One of my favorite passed away this morning & I need answers

[Jenjens]

Hello,

I noticed my hen Stormy was acting a little distant these past few days, but she was eating and drinking just fine, so I didn't think much of it. I came home from work last night and knew something was wrong the second I saw her. She was breathing really heavy. I also heard a clicking sound coming from her. I knew she was sick when she allowed me to get close to her and listen and my husband put her in a nice dog crate in the garage. She had dried Diarrhea on her butt.

She wouldn't eat any of her favorite snacks or drink water, so I had to orally inject some bayril in her mouth. Later I noticed she was drooling, so I think I may have done more harm than good. (If so - please be nice I am heartbroken right now) It was mucusy drool, so I am not sure if that was the baytril or her own drool.

This morning I came in to see my baby girl passed away. Does anyone know what could have happened to her? I have the whole flock on antibiotics right now.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry to hear about Stormy

It would be hard to know why she declined so quickly without investigating further through necropsy. If you still have to body, then sending that in to your state lab would give you some answers.

There're so many things that can go wrong. She may have suddenly had problems with an egg or even her heart just gave out.
The drooling sounds like it may have come from the crop, so maybe it was not emptying. I don't think you did anything wrong with giving her the Baytril.

Giving the others antibiotics may be helpful if you highly suspect a bacterial infection is going through your flock. Do you see any symptoms to indicate that?

 

[Jenjens]

The only symptom I noticed from Stormy was that her comb was hanging down a little, but it has been really hot here, so I just monitored her for a few days and it looked better. She has always been quite thin and her crop was empty. I did notice her butt was "pumping" more than normal with her heavy breath.

Thank you for the reply and the online hug. I needed it.