Sick chicken with spots on her comb

vonsharon

In the Brooder
Mar 26, 2018
5
7
22
Hi all. I had a terrible event over the weekend. My chicken, Rowie (Rhode Island Red), was standoffish Saturday Morning, hiding under a canopy in their large chicken shop/coop. The rest of the flock seemed fine. She was mobile, walked away from me okay, but just seemed, you know, off. Saturday evening, when I went to tuck everyone in, she was hiding under a wheelbarrow and sluggish. I also noticed white, runny poos. I promptly brought her home and noticed some black spots on her comb. She was drinking, but not really eating (ate a little watermelon but did didn't touch her mealworms, crumbles, or yogurt). I put some triple antibiotic on her spots and noticed she had more white, runny poos. Sunday morning, she was even more lethargic and breathing around 45 BPM. I gently checked her vent to make sure she wasn't egg-bound. Our local avian vet is only open weekdays, and the other vets in the area are not bird vets, so I didn't really have any resources. Now I wish I'd found someone online. Anyway, by midday Sunday, she was quite lethargic, resting eyes closed, and breathing 60BPM. I was worried about hydration since she'd stopped drinking, so I gave her 50cc subcutaneous fluids. It seemed to help a bit—her respiratory rate decreased a small amount—but by a few hours later, she was breathing harder and open-mouthed. I was concerned I was behind on fluids as she had more watery stools, so I gave an additional 100 cc fluid realizing she was nowhere near to her normal 200 cc/day as an active layer. Shortly after the bolus, she seized and died. I am so sad! And I'm worried that the other flock-members might become ill with whatever she had. She was just fine and then so sick! I wondered if it might be fowl-pox. If so, she succumbed so swiftly. I didn't see any drooling or notice any sores around her mouth or vent, so though it my be dry-pox. Any help is greatly appreciated! I have never wormed them as the local aviary vet advised me against it. Thoughts? Thank you all so much for your input!
 
Ah, it happened so fast, and I was in the thick of it and just didn't snap one. But it looked very much like this... Not the dusky tips but the spot farther down.
 

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I'm sorry for your loss. The only way to know for sure what happened is to have a necropsy done, there are just so many possiblities. Dry pox usually runs it's course with no real problems unless a bird is really weakened by something else. It's also possible that if she was ill then she was attacked/pecked by other birds and those were the marks on the comb. When one bird is weak the flock will often attack and try to drive them away. Sorry I don't have better answers for you.
 
I'm sorry for your loss. The only way to know for sure what happened is to have a necropsy done, there are just so many possiblities. Dry pox usually runs it's course with no real problems unless a bird is really weakened by something else. It's also possible that if she was ill then she was attacked/pecked by other birds and those were the marks on the comb. When one bird is weak the flock will often attack and try to drive them away. Sorry I don't have better answers for you.
Perhaps, but I am there and around them so much of the time. I get to observe their everyday interaction and never really saw this. If it were the case, though, I wonder what illness they might have noticed?
 

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