Lost one of my girls with very little warning

[MandS]

Hi all

We lost Betty back in February after her long battle for many months. All then seemed calm. Then yesterday, I noticed one of our rescue hens, Ruby, was just standing around not bathing or scratching. This is odd. She is a very friendly and inquisitive chicken. She is first out and has no fear of humans at all. A lovely personality.

We managed, despite lockdown, to get an appointment with an avian specialist, so took her immediately to the vet. She was very hot and her comb was now a pale pink, not red. She wouldn't eat - even blueberries or raspberries (unheard of).

He examined her and said he could feel something inside her that felt about an inch (2 - 3cm). So he did an X-ray and said it showed a broken or mishapen egg. He gave her an injection of antibiotics, some oral pain relief and a shot of calcium to hopefully push her to lay. Her crop was quite full fluid, so he also gave her a shot of something to help clear it (I don't know what - I didn't know there was such a thing).

We got her home and kept her indoors in our nursing cage. She was unsteady on her feet but drinking lots of water. She drank about 1/4 of a mug. I eventually got her seated - she wouldn't perch, and just gently scratching her neck, she would close her eyes and relax. I covered the cage, closed the room and left her.

Sadly, she died in the night. She had passed large amounts of clear liquid (or thereabouts) with some yellow/white urates whilst I was watching her and during the night had passed a lot more. Again, I never seem to get used to this and am very upset. I am cross that I didn't spot anything. She stopped laying about a week or so ago and I assumed she was just on her off period (she is a prolific daily layer).

The vet called me this morning. He said he was shocked as he "was optimistic that she would recover well as she was strong with no other ailments".

If anyone has any suggestions. Here are the two X-rays. I don't really know what I am looking for - whether it's the ghost misshapen egg with the fine white outline - or the darker things nearer her vent. If anyone knows what they show, please let me know. I wondered if it was a lash egg. Even still, how would this kill her. She was not well at all in the final hours.

Goodbye and thanks little Ruby❤

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sorry about your hen. Chickens are good at hiding illness. Often they pass and you never knew there was a problem. Only a neocropsy can tell you exactly why.

 

[TheBrownFamilyChickens]

This isn't going to be any help. I'm just sorry to hear that. I lost chickens too unexpectedly.

 

[hayley3]

Goodbye and thanks little Ruby❤

So sorry about Ruby, she sounded lovely. So sad you lost her.
She had a good life with you so take comfort in the fact that she felt loved to the end.

 

[MandS]

Thank you. I comfort myself that she had 18 months with us. She was an ex battery hen. She arrived battered and quite featherless but she avoided an early slaughter and seemingly lived a happier life with us. She laid almost every day.

I can't do a necroscopy - it's not going to help me grieve. Sounds pathetic and silly, but I know it will cause me more pain to do that than I really want to go through.

The vet did ask me if her crop was clear after she died. No it wasn't, it was full of all the water she drank and whatever was in there before. Not sure why he asked that. I do know that it wasn't sour crop - just she was seemingly drinking lots.

Thanks again. I hope that someone may see something they recognise in the X-ray at some point.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

A crop full of water often means the hen had a blockage. Either from some foreign body she consumed or because tumors or masses prevented food from moving through the digestive tract. Birds will often drink lots of water, probably trying to get stuff flowing again.

 

[MandS]

Thank you. She did manage lots of watery poop, so it must have been going through but for whatever reason, she drank and drank after he injected her with whatever it was to empty her crop.

I do wonder if she died because she aspirated as she slept because she was not roosting. I hope not.

At the end of the day, she was a very ill little chicken. She also went very quickly, which is a small mercy. We buried her today - full honours! Great little girl who laid almost every day we had her.

Here's the last photo of her, taken at 7:30pm. She died during the night. Good Bye Ruby ❤

 

[Henloving]

So sorry about Ruby. They are good at hiding illness. It sounds that you did the best for her. I’s not at all silly to be in deep pain and grief when they get ill and die!! You’re sadness is in proportion to how much ypu loved her, which, lucky Ruby, was quite a bit. My heart goes out to you.