Poor blocked chicken died :((((((

[coopstudent]

First off I want to thank everyone for all their support and advice.....it really helped me through this! Sadly, our hen Marie died in the night. We determined she did not die of the same illness her friend died of last month. We are pretty sure She died from a blockage in her intestine. I have to say I am devastated!!! We had just commented 2 weeks ago that she looked to be in the best health she'd ever been in...gleaming feathers, her comb was huge and a beautiful pink, she was a great weight. To think her life was cut short due to eating insulation I put up to keep them warm. I feel terrible!! It was an awful way to die and I blame myself. It was a stupid, preventable death. I'm also wondering if I did everything I could...or if I made her worse. Maybe I made it worse when I took some of the gravely pieces of insulation out...maybe if I had done stuff differently. I hate that I am not very knowledgeable because then I find myself second guessing everything I did. What a bad month for chickens at our house...these 2 hens were our family favorites. This one was my 8 yr old sons. Poor kid has a fever and a tummy bug today and on top of it, his pet hen died

Thanks for listening to me go on.....

 

[easttxchick]

Don't beat yourself up-you did what you could to save Marie. Some of these chicken issues are so darn insidious and come on so fast(and the symptoms of several things can mimic each other) that you don't have time to figure out what's wrong. I am so sorry for your loss.

I hope your son gets better soon.

 

[coopstudent]

Thank you very much for your sympathy and support. Its such a blow to lose 2 faves so close together...and to lose one of them to something like this.....

Despite their sadness, The kids have already asked if we can get a few new chicks in the spring...this certainly hasn't discouraged their love of raising chickens!! I love having our hens but after something like this I stop and think..sheesh, if we get more, its just more chances to go through stuff like this lolol!

 

[hen-thusiast]

Sorry your hen passed away. Don't beat yourself up, things happen and you certainly didn't do it on purpose.

I'm just curious, how do you know it was the insulation? Did you do your own necropsy?

 

[b.hromada]

I'm very sorry about your girl Marie.

Like someone else said, they can get sick so fast, and the symptoms do mimic each other at times. I know it hurts, she was a pet, part of the family. Hope your little guy gets better soon. Give him a hug for me too.

 

[toletiquesbysam]

to you and your son! You were doing what you thought was best for them, you didn't tell them to eat it!!

 

[3goodeggs]

Please do not make her death your fault. It isn't. It is the other side of life. You tried very hard. you did your best.
After going through all that you have done to save her...I am so sorry.
I have a theory that the more animals you have, the more things that will go wrong. The longer they live, the more things will wrong. or, pretty much if it can go wrong, eventually it will go wrong. I think Murphy actually published that theory and stated it as a law.
That said, you really did all that you could have done. You gave it your best shot, and that is all that anyone can do. Stuff happens. Meanwhile, think about all of the great stuff that happens too. And the more we open ourselves up to great stuff, eventually it goes wrong, wears out, and dies. But it doesn't mean we should stop allowing ourselves to experience more great stuff. Great stuff out weighs bad stuff.
Great stuff happens. But you never see that on a bumper sticker.
Chicks sound like a great idea. They sound like 'great stuff'. go chicks!
Please get some more. keep on chickening on.

 

[cassandra7022]

Hi coopstudent, my hen is still hanging in there. I'm sorry for your loss. I saw where you said you put up insulation in your coop for warmth. I thought about doing the same thing. I live in Illinois and it gets cold here. I decided to take some plastic netting ( like you see them using to block off ditches or working construction, you know the orange stuff...) and I nailed it to the studs inside my coop then I pushed straw in between the plastic and the wall. seems to work pretty well for insulation. just an idea. have a great day!

 

[coopstudent]

Thank you so much everybody! You really helped to make me feel a lot better....I appreciate the advice, the sympathy, encouragement and comfort.
3goodeggs....Thanks so much for that!! YOu really helped me. Well, I just got off the phone 30 minutes ago after placing an order for 5 more chicks...we are getting a RR red, a new australorp, a barred rock, and 2 araucaunas. We are building a big new coop this spring

))))

cassandra... What a great idea!! I never thought of that! I think I'll try that for the remainder of the winter. I'll just have to get my husband to stop and get the plastic fencing and an extra bale of straw!!! Great idea. Its been sooooo cold here!

hen-thusiest... Well, as i was in there gently trying to push back in her prolapsed intestine I realized she seemed to be full of these hard gravely little bits. When I removed my hand a bunch was stuck all through my glove and I saw they were bright pink (1/4'-1/3" pieces)!! The same color as the insulation she'd eaten 3 weeks before! We are guessing that the insulation somehow changed consistency and became very hard and abrasive as it was passing through her gut. Our guess is that it passed through her crop but then blocked somewhere else (maybe because it was so rough and abrasive it sort of clung to her intestinal walls????). From onset of symptoms until she died was just 24 hrs or so. She was in perfect health before and it seemed to definitely be coming from something intestinal. It was the best guess we could come up with considering the evidence

((

 

[hen-thusiast]

Thanks for responding to my question.

Yikes! I would have come to the same conclusion as you!

I can't wait to see some pictures of the new arrivals!