Lost my favorite chicken - How to prevent further deaths?

[turkeymom]

Well, I'm really sad today. My favorite chicken passed away overnight after being ill. She was born in Feb. (got her as a chick from Ideal) and seemed to molt along with her sister about 6-7 weeks ago. Then, I noticed about 3 weeks ago, she started hanging back from the rest of the flock and she gradually stopped accepting treats and went off her food. Other than losing weight and a little gooiness around her vent, no indications of what was going on. No strange looking poops in the pen or coop and everyone else is fine. Her sister, by the way, seems to have come out of molt and is laying again.

So, I inspected her poor body very closely this morning and saw no mites or lice or anything strange. I did get a poop sample from her body (greenish, normal looking) and have it in the refridgerator. (Gross, I know!) Should I take the poop to by dog's vet to see if they can tell anything? Or, should I just worm the flock? We've never wormed before, so maybe that's it? Everyone else seem normal and pesters me for treats, but I don't want anyone else to get sick if I can do anything.

Any suggestions, particualrly about worming as that's the only think I can think that we should've done, would be greatly appreciated. Or, if you think I'm barking up the wrong tree, that would be good to know too. We're new to chickens. Thanks!

 

[TeamChaos]

Turkeymom, I'm new to chickenss too so I don't have any advice but I lost my first chicken about a week ago too (same age as yours, also from Ideal- an EE named Annie oakley) and I wanted to express my sympathy to you. I'm considering worming my flock as it is also the only thing I haven't done so far.