one of our chickens has died :( what could it be, and what to do with the body...

[emmasuzie]

this is our first year of keeping chickens. a few days ago one of our 6 hens was being quite quiet, not with the flock and not eating so much etc. we have had a bit of a problem with red mites, but for the last 2 months or so we have been regularly treating the coop and chickens, and they are pretty much gone now. so we put the problem down to that and just kept an eye on her. but this morning she was quite bad, so we called up the hen breeders to ask advice and she said we should take her to the vet. this was about 9pm this night (time here is different in england). we brought her inside as she was really weak and breathing heavily. we gave her some bread with wormer (we worm them every month or so) but she vomited. we brought her inside the house, as we heard the other chickens would attack her. and filled a crate with bedding and put her in an airy room. a few hours ago she died
do you have any idea what this could be that could have caused this. and if it is contagious the the other chickens. also i spotted a few red mites on her, could they have caused this? their coop is practicly free of red mites now, we only see the odd few.
and what to do with the body?
sorry about the bombardment of questions, thank you so much for helping x

 

[binza1979]

I have no idea what could have caused the death. So sorry for your loss. Depending on how attached you are to the gal, you can burry her in the garden so she can keep giving life. I have also been known to place her in the rubbish bin and let the garbage man take care of her.

 

[seminolewind]

Since she vomited, is her crop impacted? Does she have a sour crop? What color is her stool?

 

[leadwolf1]

I have to ask why you are deworming them every month? Deworming medication is very tough on any animal and that really seems like overkill to me. I'm sorry you lost her. I think I would have a necropsy done if I really wanted to know what happened.

 

[emmasuzie]

thanks everyone, yeah she had diarrhea, and she also stopped laying. we sell our eggs, so would it be sensible to throw away the eggs up to a few days ago, just in case?
it's a natural wormer, it says to worm every month, for 3 consecutive days.
do you know how much a necropsy would cost?
sorry i'm not sure what impacted crop is, but she's never had sour crop, and we checked it when she was ill x

 

[leadwolf1]

A necropsy varies in cost. You would need to call your local government extension office and see if they can direct you to a state lab. They are usually very reasonable..some even offering no cost necropsies.

An impacted crop looks and feels like a rock. Nothing is moving through. The birds crop never empties so even first thing off the roost in the morning it is still rock hard.