Hey guys - so we moved and of course took our flock with us.
Our 17 chickens were transported in 2 separate xl dog crates with blankets over the crates to keep it dark inside.
The trip to the new house was about 40 minutes long and we let them all immediately out into their new home.
Everyone looked great, eating, drinking and exploring their new digs.
The next morning I noticed our tiny 6 month old backyard mix bantam was laying down like she was laying an egg.
I came back out later in the day and she was in the same spot so I wondered if maybe she was going broody - which I thought would be odd but possible. I picked her up and she grumbled at me (not like her) and waddled right back to the same spot (like she was broody).
I came back again another few hours and she was dead in the middle of the run. No injuries, no blood, vent was fine, etc.
The only noticeable thing was that she was about 3x her normal tiny size. Like super duper bloated.
Sad - she was one of my favorites (of course).
That was a few days ago and everyone else is still fine, and doing well.
There is NOTHING in the ground or that they could eat that would hurt them.
I know chickens are super susceptible to stress so I am wondering if this is what happened to our little Raisenette.
Can stress literally kill chickens?
Our 17 chickens were transported in 2 separate xl dog crates with blankets over the crates to keep it dark inside.
The trip to the new house was about 40 minutes long and we let them all immediately out into their new home.
Everyone looked great, eating, drinking and exploring their new digs.
The next morning I noticed our tiny 6 month old backyard mix bantam was laying down like she was laying an egg.
I came back out later in the day and she was in the same spot so I wondered if maybe she was going broody - which I thought would be odd but possible. I picked her up and she grumbled at me (not like her) and waddled right back to the same spot (like she was broody).
I came back again another few hours and she was dead in the middle of the run. No injuries, no blood, vent was fine, etc.
The only noticeable thing was that she was about 3x her normal tiny size. Like super duper bloated.
Sad - she was one of my favorites (of course).
That was a few days ago and everyone else is still fine, and doing well.
There is NOTHING in the ground or that they could eat that would hurt them.
I know chickens are super susceptible to stress so I am wondering if this is what happened to our little Raisenette.
Can stress literally kill chickens?