one couldn't figure it out. I had to put her down and out of misery. Unfortunately they wanted too much for a necropsy so I still don't know why. I have been using vinegar in their water and the Feather fixer feed. This seems to work so far. Yes, they aren't to happy with it so I disguise Vin their other layer feed with some scratch. If anyone has any other suggestions I would like to hear them more Thanks.

 

[can you hear me now?]

I always use cider vianger in water. The pribiotics are helpful.

 

[dynomy]

The weird thing about this is none of the other chickens got sick. Nothing. They all just have gone through a weird egg laying strike. My two Jersey giants are still laying but both of my Polish hens are not.

 

[jgail1988]

I lost thirty something 6-8week old birds within a week would be fine one day then droopy and suddenly dead within minutes the next. I lost a older hen yesterday she was fine ,then lethargic and when I picked her up she started spitting out clear fluid and started seizing then died in seconds.