RIP Frankie....ovarian cancer.
I opened the coop to find Frankie (Naked Neck hen aged 11 months) dead.
She had an apparent calcium deficiency about 2 months ago and responded to extra calcium. She never laid any eggs, though, and always seemed a bit lethargic. She ate well and lived a pretty normal chicken life, but tail often a bit droopy and slept more than the others.
I picked her up today and found she was surprisingly heavy. I decided to try to find out what she had died from. On opening her body cavity a good layer of fat under the skin but there was a fair amount of blood-stained free fluid. Her liver was stuffed with hard secondary deposits from a grey hard mass that had replaced her ovaries. No signs of normal tissue at all.
An 11 month old pure bred hen, so not what I had expected.
RIP Frankie....
Here Frankie in better times
I opened the coop to find Frankie (Naked Neck hen aged 11 months) dead.
She had an apparent calcium deficiency about 2 months ago and responded to extra calcium. She never laid any eggs, though, and always seemed a bit lethargic. She ate well and lived a pretty normal chicken life, but tail often a bit droopy and slept more than the others.
I picked her up today and found she was surprisingly heavy. I decided to try to find out what she had died from. On opening her body cavity a good layer of fat under the skin but there was a fair amount of blood-stained free fluid. Her liver was stuffed with hard secondary deposits from a grey hard mass that had replaced her ovaries. No signs of normal tissue at all.
An 11 month old pure bred hen, so not what I had expected.
RIP Frankie....

Here Frankie in better times