Ok, Heart disease in a 7 month old chicken? Seriously?

[summerhatch]

Wow. I think it must be me...I've lost two dogs (totally unrelated) to genetic heart issues, a kitten on the spay table (heart attack), another dog dropped dead (heart attack), another cat had a heart attack in the hall way, and I have a kitten with a heart murmer.

Now, I just brought Nugget to the vet, who truly thought she was suffering from egg yolk peritonitis. She highly advised we put her down since she was clearly suffering. We did (yes, a heartbreaker!).

When they delivered her body back to us, the vet said she'd drawn some of the fluid which was swelling her belly and found it crystal clear, indicating heart disease! Apparently, it's a genetic thing and the prognosis would have been the same anyway.

So I ask you, has ANYONE ever had young hen die of heart disease? Thank God my family is healthy!

 

[msdoolittle]

Fluid in the belly is known as ascites. You can do a search on it to read more about the condition. Ascites is, unfortunately, pretty common in 'broiler'-type birds, that is, chickens who have been bred to gain muscle mass extremely quickly as opposed to 'normal' breeds. Sorry about your loss!

 

[TriciaHowe]

I am soooo sorry to hear about all the bad luck you have had with your animals and heart disease. That's just terrible. I don't think I have had any hens with heart disease that I know of. It's possible that some have died and I just didn't know the cause. I did however have a crested pekin (from a hatchery) duck keel over dead at 5 months old right in front of my daughter. It was her fav and she went out to see them, he went running up for treats and boom down he went. We figure it was a massive heart attack or something along those lines.

 

[chickletranch]

We had a large barred rock pullet die suddenly, from what I thought was a heart attack or heart disease since she was very large for her age. She was around 5 months old and seemingly healthy, then one day started acting lethargic and died in my arms the next morning.

I'm so sorry for your loss. What an awful coincidence.

Lynn

 

[FrizzlesRule]

I had a beautiful and cuddly 10 year old Blue Silkie who was never sick a day in her life, just drop dead suddenly while she was eating. I guess it was a heart attack.

Sorry for your loss.

 

[chicks4life]

what type of chicken did you have? Was she a Broiler Chicken? Broilers are not meant to live very long. They grow very quickly and their hearts can't handle the stain so they die of heart attacks and heart disease.