mysterious heartbreaking death

[Kiki]

Thank you so much, I was under the impression BSFL was the healthy alternative to meal worms and was high enough in protein that it could be a signifcant part of their diet. Thank you for the info, they will all be going on a diet, and the scratch grains will be completely cut out. At least they have a long speacious run to get exercise, but it cant cancel out over feeding I am sure.

 

[Kiki]

I just went out and removed all the feed that had the scratch grains mixed in, and replaced it with the organic egg layer pellets I had as backup. This is my first year of keeping chickens and I think I was probably over concerned with them being well fed in the cold months that I didnt consider that fattening them up for the winter could have potentially diasterous consequences. I cant say for certain that is what killed her, but I think that fatty liver could certainly be the culprit. Now my only concern is that pure layer feed will have too much Ca for my rooster? I have read that most do fine sharing feed with their hens, but as you seem to know a lot about diet, should I be concerned about this? I am all over the place emotionally, but I am neither proud nor stubborn and want my birds to have the best life possible.

Your rooster will probably die of old age before he is affected by eating too much calcium in a layer type feed.

 

[Weeg]

I just went out and removed all the feed that had the scratch grains mixed in, and replaced it with the organic egg layer pellets I had as backup. This is my first year of keeping chickens and I think I was probably over concerned with them being well fed in the cold months that I didnt consider that fattening them up for the winter could have potentially diasterous consequences. I cant say for certain that is what killed her, but I think that fatty liver could certainly be the culprit. Now my only concern is that pure layer feed will have too much Ca for my rooster? I have read that most do fine sharing feed with their hens, but as you seem to know a lot about diet, should I be concerned about this? I am all over the place emotionally, but I am neither proud nor stubborn and want my birds to have the best life possible.

Short term layer feed will not harm you rooster, but for long term you will want to switch to a starter or all flock feed.
Again, so sorry for your loss. This was not what you meant to do, you only meant for them to be warm and happy. Trust me, I've made so many mistakes in my chicken keeping life, more than to many times have I learned the hard way. We must remember that small animals are fragile, when embarking on this journey we should all remember that we are going to loose them. Wether to one of our learning curbs, or too all the other things that threaten poultry everyday. We can only do our best, and sadly its hard to do that when there are so many conflicting and untrustworthy resources out there claiming they are right. You did not fail your birds, you are only learning. Your flock will be much better off for it. I'm so sorry, its always so hard, unfortunately it never gets easier. I'm very happy that you can learn from this, some people wouldn't even put the time in to figure out or except that they made a mistake. *Hugs*

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Your rooster will probably die of old age before he is affected by eating too much calcium in a layer type feed.

Kiki and I will *respectfully* disagree re: Roosters and Calcium toxicity. But its a progressive condition, and the symptoms which can be detected clinically are generally not outwardly obvious until it is quite far progressed.

I don't reccomend it.

I will also say that I feed my own roosters (after the first 8 weeks) a mix of 16% layer and 24% game bird which results in an averaged calcium between 2.4 - 2.8% (because that's what I feed the main flock). I can see the signs internally, when I cull roosters at a year of age. They aren't much. I can, if I look very carefully, find what are probably the early signs internally at 5-6 months of age, when I cull the Roos which won't become breeders (or earlier - when I'd need a microscope to look for signs).

I can only assume, and the research seems to bear out, that the signs internally will continue to increase as they age until they become externally evident - gout, renal troubles, kidney issues, intestinal problems (lesions), reduced feed efficincy, and the like. But how fast is beyond my ability to predict. As is "how bad".

If you don't plan on keeping your Roosters for years and years, or you don't mind that a Rooster might start showing signs of old age (i.e. gout) at perhaps 5 years instead of 7 (guessing! see above, can't predict!) then give it no mind.

If, like me, you plan on keeping yur Roos as breeders only for a season or so??? I've made that risk analysis and decided (for myself) that "too much" (more than optimal) calcium is fine for my needs - what I save in feed costs (so far) more than offsets the cost of potential problems. Feed costs being what they are this season, the decision would be even easier for me to make today, at $0.285/lb than it was when I was getting feed at $0.224/lb. That's a difference of $6/wk to me in feed costs, over $300/yr!

That's why, though we disagree, neither of us are "wrong", we just have different goals, different management styles for our flocks, and value our birds differently.

 

[PriscillatheRooster]

Kiki and I will *respectfully* disagree re: Roosters and Calcium toxicity. But its a progressive condition, and the symptoms which can be detected clinically are generally not outwardly obvious until it is quite far progressed.

I don't reccomend it.

I will also say that I feed my own roosters (after the first 8 weeks) a mix of 16% layer and 24% game bird which results in an averaged calcium between 2.4 - 2.8% (because that's what I feed the main flock). I can see the signs internally, when I cull roosters at a year of age. They aren't much. I can, if I look very carefully, find what are probably the early signs internally at 5-6 months of age, when I cull the Roos which won't become breeders (or earlier - when I'd need a microscope to look for signs).

I can only assume, and the research seems to bear out, that the signs internally will continue to increase as they age until they become externally evident - gout, renal troubles, kidney issues, intestinal problems (lesions), reduced feed efficincy, and the like. But how fast is beyond my ability to predict. As is "how bad".

If you don't plan on keeping your Roosters for years and years, or you don't mind that a Rooster might start showing signs of old age (i.e. gout) at perhaps 5 years instead of 7 (guessing! see above, can't predict!) then give it no mind.

If, like me, you plan on keeping yur Roos as breeders only for a season or so??? I've made that risk analysis and decided (for myself) that "too much" (more than optimal) calcium is fine for my needs - what I save in feed costs (so far) more than offsets the cost of potential problems. Feed costs being what they are this season, the decision would be even easier for me to make today, at $0.285/lb than it was when I was getting feed at $0.224/lb. That's a difference of $6/wk to me in feed costs, over $300/yr!

That's why, though we disagree, neither of us are "wrong", we just have different goals, different management styles for our flocks, and value our birds differently.

I appreciate all of th above info, I will keep him on the layer feed until my next trip to the feed store and get a quality all flock feed. I originally intended on only egg laying hens, but one of them turned out to be a roo. Now I am super attached, he is a monster of a plymouth rock, and takes very good care of the hens. In all reality they are pet chickens, the eggs are a bonus. I have always loved birds and had parrots as a kid, but as an adult I started to rethink the ethics of keeping parrots, (no judgment to anyone who keeps them, I am still thinking about rescuing an unwanted/problem parrot). Long story short, my chickens are away for me to enjoy keeping birds with the bonus of delicious eggs. One again thanks to everyone in this community for the kind and comforting words as well as the good advice!

 

[Mrs. K]

You have gotten a lot of advice here, and most of it is reasonable. Do know that a lot of chickens just do not have the genetics to be real long lived. A lot of people do worry about it quite a bit.

But if you really look at the situation: Did they have good food, clean water, safe coop? She was not sick. Well then she had a good life and a quick end. We should all be so lucky.

I would not get a necropsy unless I had several birds who died of an illness. Personally, I would use my money to get new chicks, add more space, or buy feed. Some chickens, die pretty young, a lot of chickens die around 3-4 years old, and some become dear old biddies, but not many even with very good care.

Sometimes I think people with great sensibilities should not get chickens because they are so devastated when one dies. And chickens really do die, pretty often. They really don't make the best forever friends.

When I lose them, and it is always the current favorite, just make me mad, and I feel bad, but then I get chicks, it is the circle of life.

Mrs K

 

[livesimplecolorado]

I lost my first hen last night and I am devastated. I check on them multiple times a day, they have all been well fed, and kept warm. She did not appear to be egg bound, there was no blood present. I had checked on them around 4:30 PM, and went to get groceries, when I returned around 6 I went to make sure the had gone to bed. I found two of them on a perch in the middle of their fairly large run, which I thought very odd. I found the third in the coop, but the fourth was in between the coop and the garage, very recently deceased as she was still warm. Rigor had not set in, and I believe I found her within a half hour of her death based on the her temp when I found her. Our coop is fairly small (I am already starting on a better designed coop.) In the summer and autumn we were running into an issue with the flock preferring to roost on the roof of the coop rather than inside. In November, as it was starting to get cold, and we needed a neighbor to watch them for a few days, we fenced off the access to the roof of the coop with 3" wire garden fence which kept them from roosting on the roof and they had returned to putting themselves to bed. My only guess is with the temps the last few days in the 40's, one our hens attempted to jump on to the roof of the coop, became entangled in the wire between the wall of the garage and the roof fencing and broke her neck. Her neck felt incredibly floppy when I found her, albeit that chicken have very flexible necks. It is the only thing I can think of, becuase they had access to food and clean water and showed no signs of illness whatsoever. to further support this, I think that is why I found two of the flock spooked and on the play perch in the middle of the run fairly far from the coop and the third inside. I think one went to bed, the other thought "hey its spring, I am going on the roof", became entangled, struggled and died, causing the other two chickens to spook and roost on the play perch. I had a hard time finding any other cases similar to this, but wanted to see if anyone could offer any theories. I can provide pictures of the run and coop, if it helps. Obviously I immediately removed the roof fencing, and if I need to to I will put them to bed by hand everynight until I finish the new coop. We raised the four of them from chicks, got them through a hot summer and a cold winter, and I am pretty upset about the whole ordeal, they bring me great joy and I am very invested and now I cant shake feelings of failure, and that I have no business keeping chickens. The only other think I could think of is that she became poisoned from the drinking water, I have a heated twist on resevoir waterer and base, which I clean and refill several times a week, but they do constantly make it a mess, In the summer I use poultry nippes, which are much cleaner, but in the winter they freeze up, so I have been using the heated waterer. If anyone has any other ideas or if they think the scenario I described is a possibility please let me know.

I had one die about a year after I got her. It was so random, she was fine the day before, and then found her dead the next day.

I don't think there is much rhyme or reason as to why they die, like humans some of them have pre existing conditions that we would never even know about.

I know for mine, she was the weakest little chick, right off the bat I told my son that I was not sure she would make it. She had breathing problems, but she pulled through and was one of the largest and healthiest until she died.

Don't beat yourself up about it, I think just having my chickens in a nice run, well taken care of, like yourself, is awesome. I think about the short miserable life that most chickens have in those farms and my girls are the most pampered pets on the planet.

 

[janiedoe]

I lost my first hen last night and I am devastated. I check on them multiple times a day, they have all been well fed, and kept warm. She did not appear to be egg bound, there was no blood present. I had checked on them around 4:30 PM, and went to get groceries, when I returned around 6 I went to make sure the had gone to bed. I found two of them on a perch in the middle of their fairly large run, which I thought very odd. I found the third in the coop, but the fourth was in between the coop and the garage, very recently deceased as she was still warm. Rigor had not set in, and I believe I found her within a half hour of her death based on the her temp when I found her. Our coop is fairly small (I am already starting on a better designed coop.) In the summer and autumn we were running into an issue with the flock preferring to roost on the roof of the coop rather than inside. In November, as it was starting to get cold, and we needed a neighbor to watch them for a few days, we fenced off the access to the roof of the coop with 3" wire garden fence which kept them from roosting on the roof and they had returned to putting themselves to bed. My only guess is with the temps the last few days in the 40's, one our hens attempted to jump on to the roof of the coop, became entangled in the wire between the wall of the garage and the roof fencing and broke her neck. Her neck felt incredibly floppy when I found her, albeit that chicken have very flexible necks. It is the only thing I can think of, becuase they had access to food and clean water and showed no signs of illness whatsoever. to further support this, I think that is why I found two of the flock spooked and on the play perch in the middle of the run fairly far from the coop and the third inside. I think one went to bed, the other thought "hey its spring, I am going on the roof", became entangled, struggled and died, causing the other two chickens to spook and roost on the play perch. I had a hard time finding any other cases similar to this, but wanted to see if anyone could offer any theories. I can provide pictures of the run and coop, if it helps. Obviously I immediately removed the roof fencing, and if I need to to I will put them to bed by hand everynight until I finish the new coop. We raised the four of them from chicks, got them through a hot summer and a cold winter, and I am pretty upset about the whole ordeal, they bring me great joy and I am very invested and now I cant shake feelings of failure, and that I have no business keeping chickens. The only other think I could think of is that she became poisoned from the drinking water, I have a heated twist on resevoir waterer and base, which I clean and refill several times a week, but they do constantly make it a mess, In the summer I use poultry nippes, which are much cleaner, but in the winter they freeze up, so I have been using the heated waterer. If anyone has any other ideas or if they think the scenario I described is a possibility please let me know.

I just wanted to tell you, that I'm sorry for your loss. I love your tree idea.

 

[Cackel Shack]

I lost my first hen last night and I am devastated. I check on them multiple times a day, they have all been well fed, and kept warm. She did not appear to be egg bound, there was no blood present. I had checked on them around 4:30 PM, and went to get groceries, when I returned around 6 I went to make sure the had gone to bed. I found two of them on a perch in the middle of their fairly large run, which I thought very odd. I found the third in the coop, but the fourth was in between the coop and the garage, very recently deceased as she was still warm. Rigor had not set in, and I believe I found her within a half hour of her death based on the her temp when I found her. Our coop is fairly small (I am already starting on a better designed coop.) In the summer and autumn we were running into an issue with the flock preferring to roost on the roof of the coop rather than inside. In November, as it was starting to get cold, and we needed a neighbor to watch them for a few days, we fenced off the access to the roof of the coop with 3" wire garden fence which kept them from roosting on the roof and they had returned to putting themselves to bed. My only guess is with the temps the last few days in the 40's, one our hens attempted to jump on to the roof of the coop, became entangled in the wire between the wall of the garage and the roof fencing and broke her neck. Her neck felt incredibly floppy when I found her, albeit that chicken have very flexible necks. It is the only thing I can think of, becuase they had access to food and clean water and showed no signs of illness whatsoever. to further support this, I think that is why I found two of the flock spooked and on the play perch in the middle of the run fairly far from the coop and the third inside. I think one went to bed, the other thought "hey its spring, I am going on the roof", became entangled, struggled and died, causing the other two chickens to spook and roost on the play perch. I had a hard time finding any other cases similar to this, but wanted to see if anyone could offer any theories. I can provide pictures of the run and coop, if it helps. Obviously I immediately removed the roof fencing, and if I need to to I will put them to bed by hand everynight until I finish the new coop. We raised the four of them from chicks, got them through a hot summer and a cold winter, and I am pretty upset about the whole ordeal, they bring me great joy and I am very invested and now I cant shake feelings of failure, and that I have no business keeping chickens. The only other think I could think of is that she became poisoned from the drinking water, I have a heated twist on resevoir waterer and base, which I clean and refill several times a week, but they do constantly make it a mess, In the summer I use poultry nippes, which are much cleaner, but in the winter they freeze up, so I have been using the heated waterer. If anyone has any other ideas or if they think the scenario I described is a possibility please let me know.

I know your post has been around since March, but I just read it. I know how you feel because I just lost a favorite girl myself for no apparent reason. She was healthy and laid an egg the day before and the next day I found her dead. There was no disease in the flock, no attacks by predators, nothing that I could figure out. Apparently, chickens can just up and die suddenly, oftentimes they are the only ones who know why because sick animals and birds will try to hide their illness as a way to not become a meal to a predator. You are doing a great job as a chicken keeper from what I read, please don't be hard on yourself for losing a bird. I try not to become too attached to my chickens because there are so many ways they can die, but it's hard not to get attached especially if they're raised from chicks. Anyway, with each mishap or each loss you will learn, make adjustments and continue to manage a healthy flock. Good job for caring and being a responsible chicken keeper.