My hen just died.. I need advise. Please help.

[NataleeL]

I have a chicken about 2 years old who was still laying eggs and eating who just died.
She has a history of repeated impacted and sour crop.
I took her to the vet about a month ago for the sour crop and the vet mentioned that she might have some disease or deformity that could cause her to die and there was nothing I could do about it but I can't remember what it was called and now they're closed and I need to know if it's contagious.

I noticed she wasn't eating great a few days ago. So I was watching her. Today when I let them out to range she ate mealworms or the other chickens so I thought she must be feeling better. But then after being out for a couple hours she just walked to the stairs and laid down like she couldn't walk and she was making a gurgling sound like she had an impacted crop I checked and there was nothing in the crop she had water coming out of her mouth but it didn't smell foul then I picked her up and she just fluttered and squaked like she was freaking out then laid her head down and died.
Like that was it.

I don't know what to do. I don't know if I need to have her tested. We burried her for the sake of the kids but what could it be!?

 

[The Angry Hen]

I am terribly sorry to hear that. Maybe it was a stroke?

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. It is hard to say what killed her without a necropsy. The body should be refrigerated right away, and shipped on ice packs to the state vet to do this. I have lost chickens over the years for no apparent reason. Since your chicken had repeated crop problems, there might be something wrong such as a worm blockage in the upper or lower GI tract, a blockage in her gizzard, or it may not be related at all. Her crop feeling empty doesn't sound like a crop impaction. At her age she may have had something else affecting her health. Sometimes people do their own necropsy at home, just to look around at the organs and try to make sure that nothing looks abnormal. Since you buried her already, just be observant for any hens who look sleepy or stop eating.

 

[NataleeL]

Thank you.
I read a little about sudden chicken death syndrome and it sounds a lot like what happened with her.
I'm going to watch the flock and hope for the best.
We're heart broken. Lost a turtle last week hoping that's the end of pet death for a while.

 

[FrankieDoodle]

I'm so sorry about your chicken & turtle i hope you find out what happened.