Mystery Death of a Coturnix Hen

[Sammbalina]

I woke up early today to pull out the boys so that I could figure out how many I was going to keep and how many to cull. Unfortunately I found a hen dead. This is the first death I've had since moving them to the Hutch the weekend before Thanksgiving. I took their dust bath out, not sure if that was what caused it or not. I also changed out their water when I realized that in my rush to go to bed last night I had forgotten to filter it, and added ACV and Poultry Nutridrench to the new batch. One thing I noticed about the body though, was that her vent was stretched, as if she had just laid an egg. There also seemed to be a liquid, possibly blood, pooling inside. Has anyone seen that before? It's almost like maybe she hemorrhaged? They just started laying this past weekend, so that is something new to them as well. I felt her crop and it wasn't hard or swollen.

I hated taking the dust bath out because they seemed so excited when I gave it to them, they were all fighting to get in, and I feel that it was just a coincidence, but I just want to be safe. I will add it back this weekend when I can watch them better.

What do you all think? Is hemorrhaging something that happens in quail when egg laying? Could it have been the dust bath? Could it have been the water?

 

[cmom]

I have found a dead bird at times with no apparent cause. They can have a heart attack. Hopefully someone will know. Your diagnosis. I don't think the water or dust bath had anything to do with it but why are you adding things to their water? I do give the chicks initially vitamin water with electrolytes but not the older birds, they get well water. All of my coops have auto waterers. There is an inline filter mainly to filter out the sediment.

 

[Sammbalina]

I just wanted to add it for an extra boost just in case. This is the first time I’ve put it in their water since I moved them to the hutch. I also just talked to my mom and she said she found 2 soft eggs when she got home. All the others I have found have been fine. I have read that sometimes the first eggs are weird, but should I still be conserned? My plan is to wait a few more days and if I het more odd eggs then I will add calcium, I just hate to add it if they don’t really need it.

 

[EggWalrus]

You don't have any drakes around by any chance? I've heard they can cause that kind of damage to hens.
Sorry about your loss.

 

[le_bwah]

I just wanted to add it for an extra boost just in case. This is the first time I’ve put it in their water since I moved them to the hutch. I also just talked to my mom and she said she found 2 soft eggs when she got home. All the others I have found have been fine. I have read that sometimes the first eggs are weird, but should I still be conserned? My plan is to wait a few more days and if I het more odd eggs then I will add calcium, I just hate to add it if they don’t really need it.

Yeah, first eggs can be weird. Weirdness can also be caused by stress.

You should be able to provide laying hens calcium free-choice (as in, not mixing it into their feed). In my experience, they only eat it when they need it. If you can't find or make chick-sized oyster shell, whole cuttlebone works well too.

 

[Sammbalina]

I had thought of putting in a cuttlebone, but wasn’t sure they would be able to really use it. I didn’t know if their beaks were hard enough to get anything

You don't have any drakes around by any chance? I've heard they can cause that kind of damage to hens.
Sorry about your loss.

As in Duck drakes? No, all I have are the quail, and they are up off the ground in a hutch were they wouldn’t be able to get to them anyway. Plus this wasn’t like a tearing injury, the vent was intact, just stretched open.

 

[EggWalrus]

I had thought of putting in a cuttlebone, but wasn’t sure they would be able to really use it. I didn’t know if their beaks were hard enough to get anything



As in Duck drakes? No, all I have are the quail, and they are up off the ground in a hutch were they wouldn’t be able to get to them anyway. Plus this wasn’t like a tearing injury, the vent was intact, just stretched open.

I'm sorry, I missed the past about quail. Some how I thought it was a poor chicken that got stretched out. I'm sorry for the loss of your poor little quail.