lost a hen today

[mosse71]

hey folks. lost a 8 moth old barnevelder hen today. no blood anywhere. she was very thin. almost no weight to her. looks like she starved but i have food and treats available all the time. any ideas what might of killed her? looked over the rest of the flock and all look fine.

 

[JaeG]

How many feed stations do you have available? She could've been at the bottom of the pecking order and the other hens kept her away from the food. Other reasons could be internal or external parasites. Some birds are more prone to those things than others. I'm sure some other members will have more suggestions.

 

[mosse71]

i have one large one for 20 birds. i inspected her thoroughly and no signs of bloody stool or parasites. other than her emaciated condition she was normal. i did notice before she died her comb and wattles were very pale. thought it was due to the cold.

 

[Helloworld]

My little Red Star would sit forever if someone pecked her when eating or drinking. Just did not want bullying or trouble and she almost starved. I don’t handle my chickens much because some are food. I started checking them more. I ended up having to separate this hen because of it and she put weight on. Thats a chicken for you. I think if this was a communal problem, you would see the same in one or more. We all know Chickens are nuts so Time to pick them up and see how they feel. I picked my Roo up the other day and he’s chest is thin. He doesn’t eat as much when separated from chickens but got to do it anyway.

I am so sorry.. that sucks. Always something to learn. Carry on and start again. You got this!

 

[mosse71]

just hoping its not some disease that can be passed to the others. been keeping a close eye on the rest of them. so far so good. their feeder is always topped off and they don't feed all at the same time so i think something else took her out.

 

[coach723]

Just my opinion, but one feeder for 20 birds is not enough. A very low pecking order bird is going to have trouble getting adequate feed access. Several small feeders spaced around would be better so that lower birds can access one away from any higher birds that will keep them away. Same with water. I have 6 feeders for 28 birds.
Without a necropsy there is no way to be sure what happened to this particular bird. Could have been internal parasites, they are not always visible in droppings. Could have been a blockage somewhere either from parasites or eating a foreign object that did not pass. Could have been disease. I'm very sorry for your loss.

 

[mosse71]

they don't feed all at once and im home most of day so no bulling. got to be something else. very strange. I've been raising all types of birds/ waterfowl near 40 yrs. now so not my 1st rodeo.

 

[OldEnglishGameBantam33]

It could be that she had a heart attack. It could also have been from fatty liver disease. That seems to be common in flocks where they get a lot of table food or are given too many treats. Those would be the first two things that come to mind. I hope this helps.

 

[LoveMyChickenBabies]

Sorry for your loss!

 

[mosse71]

It could be that she had a heart attack. It could also have been from fatty liver disease. That seems to be common in flocks where they get a lot of table food or are given too many treats. Those would be the first two things that come to mind. I hope this helps.

give a handful of wild bird seed as a treat daily, but besides that they get purina maintainer and some oyster shells. i also feed dandelions i pick under my pine trees. they really like them.