Sick chicken turned fatal

[New2chickens18]

Hi. I am fairly new to chicken owning and just had one of my chickens die, but I have no idea what happened. Monday she was fine. No indication that she was sick at all. Tuesday evening I noticed she had separated herself from the flock and wouldn't go in the coop at dusk. I removed her from the flock. Yesterday morning, she had labored breathing- no wheezing, coughing or mucus coming from her nose, mouth or eyes. She laid an egg, but the shell was paper thin. I noticed she had green diarrhea and wouldn't eat or drink anything. By yesterday evening she wouldn't move and her comb had started to turn purple. She also started shaking, like a shiver. Like she was cold or scared maybe? Then suddenly she let out a weird sound and she stiffened and died. Any idea what she could have been suffering from? The coop and run is cleaned on a regular basis and just had a major cleaning last weekend. None of my other chickens are showing signs of being ill, yet. Google keeps coming up with bird flu, so I'm terrified.

Any advise or personal experience would be amazing!

 

[PattyNH]

Where are you from? If you are in the USA (or anywhere other than far-eastern Asia) I'm very confident in saying it is NOT " the bird flu" (aka avian influenza) so don't panic about that at least. Take a deep breath.

There are a lot of people who are very knowledgeable about poultry illnesses here so odds are that they will have some idea about what you're dealing with. @Wyorp Rock @KikisGirls @Brahma Chicken5000 @Eggcessive

In the meantime: Do you worm your chickens? If so, what wormer do you use? When were they last wormed? Are they vaccinated? What do you feedworked? Feed, grit, and snacks included.

 

[Saaniya]

Shocking green poop maybe mareks
But I highly guess for cognitive heart failure common in hens

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

A purple comb can be caused by heart problems. When did you get these birds? Have you added any new birds recently? What breed is the bird that passed away?

 

[igorsMistress]

I would suggest you send the bird for necropsy if you really want to know. Here's a list by state

www.heritageacresmarket.com/poultry-necropsy-labs/

 

[New2chickens18]

I'll answer all questions here- I live in the US, Florida to be exact. She was a seven month old Blue Sapphire we bought from a local feed store. No prior issues to this. We did just recently add two, one year old Easter Eggers, but we quarantined them for 3 weeks prior to introducing them. We feed them medicated feed with 20% scratch mixed in. They occasionally will get watermelon, grapes or scrambled eggs for treats. I have grit and oyster shells in the run always. We have not wormed them.

 

[chickens really]

Sounds like it was egg bound...

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi. I am fairly new to chicken owning and just had one of my chickens die, but I have no idea what happened. Monday she was fine. No indication that she was sick at all. Tuesday evening I noticed she had separated herself from the flock and wouldn't go in the coop at dusk. I removed her from the flock. Yesterday morning, she had labored breathing- no wheezing, coughing or mucus coming from her nose, mouth or eyes. She laid an egg, but the shell was paper thin. I noticed she had green diarrhea and wouldn't eat or drink anything. By yesterday evening she wouldn't move and her comb had started to turn purple. She also started shaking, like a shiver. Like she was cold or scared maybe? Then suddenly she let out a weird sound and she stiffened and died. Any idea what she could have been suffering from? The coop and run is cleaned on a regular basis and just had a major cleaning last weekend. None of my other chickens are showing signs of being ill, yet. Google keeps coming up with bird flu, so I'm terrified.

Any advise or personal experience would be amazing!

We feed them medicated feed with 20% scratch mixed in. They occasionally will get watermelon, grapes or scrambled eggs for treats. I have grit and oyster shells in the run always. We have not wormed them.

I'm sorry for your loss
There is really no way to know what happened unless you investigate further. If you still have the body, refrigerate it an send it the your state lab for testing. https://www.freshfromflorida.com/Bu...on-Animal-Disease-Diagnostic-Laboratory-BADDL
Alternatively, you can perform and informal necropsy yourself. If that is something you can do, post some photos and we can hopefully help you with what you see.

How long have you been feeding medicated starter?
How much scratch do you add to the feed?
In the US most medicated starters contain Amprolium, it is a mild coccidiostat, but if your birds have been on your property for a few months, they should not need a coccidiostat on a regular basis. They should have built resistance to the Coccidia where they live.

Scratch is considered a treat. Give that to them separately - scattered so they have something to scratch for. Scratch is low in protein and is carbs - it can pack on the pounds and make birds fat if they are given too much. Fat birds can have reproductive problems and complications of disease like Fatty Liver. Your birds may be picking out scratch and not eating their nutritionally balanced feed - so they could possibly be deficient in essential vitamins/minerals and protein.
Make sure you offer oyster shell free choice so your laying girls can get extra calcium if they need it. There is nothing wrong with using Chick Starter if that's what you prefer. Some people transition to layer feed once all their girls are laying or they use a Flock Raiser feed, which is what I use.

I would not worry about Bird Flu. Sometimes those chicken symptom checkers can come up with some scary stuff. If it were Bird Flu, the rest of your flock would already be showing symptoms and they would be declining rapidly as well.

Just my personal opinion - the symptoms you describe, I would be inclined to think she had a reproductive problem or some type of organ failure. Could have been a genetic defect of the heart or if she was a piggy and ate mostly scratch - Fatty Liver Disease.
https://the-chicken-chick.com/chickens-obesity-silent-killer-how-to/

 

[Eggcessive]

It sounds like a reproductive disorder, but a necropsy either done at home, or by the state vet would be the best way to know. Sorry for your loss.