Sick hen

[neophyte17]

Appeared to be perfectly fine a day ago. Eating and drinking and running around. This morning I found her in the coop sitting on a shelf I have inside there. Her eyes closed. I picked her up and all her bottom was wet. Her comb and waddle are very dark colored. I put her back down and she won't move around. No discharge from eyes or nose. No heavy breathing. She is almost 3 years old.

 

[azygous]

Your hen is likely dying. Organs shutting down will cause a comb and wattles to turn dark from lack of oxygen due to poor circulation. Cause could be anything. If you wish to know, you will need to refrigerate her body when she dies and contact these people.
Reddy Bommineni, DVM, PhD, DACVM, DACPV
Chief, Bureau of Diagnostic Laboratory
Email: [email protected]
(321) 697-1400
(321) 697-1467 Fax

Once a chicken reaches this state, death is usually within hours, if she hasn't already died.

 

[neophyte17]

I found her dead when I got home from work. I don't know how soon after I separated her and put her in isolation, she died. It is probably too late to send her body in. I know it is hard to say what caused it. It is just heartbreaking.

 

[azygous]

It never gets easier losing a chicken we love. I lost one myself just day before yesterday.

I did my own "sort-of" necropsy. I just cut open the abdominal cavity and had a good look inside. I was looking for grossly enlarged liver and little pea size tumors. I found none of those, so I don't know what caused her death, but her heart likely just gave out. She was nine.

You can do this, too. Sometimes cause of death just screams at you when the chicken is opened up. Once, I found a lot of "hard boiled" eggs in a young hen, signs of internal laying. Another time I found a smelly "soup" of floating tumors. I always learn a little something opening up a chicken that is useful.

 

[neophyte17]

It never gets easy. Specially when we try our best to keep them all healthy and protected.
I haven't had a hen live to be nine yet. My oldest one now is 8. I had two of my pampered roosters (the ones in my picture) pass. One was 11, the other one was 12. Had them from baby chicks.

I thought about doing that to see what I could find but I did not have the stomach for it. Maybe one day I will be brave enough to do it.