My hen suddenly died and puked up these things.... no idea what they are

[LilacLes]

Hiya,

Thanks again for looking into this. I have more knowledge too - funny how these things spur us to research things we've never looked at before, eh? I'm located in southern NH, for insect reference.

Ruminating upon this mystery as I tossed and turned in the middle of the night, I'm leaning towards the conclusion that the insects had nothing to do with Ballerina's death but were simply in her stomach when she died, given that the bugs weren't alive when she vomited them up. So that begs the question - what killed her?

Like everyone else who suddenly loses a chicken, it's frustrating when you have no answers. Did she have an impacted crop? Was she egg bound after all? Did she eat something that poisoned her? I know I have Marek's in my flock, but it doesn't kill that fast. Ugh, so frustrating.

The larvae were soft shelled, and I think that if anything had caught in her throat she would have been gasping immediately. That didn't set in until later. I was afraid that it was some sort of parasite, since she projectiled when she died and chickens don't barf.

That's a great idea about the farm bureau. I'll do that.

Thanks for your compassion - it helps take the edge off.

-Les

 

[Akrnaf2]

My hen (who of course was my daughter's favourite hen - Ballerina - ) was fine until this morning when she was lethargic, refused to eat or drink, and then within a few hours couldn't stand up. She would strain and cry out in pain to pass pasty, pale yellow diarrhea. Of course I thought she was egg bound, but an external and internal exam dissuaded me of that. After 10 hours of being in the house and having me fret over her, making her weak tea (St. John's Wort, bilberry, barberry and lemon balm), I was about to give her a warm sitz bath in case I was wrong about the egg binding when she suddenly started to choke, and before I could do anything she convulsed and died. The strangest part is that she barfed up some of these creatures as she died. I've had all kinds of parasites on my little organic farm but I've never seen anything like this. If anyone has any idea what they are I'd love to know. Please note that she hadn't been outside to eat bugs in at least 18 hours. The creatures that she vomited were not alive. There were about 6 of the first pic and two of the second.

What breed was the chicken? Dos she was bantam, or standard? It seems to me that she had eaten a big beetle like longhorn beetle see link: https://www.google.co.il/search?q=L...ChMIwbOOgMq1yAIVyLQUCh0xxQ0X&biw=1024&bih=671 That big beetle exoskeleton could have been to much to your chicken. It could block here crop!