Quartet becomes Trio :(

[Rivers]

Ive had my young hens only since early december. 4 different hyrbids. One of them, a "bluebelle" was always the most timid, and almost worryingly placid. Always very easy to pick up with even one hand, it would not really squirm/jump. It would never run as fast as the rest when I brang them food. But still it was always capable, it jumped up into the riased coop and hopped onto the perch. It always managed to get a fair share of food etc.

But today she died! It was in a quiet sheltered area near our house. No signs of predator or injury. Only recent ailments id noticed was a slight bit of "wheezing" this morning, and that the hen had much more runny droppings that the rest. The "wheezing" I describe, was the hen stretching its head / neck forwards and opening its mouth wide. A bit like a yawn, which it did several times in sucession. I watched it for a while but it seemed fine so I left. Then a couple hours later I hear it is dead!

Does anyone have any idea what this could be?

The people I bought the young hens from said they had two vaccinations. One was Mareks, I cannot remember the other. They also said they had been dewormed. I have not noticed any lice problems.

 

[easttxchick]

It could have been something like gapeworms or it may have been her heart.
Sometimes, there is just no way to know.
I'm really sorry you lost her.

 

[rockinpaints]

When they stretch their necks and gasp like a yawn it is usually because they are having difficulty breathing. Upper respiratory possibly?

 

[Rivers]

Ive just heard about gapeworms, and this sounds a lot like what the cause might be. Apparently one of the symptoms is a dirty bottom, this hen had a dirty bottom when I got it and has had runny droppings as far as I can remember.

The gasping/wheezing only occurred once on the last day (yesterday) however, so I had no prior reason to think of worms. Especially considering I was told that all the hens were wormed!

One of my other hens often makes gurgling/spluttery almost cough like sounds. Perhaps they both have gapeworm?

 

[CMV]

Gape worms are easy to check for. Swirl a q-tip down their throats kind of like what you would get at a doctor's office during a throat culture. Check the q-tip. If you see reddish y-shaped threads on it, then they have gape worms and should be treated.

Sorry for your loss. Good luck with the rest of them.

 

[Rivers]

Quote:
Thanks for the tip,

I tried to do this today with my brown hyline hen, (the one which has shown spluttering/coughing symptoms). It was very hard to do as she is strong and hates to be held. But I got the Q-tip (we call them cotton buds) in her mouth and tried to get it in her throat, but I just couldnt guage how far I needed to go. I thought I was going deep, but the tip didnt seem to be coming into contact with anything. When I pulled it out, it was totally clean. But I feel this is mostly likely because I need ot go deeper.

Is there any risk of me hurting the hen by going too deep?

 

[CMV]

As long as you aren't leaving anything behind (like part of the cotton fluff) when you do it, she should be fine. She'll be unhappy, but fine.

 

[Hillary and friend's eggs]

So sorry! I know what it's like to loose one.

 

[Peppypap]

May have been her heart or gapeworms. I've lost a hen from each. It's so sad when they go...

 

[Rivers]

I still had the dead bird and was considering an autopsy, but instead today I tested with the Q-tip method. Interestingly, on the first day I tried to look down her throat, but mouth was frozen shut, just couldnt open it. But by now the muscles had relaxed I guess.

I noticed there were two passages in the throat, and I was unsure of which was the windpipe. I slid the tip down the large passage towards the rear first, very deep but it came out clean. I then carefully fed the q-tip into the smaller hole just below the tongue, this was more of a tight squeeze but I again got it in deep. When I pulled it out this time however, I noticed the tip was covered in blood, just the cotton tip that is. So it had come into contact with a bleeding area, I didnt feel any obstructions so I dont think I created any wounds to let out blood.

Now, this is poultry basics I guess, but I dont have a clue which of these two passages is the windpipe and which is the food passage (oesophagus?). The blood I found was just blood, no worms. I looked VERY carefully.