Mentally Challenged Orpington Pullet

[thecatumbrella]

I already buried her. Sometimes chickens just die. I’m mostly sad for my little brother (5 y/o) because she was his favorite one. He named her the day we got her and had come out to visit her every single day. But I told him what happened and he got to say goodbye and he gave the saddest little speech I almost cried.

Was not expecting this! I'm so sorry, but like the others have said, you kind of got your answer. It sounds like she went quickly and peacefully. Fly high, Winnie!

 

[Tiny raptor]

My lavender orp is srsly the dumbest chicken I have. lol She has the shredder gene too, so I can't even say, " at least she's pretty".....
I just call her potato.

 

[CrazyChickenLady35]

My lavender orp is srsly the dumbest chicken I have. lol She has the shredder gene too, so I can't even say, " at least she's pretty".....
I just call her potato.

Can I see a pic of her?

 

[Tiny raptor]

Can I see a pic of her?

 

[CrazyChickenLady35]

Awww she is pretty! Just a little scraggly haha

 

[Tiny raptor]

Welp I’m not sure what happened. I just went out to check on all the chickens and I found my little orpington(Winnie) dead. No bite marks, blood, or any other indicators. I’m at a loss here. I never really got any good pictures and was planning on doing that today but here we are. Do you guys think she had something neurological going on? It had to have been something internal…

awww ohno! I'm sorry.

 

[CrazyChickenLady35]

Please help. Another one of the pullets is showing the same symptoms as Winnie. She’s lethargic, can’t walk or stand for long periods of time, and she feels a little skinnier than the rest of them. She’s a sapphire gem. What’s wrong with her??

 

[Pigeony]

Please help. Another one of the pullets is showing the same symptoms as Winnie. She’s lethargic, can’t walk or stand for long periods of time, and she feels a little skinnier than the rest of them. She’s a sapphire gem. What’s wrong with her??

Some basic questions to rule stuff out:

-What are you feeding them?

- What are your current temperatures; is it especially hot where you are right now?

-Have you seen anything odd with their droppings like blood or especially watery or the wrong color?

-How long were you noticing this behaviour with your first pullet and how long has this one been acting off?

- Other than the clear weakness and being skinnier, is there anything else you can see physically like feather loss, irritated skin, weepy eyes, or external parasites?

 

[CrazyChickenLady35]

Some basic questions to rule stuff out:

-What are you feeding them?

- What are your current temperatures; is it especially hot where you are right now?

-Have you seen anything odd with their droppings like blood or especially watery or the wrong color?

-How long were you noticing this behaviour with your first pullet and how long has this one been acting off?

- Other than the clear weakness and being skinnier, is there anything else you can see physically like feather loss, irritated skin, weepy eyes, or external parasites?

We live in florida where it’s been reaching the 90°s, however there is full shade, pretty good air flow, and the ground stays fairly damp due to frequent rain. We also give them cold/frozen watermelon, blueberries, sprouted lentils, sweet potato, carrots. etc. And give them fresh cold water at least once a day in an effort to keep them cool.
I have noticed that one of the black sex links has kind of explosive diarrhea? But I only saw it happen once and that was shortly after eating watermelon so I chalked it up to that since I had seen the exact same thing happen to one of my cochins.
The first pullet seemed pretty much normal from the beginning. She was more skittish than the rest of them but besides that nothing was wrong. She never figured out how to roost in the 3 weeks she was in the outside pullet cage and always slept on the ground. She was mostly fine until I realized that she had poor balance but again I chalked it up to her being an orpington because every orp. i’ve had has been pretty dumb so I didnt think much about it. Then she died two or three days later.
This one (Queenie) has been acting off for 3 ish days. Before this she was completely fine, high energy, loved interacting with me. Now she won’t get up or move on her own at all.
I don’t see anything physically wrong with her except for a couple gnats flying around and on her face, but there are gnats everywhere around here.
We’ve been raising chickens for quite a few years now and I’ve never had a pullet or chick die. I’ve always given them the same stuff, do the same things, etc. Could this just be a bad bunch? I know tractor supply isn’t all that great but that’s where all of our chickens are sourced from, even the one’s we’ve rescued.
This is the feed we give them and our entire flock. We’re due to buy more feed today. Should we stop getting this brand?

 

[Pigeony]

We live in florida where it’s been reaching the 90°s, however there is full shade, pretty good air flow, and the ground stays fairly damp due to frequent rain. We also give them cold/frozen watermelon, blueberries, sprouted lentils, sweet potato, carrots. etc. And give them fresh cold water at least once a day in an effort to keep them cool.
I have noticed that one of the black sex links has kind of explosive diarrhea? But I only saw it happen once and that was shortly after eating watermelon so I chalked it up to that since I had seen the exact same thing happen to one of my cochins.
The first pullet seemed pretty much normal from the beginning. She was more skittish than the rest of them but besides that nothing was wrong. She never figured out how to roost in the 3 weeks she was in the outside pullet cage and always slept on the ground. She was mostly fine until I realized that she had poor balance but again I chalked it up to her being an orpington because every orp. i’ve had has been pretty dumb so I didnt think much about it. Then she died two or three days later.
This one (Queenie) has been acting off for 3 ish days. Before this she was completely fine, high energy, loved interacting with me. Now she won’t get up or move on her own at all.
I don’t see anything physically wrong with her except for a couple gnats flying around and on her face, but there are gnats everywhere around here.
We’ve been raising chickens for quite a few years now and I’ve never had a pullet or chick die. I’ve always given them the same stuff, do the same things, etc. Could this just be a bad bunch? I know tractor supply isn’t all that great but that’s where all of our chickens are sourced from, even the one’s we’ve rescued.
This is the feed we give them and our entire flock. We’re due to buy more feed today. Should we stop getting this brand?

They're a little young for layer feed, the added calcium is unnecessary and a bit unhealthy for non-laying pullets, but I don't think it would be causing the health issues you're seeing. I do worry that you could be dealing with Marek's here, which is contagious, debilitating and often deadly.​

(sorry it's all bold, I did something to mess up the typing and can't figure out how to fix it)​