Pullet suddenly dead, what happened?

[topochico225]

I'm sorry. Such a shock to find such a young one suddenly dead. This happened to me recently at the end of summer. A one-year old hen had been normal, laying normally, and was free ranging all morning, came into the run and collapsed in death as soon as she came through the pop hole.

I cut her open to do a quick visual determination of death if it presented itself, and found that she had been laying internally for a few days.

You can do this easily if you don't want to bother with an expensive necropsy. Just open the abdominal cavity and see what's in there that shouldn't be.

Oh no! Sorry for your loss. She didn't lay this morning, but she's been laying regularly since. I'm too squeamish to autopsy her myself, unfortunately.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hey everyone, sad news tonight.

We came home tonight, and found our 8 month RIR pullet Mahalia face down dead. She's been having some health issues- here's links to the past posts I've made about her:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/possible-nystatin-aspiration-in-pullet-help.1436981/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-puffier-neck-and-liquid-around-nose.1436698/
Anyway, she finished her liquid Nystatin dose yesterday morning. Nothing odd since then, she seemed just fine since finishing the dose. She was alert, bright eyed, and happy this morning. When we came home, she was face down, legs splayed out, looking like she fell off the roost dead. She hit the waterer on the way down. What could have happened? She was cold when we got home, so it had been a good bit. No signs of trauma, obvious injury. It's not crazy cold here (42 F), and she had a space heater next to her coop. She was isolated by our back door, and the coop she was in was like Fort Knox. Hardware cloth over the large gratings, reinforced locks, the whole 9 yards. Nothing could have gotten in. What could have happened?
She was such a sweet girl. Would fall asleep when she was wrapped in a towel being held.
Pictures are from removing her from coop and putting her in better lighting.
View attachment 2483174View attachment 2483175View attachment 2483176View attachment 2483177
Tagging for assistance: @Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive @azygous @casportpony

We were thinking to put her body in a plastic bag back in the coop she was in outside so we don't have a dead chicken in our fridge and so nothing eats her. It's refrigerator-cold outside tonight.

I'm sorry that she died.
It would be best to place the body in refrigeration if you are going to have a necropsy.
If that's not possible, then see if you can do something like suggested in post #1 of this thread. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/how-to-send-a-bird-for-a-necropsy-pictures.799747/

When you get your report back, please let us know.

 

[Aunt Angus]

There are sooooo many things that can go wrong with our beloved chickens. A fungal infection doesn't seem like it'd be the culprit, but idk. I thought my girl was just lethargic from her molt. Turns out she has salpingitis that was extremely advanced. She'd been sick for months, and I didn't know.

 

[topochico225]

There are sooooo many things that can go wrong with our beloved chickens. A fungal infection doesn't seem like it'd be the culprit, but idk. I thought my girl was just lethargic from her molt. Turns out she has salpingitis that was extremely advanced. She'd been sick for months, and I didn't know.

Oh wow, okay. We're putting her in a cooler bag with cold packs until we can take her to the LSU Vet School tomorrow for the necropsy.

 

[topochico225]

I'm sorry that she died.
It would be best to place the body in refrigeration if you are going to have a necropsy.
If that's not possible, then see if you can do something like suggested in post #1 of this thread. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/how-to-send-a-bird-for-a-necropsy-pictures.799747/

When you get your report back, please let us know.

So, I called LSU Vet this morning because it's been ~1.5 months since I took her in and not a peep. (Sorry, couldn't resist. ) They transferred me to the diagnostics lab... which was closed for inclement weather. Oh well. Guess I'll try again tomorrow, and I'll update again.

 

[Aunt Angus]

So, I called LSU Vet this morning because it's been ~1.5 months since I took her in and not a peep. (Sorry, couldn't resist. ) They transferred me to the diagnostics lab... which was closed for inclement weather. Oh well. Guess I'll try again tomorrow, and I'll update again.

So frustrating! I hope you find out soon.

 

[topochico225]

I'm sorry that she died.
It would be best to place the body in refrigeration if you are going to have a necropsy.
If that's not possible, then see if you can do something like suggested in post #1 of this thread. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/how-to-send-a-bird-for-a-necropsy-pictures.799747/

When you get your report back, please let us know.

RESULTS! Finally, after more than a month, I have closure.

@Aunt Angus as well.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

RESULTS! Finally, after more than a month, I have closure.
View attachment 2536799
View attachment 2536800
@Aunt Angus as well.

I'm glad you were able to finally get the results.
You may want to read up about Fatty Liver disease and see if there's any changes to diet that can be made. Here's one link to get you started, but if you search, I'm sure you will find more info.

https://the-chicken-chick.com/chickens-obesity-silent-killer-how-to/

 

[topochico225]

I'm glad you were able to finally get the results.
You may want to read up about Fatty Liver disease and see if there's any changes to diet that can be made. Here's one link to get you started, but if you search, I'm sure you will find more info.

https://the-chicken-chick.com/chickens-obesity-silent-killer-how-to/

I read up on it, and I think I may be okay now because we give MUCH less treats than we did before Mahalia was sick. The chickens also free range much more now, so I believe they are okay now.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I read up on it, and I think I may be okay now because we give MUCH less treats than we did before Mahalia was sick. The chickens also free range much more now, so I believe they are okay now.

Sounds good!