Please tell us what happened to our pullet!!!

[riverdreamer]

This afternoon at 5pm, my wife went to backyard to check our free range girls. She is usually welcomed by the elder ones. However, the eldest one (6 months old Light Brahma) named Akoh did not come to greet her. She went out to search for her and found her panting under shade laying down. She was perceived alright foraging at 3pm.

So my wife brought her inside and called me to examine what's going on. She seems to pass out with legs flat out stretching and trembling. We let her lay flat on one side and got a sprayer to spray water on side of her beak hoping water will flow down. We assume she was dehydrated at 95F Texas heat. While laying on carpet with indoor temperature at 78F, she opens her eyes on and off in awake and asleep state, I thought it is possible she may be in hypnotic state. All the sudden she went berserk flapping her wings and twisting her body like seizure. Our entire family freaked out watching her bursting behavior. She landed and laid down with neck twisted like a contortionist, we then see she's not even breathing. Trying to resuscitate for a while, she became cold with no respond.

Akoh was our first pullet, beloved by all of us with friendly and funny personality. We are very saddened. We changed their regular feed to organic starter feed last month and introduced her and others into brand new chicken coop last night. Does anyone have any clue what happened to her? We have flock of 7 - just passed Light Brahma (6 months), 5 months White Leghorn, 4 months Brown Leghorn, 2 months White Crested Black Polish, 2 months White Polish, 3 weeks Golden Phoenix and Red Shouldered Yokohama. We want to learn from this tragedy and prevent it happens to other girls in the future.

Thank you for your input and advice.

 

[lauranickerson]

Oh no! That's so sad. I'm very sorry for your loss. I'm not sure what happened to her, but I'll post so that more people see your post.

 

[realsis]

I'm so so sorry that's terrible! Not sure what happened unless it was heat stroke? Not sure why she would flap that way at the end? Maybe heart attack? Just a guess. Perhaps someone else has another answer. Again I'm truly sorry you had to go through this!

 

[riverdreamer]

Is heat stroke common in chickens?
Do they stretch feet look like coma frozen often? I'm so new to chicken....

 

[riverdreamer]

I'm so so sorry that's terrible! Not sure what happened unless it was heat stroke? Not sure why she would flap that way at the end? Maybe heart attack? Just a guess. Perhaps someone else has another answer. Again I'm truly sorry you had to go through this!

If she's in heat stroke, was it ok to move her? If she's in trance state, was it ok to touch her to wake up and not let her fall asleep? I am wondering when we touched her to ask her to wake up and not to go to the light, might we have triggered heart attack? Could she have accidentally suicide by twisting her neck 180 degree? After she went cold, my wife was just endlessly resuscitate, I felt so sad telling her she's gone.

 

[Eggcessive]

I don't think anything you did caused her to die. She probably had some weakness in her--her heart, kidney or liver failure, and the heat and stress of the move just caused everything to come to a head. There was nothing you could do, but when you get attached to pets, it becomes very difficult when something goes wrong.

 

[ten chicks]

This afternoon at 5pm, my wife went to backyard to check our free range girls. She is usually welcomed by the elder ones. However, the eldest one (6 months old Light Brahma) named Akoh did not come to greet her. She went out to search for her and found her panting under shade laying down. She was perceived alright foraging at 3pm.

So my wife brought her inside and called me to examine what's going on. She seems to pass out with legs flat out stretching and trembling. We let her lay flat on one side and got a sprayer to spray water on side of her beak hoping water will flow down. We assume she was dehydrated at 95F Texas heat. While laying on carpet with indoor temperature at 78F, she opens her eyes on and off in awake and asleep state, I thought it is possible she may be in hypnotic state. All the sudden she went berserk flapping her wings and twisting her body like seizure. Our entire family freaked out watching her bursting behavior. She landed and laid down with neck twisted like a contortionist, we then see she's not even breathing. Trying to resuscitate for a while, she became cold with no respond.

Akoh was our first pullet, beloved by all of us with friendly and funny personality. We are very saddened. We changed their regular feed to organic starter feed last month and introduced her and others into brand new chicken coop last night. Does anyone have any clue what happened to her? We have flock of 7 - just passed Light Brahma (6 months), 5 months White Leghorn, 4 months Brown Leghorn, 2 months White Crested Black Polish, 2 months White Polish, 3 weeks Golden Phoenix and Red Shouldered Yokohama. We want to learn from this tragedy and prevent it happens to other girls in the future.




Thank you for your input and advice.

The panting would suggest heat stroke,heat is very dangerous to chickens can result in deaths. Did you place her in a pail of cool(not cold) water(submerge her,up to neck)to cool her down,this will immediately drop her body temp if she is overheated. For heat issues,there are many suggestions on forums like using frozen water bottles/milk jugs inside nest boxes and coops,fans,giving frozen watermelon/other fruits,small children's pool filled with a little bit of water(enough for feet to get wet). Also hose down coop during day to cool everything down.

 

[muddyfeathers]

Sorry for your experience. Is it possible for your birds or this bird in particular to drink any stagnant water..maybe with algae in it?

 

[riverdreamer]

The panting would suggest heat stroke,heat is very dangerous to chickens can result in deaths. Did you place her in a pail of cool(not cold) water(submerge her,up to neck)to cool her down,this will immediately drop her body temp if she is overheated. For heat issues,there are many suggestions on forums like using frozen water bottles/milk jugs inside nest boxes and coops,fans,giving frozen watermelon/other fruits,small children's pool filled with a little bit of water(enough for feet to get wet). Also hose down coop during day to cool everything down.

I built 30' by 18' run w net covering from above. That is their habitat in early morning and late afternoon to prevent from hawk attack. My light brahma does have history of panting, especially whenever she's about to lay an egg. She was panting even late in the evening last night when we moved her into new coop. Is light brahma intolerant to heat like my other breeds? She does have bushier body with more down feathers.

 

[riverdreamer]

Sorry for your experience.  Is it possible for your birds or this bird in particular to drink any stagnant water..maybe with algae in it?

 

I change water feeder everyday. But when Im traveling in the past, when I came home, I noticed their water feeder lying on the grass did accumulate green algae. So I assume my wife fill up water when feeder deplete. My brown leghorn also like to knock down bowl water and prefer to drink water from soil. Do you think algae may be fatal? What is downside of having algae in water?

Thank you for advice.