Seizure before death.

[ThistleMae]

Hello chicken lovers!
Yesterday, my favorite pullet passed. Obviously it’s too late to do anything for her, but I need to know the rest of my flock is at risk. On Tuesday I found my favorite girl acting off. She didn’t have any injuries, but she didn’t want to stand and her comb was quite pale. I thought that maybe it was heat stress so I brought her in put a fan on her, soaked her feet and gave her some cold water. She had one bowel movement after I brought her in. That was very liquid and smelled terrible and looked like mustard, no blood and she was eating and drinking fine. Then yesterday she seemed a little perkier when she was awake so I took her outside to see if she would get up and walk on her own and at that point, she flopped over had a seizure and passed. So I’m wondering if what got her is contagious or if she just got too hot and wasn’t able to pull out of it.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Do you still have the body? The only way to know for sure what it died of is to send the body to your state lab for a necropsy. Keep the body refrigerated after double wrapping in plastic bags before sending it off. Do not freeze.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. How old was she? Many birds I have been with as they died have had seizure like movements, such as curling the neck and tremors. It lasts a minute or so. It would be hard to know what cause the death with sending her body in to your state vet for a necropsy. The body should be kept on ice in a cooler or refrigerated, but not frozen. Heat can have a bad affect on some birds, but she may have had an illness of some kind. Some people do home necropsies to look at the organs for anything unusual, and take pictures to post here for advice. Here is a list of state vet labs to contact:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html

 

[ThistleMae]

Do you still have the body? The only way to know for sure what it died of is to send the body to your state lab for a necropsy. Keep the body refrigerated after double wrapping in plastic bags before sending it off. Do not freeze.

I had no idea this was a thing! So I no longer have her body. How would I find information on where to send off for necropsy if this happens again?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I had no idea this was a thing! So I no longer have her body. How would I find information on where to send off for necropsy if this happens again?

In @Eggcessive's post above (#3) she included a link.