My hen died

[Beachykeen]

I just lost my first hen and I still don't know what went wrong. I started my flock 2 years ago. All of my hens went into molt this past August but feathered out wonderfully by November. My black sex-linked hen feathered out more than the others. Her feathers where as shinny as a peacock. Everyone commented on how unusually beautifully she was. I assumed it was from the Feather Fixer feed that I feed the flock during molt. Unfortunately her energy declined a little everyday and the other hens ran circles around her. A few weeks ago she started walking funny and I thought maybe she was egg bound but she wasn't. Maybe 2 weeks ago she was leaving the coop later and later until she stopped leaving it at all. Thgpast week has been a nightmare. She could not hop up on her roost or wall. Her eye lids turned white and seemed to stay closed even when she was awake. She past away today. What could have caused her to suffer for so long? I can not find anything that matches the discription of her symptoms. And if one more person on this site say "she's just molting" I'm going to punch them.

 

[FeistyMouse]

Hi BeachyKeen,

I'm sorry to hear about your hen. I am not sure what the cause of her death was but I see that you are in So Cal .... We have a wonderful free resource available to us UCDavis will do a free necropsy on your hen. You just pay to ship the body or you can drop it off at their facility ..... You can mail the body to them and they send you a very detailed report on their findings. It has given me peace of mind when I lost a bird to know that my flock had not been exposed to a disease etc etc. They have a submission form on their website and instructions on how to send to body ... I'd say put it in the fridge to keep it until monday to ship.....

[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.667969)]CAHFS[/COLOR]
[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.667969)]Pathology Department[/COLOR]
[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.667969)]105 W Central Avenue[/COLOR]
[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.667969)]San Bernardino, CA 92408-2113[/COLOR]
[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.667969)](909) 383-4287 | (909) 884-5980 (FAX) | [/COLOR]cahfs.ucdavis.edu[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.667969)] | [email protected][/COLOR]

[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.667969)]Place each bird in its own bag. Place a pouch (for example, FedEx shipping pouch) inside the shipping box containing your form. If cold from the fridge, not summer and shipped overnight 10:30am or 3pm there may not be a need for ice or extra padding.[/COLOR]


[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.667969)]They have a fedex number which will get you a discount on shipping ..... PM me if you would like that info. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.667969)]Good luck and sorry to hear about your hen ... it is never easy![/COLOR]

 

[FeistyMouse]

I just posted a long reply to you that got blocked because I posted the website for UCDAVIS ..... so lets hope this doesnt get blocked for saying the word WEBSITE.

I am sorry for your loss .... I have no idea what caused the death of your hen but I see you are here in so cal. We are very lucky because UC Davis will do a free necropsy on your hen if you send them the body. or you can drop the body off.

[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.667969)]CAHFS[/COLOR]
[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.667969)]Pathology Department[/COLOR]
[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.667969)]105 W Central Avenue[/COLOR]
[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.667969)]San Bernardino, CA 92408-2113[/COLOR]
[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.667969)](909) 383-4287 | (909) 884-5980 (FAX) | [/COLOR]

[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.667969)]GOOGLE to get the URL where you will find instructions on how to package your bird and a submission form .... I'd put the body in the fridge until monday and then ship her off. It has given me peace of mind when I've lost seemingly healthy birds .... They run very extensive tests and this way you can make sure you dont have a disease in your flock ... we have an LA Urban chicken meetup group (not sure where [/COLOR]you are) but one of the vets from UC Davis will post on our group page .... its really helpful!!

Good luck to you! and once again sorry for your loss it is never easy!

 

[cafarmgirl]

I just lost my first hen and I still don't know what went wrong. I started my flock 2 years ago. All of my hens went into molt this past August but feathered out wonderfully by November. My black sex-linked hen feathered out more than the others. Her feathers where as shinny as a peacock. Everyone commented on how unusually beautifully she was. I assumed it was from the Feather Fixer feed that I feed the flock during molt. Unfortunately her energy declined a little everyday and the other hens ran circles around her. A few weeks ago she started walking funny and I thought maybe she was egg bound but she wasn't. Maybe 2 weeks ago she was leaving the coop later and later until she stopped leaving it at all. Thgpast week has been a nightmare. She could not hop up on her roost or wall. Her eye lids turned white and seemed to stay closed even when she was awake. She past away today. What could have caused her to suffer for so long? I can not find anything that matches the discription of her symptoms. And if one more person on this site say "she's just molting" I'm going to punch them.

Necropsy is definitely a good thing to do so you get definite answers. But there are some things you can consider as well. Has your flock ever been dewormed? Parasites can certainly kill birds. If she was walking funny she could have had ascites, fluid build up in the body cavities. You can usually feel this if you do an exam of the lower body. It can be caused be several different problems/diseases and is not fixable. Anything is just a guess at this point of course but those two things would be first on my list of suspects.