lost a hen today, but to what?

[rogue rooster44]

one of my black alstrop 6 mo old hens died today. This morning she was sitting in the yard, she got up when I walked up to her and looked fine except she was opening her mouth and sticking her head up. Checking her around noon and she was in the hen house doing the same thing. Her weight was the same as the other birds and her eyes and color was good. just went to check on her at 3:00 pm and she had died.??? feeling her crop it was flat not bound. Any idea what happened to her?

 

[cafarmgirl]

Chickens often die without showing sufficient symptoms to allow for diagnosis other then by doing, or having, a necropsy done. There's just so many possibilities and all of them would be wild guesses at this point. It's one of the more frustrating aspects of owning chickens I'm afraid.

 

[rogue rooster44]

Just checked the body again, if anything her comb and wattles were blue, vent feathers looked clean?

 

[casportpony]

Chickens often die without showing sufficient symptoms to allow for diagnosis other then by doing, or having, a necropsy done. There's just so many possibilities and all of them would be wild guesses at this point. It's one of the more frustrating aspects of owning chickens I'm afraid.

X2! If you really want to know, have a necropsy done or try doing one yourself. California and other States have a free necropsy service for residents, if that's an option for you, put her in the fridge (not the freezer) and ship her on Monday. I have pictures on how to make a shipping box if you're interested.

-Kathy

 

[rogue rooster44]

I live in Oregon on the upper Rogue River, the nerrist is 31/2 hr drive. Was hopeing for some help to give me a place to start looking on the net. Thanks for your help I will keep an eye on the flock and see what happens.

 

[casportpony]

No reason to drive, you can ship them and many places will let you use their FedEx account to make it cheaper.

http://www.google.com/search?q=oreg...tic+lab&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari

-Kathy

 

[Eggcessive]

You can try to refrigerate the body in a plastic bag over the weekend, then if no necropsy is done, bury or incinerate her. Here is a locater for each state's necropsy info: http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/AHID/Pages/index.aspx