My chicken died

[Lexidoodles]

Hi This is my first post. I have been raising a small flock of chickens since mid March when I got 6 chicks from Tractor supply. I've learned a lot here and from some friends. I have a nice coop that I built with 3 nesting boxes and a 12 X 12 attached pen. My chickens are Rhode Island reds and Barred rocks. They have been doing very well until a few days ago. My biggest red stopped laying eggs about 4 days ago. I wasn't sure which one it was but 2 days ago she became disoriented and lethargic. She was still eating and drinking water yesterday, but I knew that something was wrong. she was distant from the other chickens this morning, wouldn't get up and her comb was leaned over. She developed yellow runny diarrhea yesterday. I put her in an isolated coop and tried to give her some bread and water. she had a spasm of some kind and died at that time. Sorry this is so lengthy. Did I do something wrong? I purchased wormer for the rest of the flock today. They all seem okay. I clean their coop regularly and change their water every 2 days.

 

[Tiss]

Welcome to BYC. I'm sorry it was under such rotten circumstances. I don't really know for your chicken. Is it possible she got into something that poisoned her? Have you tried doing a search on here for causes of diarrhea and death? I hope someone has an answer for you soon.

 

[seminolewind]

Some of mine spasm when they have died. It could be a nerve reaction.
Maybe heat stroke?

 

[Lexidoodles]

Quote:
Thanks for the response. It hasn't been very hot here, but it has been very damp and rainy. The pen has been muddy for a couple of days. I know that is not good. I let them free range for a few hours each day when I'm home and can keep an eye on them. I caught 4 of them with a bunch of baby mice and were eating them. Maybe the chicken got poisoned. I was extremely upset. She died very quickly.

 

[melodie_a]

Sorry that you lost your hen.

 

[Lexidoodles]

Thanks.
I'm going to keep a close eye on the rest. I hope it isn't catchy. I've been depressed all day.

 

[seminolewind]

I'm sorry you're depressed. Been there many times. I think you have a good guess there if the mouse was poisoned. You can take the best of care of chickens, and sometimes one dies anyway. It's sad. Find some joy in the ones you have, be extra nice to them, it helps.

 

[bantyshanty]

Poor little pullet! Since you've said it's been cool & rainy, there's a good chance there's some mold or fungus growing around somewhere. Anything your pullet ate that might have been touched with with mold and could have had that reaction for her as well, and would frequently cause that seizure before death.
We live in a damp, cool & rainy climate as well, and each late summer I lose a few to this mold or fungus that they ingest somewhere in the run.
I lost two in the past week, and both had that seizure just before death. This will probably not cheer you, but at least it's an alternative to her being poisoned.

Be especially careful to keep their grains dry on rainy days, and hang a feeder in the coop only on the wet or foggy days, not in the run.
Good luck beating the weather