So sorry for your loss. Her last droppings looked like egg york. Please let us know the results of the necropsy.
I recently lost one if my 1+ year old Appenzeller Spitzhauben hens. Three days ago she was acting fine, as normal as usual, eating, drinking, vocalizing, but because of the heat (temperatures had been in the mid to high 80's and sometimes in the low 90's but higher heat index), so most of my hens have been panting and keeping their wings away from their bodies. I give them cold water to drink and wet any that seem too hot. Two days ago in the morning she came out of the pen with the rest of the flock, ate and drank, but that afternoon I noticed how quiet she was and saw her "sleeping" next to the closed pen, she seemed lethargic but wasn't panting. When I went to get her to examine her and bring her up to the apartment in case she needed to be put in the hospital crate to monitor, but she got up and ran from me, and it was too hot for me to chase her around the yard. I assumed she had just been napping. That evening, when they got on their roost, her and her sisters were panting, temperature was in the low 80's. That night she dropped dead. It happened while I was watching TV, just before I went to bed I headed for the bathroom, and I always look out the window to make sure all was well in the pen (a 10x10 welded wire dog kennel with tarp roof), that all the hens were on their roosts sleeping, but this time I notice a chicken laying flat and unmoving on the sand floor of the pen. My first thought was that she must have died, maybe of heat stroke or heart attack, don't know. Maybe Appenzeller Spitzhauben don't handle heat well, they seem to handle cold better. When I went to get her, found her dead, and to my horror, she had been chewed by rats on face, neck and bum.
For months I've been battling with rats, the first bloom I thought I killed with a mix of baking soda and sweetened wheat flour, as they disappeared for a few days, but more keep coming from neighboring yards and taking over the dens. So I also tried Rar-X mixed with peanut butter, which seemed to kill a few more, but after a couple of days more show up to take their place. The last few nights I keep seeing the bastards in the pen, sifting through the sand and eating the crumbs of crumble that the chickens drop during the day. The baking soda mix has killed some of the new rats, but there seems to be a never ending supply. As long as there's chicken feed on the floor, rats will continue to make my yard their home. I have feeders that have the lips to help stop spilling of food but the chickens still manage to spill food using their beaks instead of their feet.
I fear that the rat droppings they leave in the pen and around the yard is consumed by my chickens and that could make them sick. Does anyone know if chickens would eat rat poop and if that could make them sick enough to end up dying? Has anyone successfully eradicated rats from their yard?
I have a very small, skinny, 2 month old bantam chick that barely eats and just stopped drinking. Over a week ago, when I noticed she looked skinny, didn't seem to eat much and was always trying to get under her bigger sisters and chirping a lot, I separated her from the other pullets and brought her inside. She seemed to be shaking, as if she was cold, so I put her on my chest to warm her while I set up a cage for her, that made her quiet down. Since she seemed cold I put the Rent-A-Coop brooder heating plate for her, and after a while she seemed to perk up but wasn't happy being alone, so since her dropping looked fine and she was eating and drinking, the next day I brought her a buddy. Her droppings seemed normal, she barely eats so her crop is almost always empty or with a little water, she's more and more lethargic, and all she wants to do is sleep under a brooder heating plate even though temperatures been in the 80's even at night. I tried tempting her to eat wet crmbles topped with grubs, scrambled eggs, raw egg York, and a couple of days ago she ate a little and drank, but yesterday I only saw her drinking, and today she won't eat or drink, so I syringe fed her a little of the raw egg york and water with Nutri-drench, but sadly, I don't think she's going to make it, she just don't seem to have the strength or will left to live. I wish I knew what's wrong, what's caused her failure to thrive. Her flockmates seem fine.
I can't take her or any of my chickens to a vet. I live in NYC, and tried finding a vet that would see chickens but have had no luck. But even if I could find a bird specialist, the cost would be too much for me to afford. A specialist would charge an insanely high amount just for the office visit, then for each test and procedure. I had a sick cat that needed a cat scan, but the Animal Hospital wanted $4000, and that wouldn't guarantee a diagnosis. The animal, and human, doctors here charge exorbitant amounts for exams, tests and procedures. Healthcare here can easily bankrupt people.
Sorry I ended up hijacking your post, I apologize. I should start a new one but don't know where it should go. Anyway, I'm very sorry you lost your chicken. I hope you find out why she died.
