My five month old hen died in two days

[Sunshine Flock]

My sweet hen was making soft whistling sounds every time she took a breath. She was fine when I first let the flock out yesterday morning, but then an hour or so later I noticed an odd sound.

It didn't take long for her to start breathing with her beak open and gasping for air. Her breathing almost sounded like a rattle, but without any signs of phlegm. She would sneeze and her whole body would shake.

I isolated her right away and gave her some Nutri-drench. I also put it in her water and I did the same for the other chickens. Her breathing seemed to worsen and every breath involved her whole body moving as she gulped for air.

A while back I read an article on how to break a chicken's neck in an emergency. I've never been through this before, though, and was holding out hope for her. I also gave her some VetRX and gave her drops of water, since she wasn't able to take any herself because of her breathing. Throughout all of this she seemed strong and was wanting to eat, but she couldn't. This morning she was a bit better, but with me present her heart rate increased, as did her breathing.

I made a mash with her food and gave her some, just small bits at a time, and more water. I added apple cider vinegar and kept it fresh. When we ran into town for an hour and came back home, we found her dead in her pen. This is less than 48 hours after she first started showing symptoms.

We discussed taking her somewhere for testing, but ultimately we decided we just can't afford to do that right now. Things are tight. The remaining flock, all five months old, have supplements in their water, and I changed the pine shavings I use as bedding in their coop. They're the first chickens to ever use that coop, by the way. We cleaned, discarded old bedding in the trash so the chickens can't find it, and are keeping an eye on the flock.

We haven't had wet, rainy weather. The temperatures dipped from high heat we've had all summer, but maybe 50s at the lowest at night. She was the smallest of the flock and very active. The day before this started, I just finished coating the exterior of their coop with a non-toxic oil stain. I'm chemically sensitive and haven't had any reaction to it.

Any suggestions on what could have happened? I feed them organic pellets, they free range for most of the day (we're rural; no fertilized lawns), and I give them a blend of organic lettuce as treats twice a day. Thanks for any input you can provide.

 

[Sunshine Flock]

I wanted to add that the morning she took ill, the flock found something they all found interesting. They surrounded it, possibly a baby lizard, and one caught whatever it was. It may have been this hen that ate it. So I decided to treat this as both an upper respiratory problem and maybe a choking situation. I massaged her neck and her crop, which wasn't engorged. I gave her some drops of olive oil. My approach addressed both scenarios, and yet she still died.

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. It sounds like she was having stridor, a sound made by a partial obstruction of the airway, such as a foreign body, mucus, or swollen tissue, which may be signs of a respiratory disease, or more rarely, worms.
For her to die so suddenly, I would look around for any others with symptoms of open mouth breathing, sneeze or coughing, gasping or gaping, or wheezing. A necropsy on a fresh refrigerated body, performed by the state poulty vet or lab, is the best way to find a cause. Did you add any new birds to the flock in recent weeks? Google "common poultry diseases," and look for the first link from University of Florida. Look for infectious bronchitis, mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG,) infectious coryza, ILT, and aspergillosis. Sorry for your loss.
I just read your last post after I had posted. It is always possible that she could have swallowed an object and it became lodged in her airway, or she could have eaten something poisonous. A necropsy is always your best bet.

 

[Sunshine Flock]

Thank you. I'm reading the symptoms of the various illnesses you mentioned. She didn't have watery eyes or any nasal discharge. Her eating habits and weight were unaffected.

The pine shavings for the coop bedding wouldn't have caused a problem for her, right? It's an acceptable material for a coop from what I've read.

ETA: We're going to work on setting aside a fund in case this happens again, so we can afford a necropsy. We can't right now, unfortunately.

 

[Eggcessive]

I forgot to add that I don't recommend using oil given orally, since they can aspirate or choke. Many links call for giving oil if a crop problem is suspected, but giving water is much better and safer. Anything given orally, has to be given a couple of drops at a time, then letting them swallow, or putting it in food or a treat. I am not saying that that could be a reason she died, but just pointing out all possibilities. It is very tragic to lose a chicken, and not know why.

 

[Sunshine Flock]

That's good to know, thank you. You read all these suggestions on different chicken blogs and don't really know whether these natural remedies and methods are actually safe.