My sweet Olive has passed....

[Margie Mae]

Last Saturday my Blue Andulusion girl, Olive, developed a cough and a squeak that progressively got worse. We tried some VETRX with her but by Monday she was struggling to breath. We took her to an avian vet who checked her out and got us started on antibiotics that I had to inject into her breast area and I also started humidifying her with some Oxine. She was off eating but we were able to dribble water to her to try and keep her hydrated. On Wednesday night she had a seizure and died. I am so heartbroken. We tried so hard to save her but as newbies it was difficult. On hindsight she had a short 24 hour episode about 3 months ago with the coughing and squeeking but it cleared up. I am thinking this was a precursor of what was to come. She starting laying about 3 weeks ago. Would her body starting to lay bring down her immunity if she had some virus or fungal issue going on? She was 6 months old, my alpha hen and would jump into my lap or perch on my shoulder before bed. I will miss her so much.

 

[N F C]

So sorry you lost Olive, it's hard to lose a special one like her.

 

[Eggcessive]

It could have been something fungal such as aspergillosis, but other respiratory diseases can be viral or bacterial, and most can come back st times of stress. It's best to refrigerate the body at death, and send it in to your state vet or poultry lab to have a necropsy. Sorry that you lost her.

 

[h2oratt]

I m so sorry.

 

[Slike]

Margie, I'm so sorry you lost Olive. Based off the description you gave it sounds like it could have been a great many things. Getting over the coughing and squeaking episode may have taken more out of her than was apparent, and often time a secondary thing will come along and that's what does them in while they're already weakened.

Depending much on stressors around the initial respiratory ailment, she may have succumb to one of them. Common stressors could be change in diet, abrupt change from hot to cold weather or visa versa, overheating, getting chilled, interaction with wild birds bearing disease, food infected with certain species of mold spores or bacteria which are unscented and invisible to the naked eye, psychological traumas, or unnoticed parasites whose damages can open gates to secondary infection. The production of eggs could potentially play a role, but I would think only if her diet were insufficient to both sustain egg laying and keep her nourished that this would become a problem.

Whatever ultimately took her, it saddens me to hear of you losing your very personable and friendly young hen, especially in the way that it happened. Its never easy.

 

[micstrachan]

I am so deeply sorry for your loss. I don’t claim to know how you feel. I don’t. But I can very much relate to a difficult loss after trying very hard to save a sick hen. At first it didn’t help with my sadness (family thought I was nuts), but now it does bring some comfort knowing I bring the learning experience with me and am better armed to care for my flock moving forward. The learning curve is brutal and painful, but I try to remember the happy times and know my seeet girl knew I was trying to help her. Big hug.

 

[Margie Mae]

Thank you all for your thoughts as it has been hard for us. Chicken keeping is fun until you have to face the sad reality of their fatal vulnerabilities. I just wish we could have saved her and wonder if something I did or didn't do contributed to the outcome. So many conditions have similar symptoms. My uneducated guess is leaning towards fungal. My two other girls who have been exposed and seem fine so far. But I have read that either could be carriers of something but not display any problems. Olive did not have any current stressors other than a last Indian summer weather. We did make sure that they had ways to keep cooled down. I will say that about 6 weeks ago she did have a good scare from the neighbor dog that sent her into what I would describe as stress depression. I worried that she might have Mareks as one of her wings was drooping and she was lethargic . So much so that she turned her back on me when I was checking and talking to her. But she seemed to snap out of that too after a day or so.

 

[chitownhens]

So sorry to hear about your girl...............what I learned early on was to learn how to give and injection and have syringes and antibiotics on hand like Tylan for example. Doesn't mean it will work but when one is out of options then for some it could be the answer. I have saved some while others didn't make it and it's always sad. Hope you feel better and as long as you tried your best then that is something to feel good about.

 

[azygous]

Please get a necropsy so you will know what you are dealing with. Respiratory diseases take up permanent residence in a flock, and you may need to deal with flareups in the future. Knowing which virus is responsible will help you select the best antibiotic to combat secondary infections.

You have all my sympathy for your loss of sweet Olive. I also have an Olive. I know how special chickens can be and how hard it is to lose one.

 

[FrankieDoodle]

I'm so sorry