Molting, Losing Weight, Lethargic *pic*

[LaFleche]

I'll do that every weekend from today onward. I feel so bad.

Don't feel guilty, as there are a multitude of other reasons nobody can prevent.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

Don't feel guilty, as there are a multitude of other reasons nobody can prevent.

And she was a rescue and you gave her kindness in her final days that she may never have experienced otherwise.

 

[Aunt Angus]

You all are so kind. I'm just heartbroken and feeling so sad that I might have been able to catch it sooner.

On the positive side, I've taken a hard look at my coop management, and I've decided it's lacking. So I've made some changes.

1. I cleaned everything and disinfected with bleach water (10 parts water, 1 part bleach) and let it air dry. I'll do that weekly, I think.
2. I replaced most of the litter in the run. I'll do that more frequently, too, especially if I notice it's getting wet.
3. I bought 2 new waterers and 2 new feeders. I will rotate them out daily, replacing those in the run with newly clean and disinfected ones.
4. I will change their nesting material and disinfect the boxes weekly. My boxes are plastic, so cleaning is easy. For the nesting material, I'm thinking about trying shredded paper, being careful which kind I use. I have lots of that, and if I change it weekly, it hopefully won't get too gross. And it's cheap. My birds don't get the nesting boxes dirty very often, but I want to be cautious about germs.
5. I have added probiotics and electrolytes to their waterers according to the directions. I will do this periodically to help keep their systems running, so to speak.
6. I am going to expand their foraging area and cover it with good bird netting so that the can go out more during the day. We live in a wooded area with lots of predators. Their current area is surrounded by electric netting, which keeps out ground predators, but it is uncovered. I only let them out to forage when I can be there to watch. That equates to just a few hours a day, at most. If they can be out all day long, their poop won't accumulate as much, and the run and coop will be cleaner. And they'll be happier and healthier, too.
7. I will weigh them more frequently to watch for changes. I might have caught it sooner if I'd noticed that she was losing weight.

I know I can't prevent everything, but that was hard to watch. I'd only had her for 6 months, and I knew it was possible (likely) she had issues when I brought her home. I cannot imagine what it would be like if one of my babies were to become that ill...

 

[Eggcessive]

So sorry for your loss, but glad that you got a cause of death from the necropsy. Salpingitis and reproductive problems are the most common causes of death in chickens. It isn’t anything that you have done wrong.