- May 17, 2017
- 64
- 164
- 141
One of our chickens, a three-year-old red sex link, died yesterday. This was our first loss due to sickness rather than a predator and it all happened very quickly.
When I opened the run at noon to allow the chickens to free range, she was reluctant to leave the coop and then walked very slowly on her way out once I started shooing her out. I noticed she was opening and closing her beak and her comb was pale and somewhat shrivelled. Before this I had not noticed any unusual behavior.
I noticed some whitish diarrhea so I lifted her up for a closer look and inspected her vent with rubber gloves on. There was no sign of worms and her vent looked ok. I fished around inside to see if she was egg bound. I didn’t find anything but I am not experienced in this area.
When I put her down she waddled pigeon toed for about 10 yards and laid down next to a fallen log. Here is a short clip of her walking:
I then checked her crop and it felt very hard and was about the size of a walnut. I thought I felt several straw like objects but I think they were quills from her feathers. I tried massaging it and put her back down. At this point she had lost considerable energy and was going limp. I went inside to find some oil and vitamins with a dropper. This took about five minutes and by the time I returned she was dead. I was really surprised as this all transpired in less than an hour.
When she had died I had a closer look and saw no sign of injury, though her belly did seem unusually full, but no obvious discoloration. It was soft to the touch. She felt on the heavy side but I’m not sure what a normal weight is. I was reluctant to perform a necropsy without any planning or experience so I disposed of the body.
We live in the northeastern US and have had a generally mild winter. None of the rest of our flock of 14 birds (various breeds) have these symptoms, though I recently completed a course of Corid which I started when I noticed diarrhea in one or two of the other chickens. Other than that there has been no change to their routine recently. The only significant recent change I can think of was bringing a 5 gallon bucket of sand from a nearby beach into the run to help with drainage. Maybe it was somehow contaminated or had harmful bacteria? Also of note, it is now one day later and the rest of the flock seem healthy.
I know this is not a lot to go on but would appreciate any insight and things to look out for in the future.
When I opened the run at noon to allow the chickens to free range, she was reluctant to leave the coop and then walked very slowly on her way out once I started shooing her out. I noticed she was opening and closing her beak and her comb was pale and somewhat shrivelled. Before this I had not noticed any unusual behavior.
I noticed some whitish diarrhea so I lifted her up for a closer look and inspected her vent with rubber gloves on. There was no sign of worms and her vent looked ok. I fished around inside to see if she was egg bound. I didn’t find anything but I am not experienced in this area.
When I put her down she waddled pigeon toed for about 10 yards and laid down next to a fallen log. Here is a short clip of her walking:
I then checked her crop and it felt very hard and was about the size of a walnut. I thought I felt several straw like objects but I think they were quills from her feathers. I tried massaging it and put her back down. At this point she had lost considerable energy and was going limp. I went inside to find some oil and vitamins with a dropper. This took about five minutes and by the time I returned she was dead. I was really surprised as this all transpired in less than an hour.
When she had died I had a closer look and saw no sign of injury, though her belly did seem unusually full, but no obvious discoloration. It was soft to the touch. She felt on the heavy side but I’m not sure what a normal weight is. I was reluctant to perform a necropsy without any planning or experience so I disposed of the body.
We live in the northeastern US and have had a generally mild winter. None of the rest of our flock of 14 birds (various breeds) have these symptoms, though I recently completed a course of Corid which I started when I noticed diarrhea in one or two of the other chickens. Other than that there has been no change to their routine recently. The only significant recent change I can think of was bringing a 5 gallon bucket of sand from a nearby beach into the run to help with drainage. Maybe it was somehow contaminated or had harmful bacteria? Also of note, it is now one day later and the rest of the flock seem healthy.
I know this is not a lot to go on but would appreciate any insight and things to look out for in the future.
