SLW hen death... hurting + looking for insight

bittermedicine

In the Brooder
Apr 30, 2021
3
7
16
My favorite hen died two days ago after being sick for around 3-4 days. She was a SLW, only 14 months old... I would have said she was my healthiest animal if you'd asked a week ago. She was strong and adventurous, her voice was sweet and musical. She had such a pretty voice! I couldn't understand how a chicken could have such a pretty voice.

Anyway - the first thing I noticed was a group of chickens and one rooster hanging out together in a quiet spot watching a broody's nest... or so I thought. The weather was typical spring weather (warm then pretty cold for a week) so I though they were just... hanging out, like I might do, waiting for the weather to change.

Then our Big Chicken (I don't know why I name animals this way) seemed especially down, and I felt her crop, which was full when it shouldn't have been. I've seen pics of hens with pendulous crops and it was nothing like that but it was full. At that time it was problem half of a navel orange or tangerine on her chest. Not hard. I tried massaging to assess the problem and found I could manipulate gas in her crop and burp her. It smelled gassy but not sour. She was still up and active, drinking but little appetite... I thought maybe the late spring grasses were giving her trouble. I kept massaging the crop more and found I could seemingly reduce its size, although it would always be the same again in a few hours. She was ill-looking but not hugely fluffed out, not penguin-stanced. She walked slowly and uncertainly but did not waddle. She was not squatting; sometimes her tail dipped and pulsed but not continuously. Her keel was prominent and she had lost weight.

I gave her ACV water and scrambled egg, which she picked at happily but didn't eat much. I wormed her with Safeguard.

We wanted to avoid opening her crop up as it's our first year with chickens, and we have MG so I'm afraid to ask anyone for help in person. I had a bad encounter online with another chicken owner who threatened to report me to the state and have my flock culled when I wanted to trade resistant chicks with someone. As far as I know that's not possible, but it made me very hesitant to involve anyone else with my flock, who are after all... diseased. That and a bad vet experience with a goat kid have left me in "fix it on your own (at all costs)" mode I guess.

The progress I felt like I was making on the mass size (a total illusion as it turned out) convinced me that we could get her through without cutting her. I gave her miconazole to get ahead of any fungus.

She was still gassy so I thought maybe it was souring and tried the 'crop buster' mixture. She seemed to enjoy being fed it, it seemed to bring out a lot of gas which gave her relief, and changed the smell of the gas to neutral (not gassy or digestive smelling, although again it was never sour per se). The mass did seem smaller. It felt "flat" after awhile (an illusion). I thought this was progress and kept holding her and massaging. Over this period of time I observed she was not eating anymore and her poops were very small amd infrequent... watery yellowish-white urate with very small gummy green solids. I began massaging her whole body (gently) trying to move along any impaction that had progressed further into her tract. I could hear gas gurgling inside her and was able to help her poop a bit this way. She seemed to enjoy the attention and I tried to be so careful.

I gave her a small amount of Epsom salt water (not much Epsom in it) and a small amount of molasses water in my desperation along the way. I got it in my head that she was just blocked up from grass but that maybe I was making progress and helping it pass...

I noticed her abdomen was slightly engorged but it was never as big as the ascites pictures I've seen. I was not able to feel an egg or anything hard. She seemed sore around her right hip. I left this area alone and did not out pressure in it, although I had my partner rub on her too... he says he noticed and did not prod that spot.

She died suddenly in my arms when another hen ran by fighting with a cockerel. My partner and I had kust argued in the other room as well (about her). Heart attack. I hope she didn't hear us and think we didn't love her.

She was our good friend and our sweetest chicken so we did a partial necropsy before giving up. We got some yellow fluid with chunks of cooked egg out of... somewhere. Partner says he cut through the skin, a thick abdominal fat pad and then another layer of tissue before the yolk-colored fluid. The fluid came out easily into a bucket and did not smell. Her crop was full of stringy grass... the mass was at least as big as a plum. Massaging it had only squished it around, not really moved it. It didn't smell like much after everything I dumped into it. Kind of sweet I suppose, but definitely not sour or foul.

Misunderstanding what my partner said and thinking it was for sure her abdominal cavity he meant with the yellow fluid... I then thought, ok, peritonitis caused her crop issues etc. I've heard of this. But he cut below the vent so I think it could have been her intestines... now I'm not sure. I don't actually know where the yellow liquid came from. Surely not the scrambled egg I fed her... I think?

I also have read about fatty liver since and she was a prime candidate. She got first pick of treats, which did include too much scratch (thrown away now). They got treats every morning. The "five minutes" rule is not a good one with fast eaters... her abdominal fat pad was substantial and the rest of her was just skin and bones.

Additionally I discovered mold in my last batch of food from a local feed place. =\ There had been a couple of chunks that I tossed without thinking much about it, and on closer inspection I could see blue/gray coloration on the ground corn bits. We're in Oregon and he's a small-ish supplier so I imagine the humidity got into it.

One final clue... one of the Wyandottes (I had three) was laying long, pointed eggs and later ones have violet speckles. I wasn't keeping the eggs sorted well enough to know who it was. The speckled were most recent and have stopped appearing in the spot they were being laid in after her death, so I think they were hers... and that she was still laying until a day or so before she died. The alpha hen of our other flock lays there too and hers are still showing up.

I bought an incubator in my grief... but I fed off so many of those long eggs and they're not here anymore. :( I gathered what I have and just hope some are hers and that they hatch. I keep seeing the last batch I boiled for the pigs in my mind's eye and feeling so sad. I had no idea what was going to happen when I did that.

I'd like to hear any input from more experienced flock owners... could I have saved her if we had operated? It seems like I could have had between two and three issues here (at least) and I focused on the wrong one. Massaging her probably hastened her death from the gasses inside. She seemed to enjoy it but it did occasionally cause her discomfort.

She moved into my bedroom when she got really bad toward the end and even slept by my pillow on her second-to-last night... I wish I had put here there again on her last night. She loved me so much, and I failed her. She wouldn't even really show me she was sick. I'd see her out of the corner of my eye gasping for breath but I'd look over and she would always munch her beak and look happy. She was great with the whole flock. She and her sisters would kick roosters off each other, and even other hens when they seemed upset. I Ieally let her down and wish I could give her her life back! She was enjoying it... and her poor sisters, they did everything together. I let them all down. And myself too. Apologies for rambling, typos etc.

Anyway, any insight would be appreciated.
 
My favorite hen died two days ago after being sick for around 3-4 days. She was a SLW, only 14 months old... I would have said she was my healthiest animal if you'd asked a week ago. She was strong and adventurous, her voice was sweet and musical. She had such a pretty voice! I couldn't understand how a chicken could have such a pretty voice.

Anyway - the first thing I noticed was a group of chickens and one rooster hanging out together in a quiet spot watching a broody's nest... or so I thought. The weather was typical spring weather (warm then pretty cold for a week) so I though they were just... hanging out, like I might do, waiting for the weather to change.

Then our Big Chicken (I don't know why I name animals this way) seemed especially down, and I felt her crop, which was full when it shouldn't have been. I've seen pics of hens with pendulous crops and it was nothing like that but it was full. At that time it was problem half of a navel orange or tangerine on her chest. Not hard. I tried massaging to assess the problem and found I could manipulate gas in her crop and burp her. It smelled gassy but not sour. She was still up and active, drinking but little appetite... I thought maybe the late spring grasses were giving her trouble. I kept massaging the crop more and found I could seemingly reduce its size, although it would always be the same again in a few hours. She was ill-looking but not hugely fluffed out, not penguin-stanced. She walked slowly and uncertainly but did not waddle. She was not squatting; sometimes her tail dipped and pulsed but not continuously. Her keel was prominent and she had lost weight.

I gave her ACV water and scrambled egg, which she picked at happily but didn't eat much. I wormed her with Safeguard.

We wanted to avoid opening her crop up as it's our first year with chickens, and we have MG so I'm afraid to ask anyone for help in person. I had a bad encounter online with another chicken owner who threatened to report me to the state and have my flock culled when I wanted to trade resistant chicks with someone. As far as I know that's not possible, but it made me very hesitant to involve anyone else with my flock, who are after all... diseased. That and a bad vet experience with a goat kid have left me in "fix it on your own (at all costs)" mode I guess.

The progress I felt like I was making on the mass size (a total illusion as it turned out) convinced me that we could get her through without cutting her. I gave her miconazole to get ahead of any fungus.

She was still gassy so I thought maybe it was souring and tried the 'crop buster' mixture. She seemed to enjoy being fed it, it seemed to bring out a lot of gas which gave her relief, and changed the smell of the gas to neutral (not gassy or digestive smelling, although again it was never sour per se). The mass did seem smaller. It felt "flat" after awhile (an illusion). I thought this was progress and kept holding her and massaging. Over this period of time I observed she was not eating anymore and her poops were very small amd infrequent... watery yellowish-white urate with very small gummy green solids. I began massaging her whole body (gently) trying to move along any impaction that had progressed further into her tract. I could hear gas gurgling inside her and was able to help her poop a bit this way. She seemed to enjoy the attention and I tried to be so careful.

I gave her a small amount of Epsom salt water (not much Epsom in it) and a small amount of molasses water in my desperation along the way. I got it in my head that she was just blocked up from grass but that maybe I was making progress and helping it pass...

I noticed her abdomen was slightly engorged but it was never as big as the ascites pictures I've seen. I was not able to feel an egg or anything hard. She seemed sore around her right hip. I left this area alone and did not out pressure in it, although I had my partner rub on her too... he says he noticed and did not prod that spot.

She died suddenly in my arms when another hen ran by fighting with a cockerel. My partner and I had kust argued in the other room as well (about her). Heart attack. I hope she didn't hear us and think we didn't love her.

She was our good friend and our sweetest chicken so we did a partial necropsy before giving up. We got some yellow fluid with chunks of cooked egg out of... somewhere. Partner says he cut through the skin, a thick abdominal fat pad and then another layer of tissue before the yolk-colored fluid. The fluid came out easily into a bucket and did not smell. Her crop was full of stringy grass... the mass was at least as big as a plum. Massaging it had only squished it around, not really moved it. It didn't smell like much after everything I dumped into it. Kind of sweet I suppose, but definitely not sour or foul.

Misunderstanding what my partner said and thinking it was for sure her abdominal cavity he meant with the yellow fluid... I then thought, ok, peritonitis caused her crop issues etc. I've heard of this. But he cut below the vent so I think it could have been her intestines... now I'm not sure. I don't actually know where the yellow liquid came from. Surely not the scrambled egg I fed her... I think?

I also have read about fatty liver since and she was a prime candidate. She got first pick of treats, which did include too much scratch (thrown away now). They got treats every morning. The "five minutes" rule is not a good one with fast eaters... her abdominal fat pad was substantial and the rest of her was just skin and bones.

Additionally I discovered mold in my last batch of food from a local feed place. =\ There had been a couple of chunks that I tossed without thinking much about it, and on closer inspection I could see blue/gray coloration on the ground corn bits. We're in Oregon and he's a small-ish supplier so I imagine the humidity got into it.

One final clue... one of the Wyandottes (I had three) was laying long, pointed eggs and later ones have violet speckles. I wasn't keeping the eggs sorted well enough to know who it was. The speckled were most recent and have stopped appearing in the spot they were being laid in after her death, so I think they were hers... and that she was still laying until a day or so before she died. The alpha hen of our other flock lays there too and hers are still showing up.

I bought an incubator in my grief... but I fed off so many of those long eggs and they're not here anymore. :( I gathered what I have and just hope some are hers and that they hatch. I keep seeing the last batch I boiled for the pigs in my mind's eye and feeling so sad. I had no idea what was going to happen when I did that.

I'd like to hear any input from more experienced flock owners... could I have saved her if we had operated? It seems like I could have had between two and three issues here (at least) and I focused on the wrong one. Massaging her probably hastened her death from the gasses inside. She seemed to enjoy it but it did occasionally cause her discomfort.

She moved into my bedroom when she got really bad toward the end and even slept by my pillow on her second-to-last night... I wish I had put here there again on her last night. She loved me so much, and I failed her. She wouldn't even really show me she was sick. I'd see her out of the corner of my eye gasping for breath but I'd look over and she would always munch her beak and look happy. She was great with the whole flock. She and her sisters would kick roosters off each other, and even other hens when they seemed upset. I Ieally let her down and wish I could give her her life back! She was enjoying it... and her poor sisters, they did everything together. I let them all down. And myself too. Apologies for rambling, typos etc.

Anyway, any insight would be appreciated.
I don’t have any suggestions, I just wanted to say I’m so sorry for your loss. She sounds like she was a wonderful hen and friend and it sounds like she knew very much that you loved her. It’s always so hard to figure out these types of medical issues on animals who can’t talk and tell us what’s wrong. It sounds like she had a wonderful life with you. ❤️
 

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