Sudden Chicken Death Syndrome?

[Sue Gremlin]

I had the exact same thing happen this morning. I went down to the coop this morning and only counted to five. One of my buff sex links was laying dead, face down, legs out, on the floor under the roosts. It was like she literally fell off the perch. They are 14 months old and she was laying regularly, and was fine and bright yesterday.
I let them graze in the yard yesterday, so maybe she got into something, but I am guessing it was just one of those heart things. I'm going to do a PM on her today to see if I can find anything. My other girls are all just fine.

 

[Buddyboy1]

We had six (one year old) hens and one of them appeared to be molting. She also stopped laying (although having 3 laying hens it was only post mortem that this could be determined). She had diarrhea frequently for most of her life. Although through all of this she always appeared healthy and energetic, she ran with and followed her two sisters and ate very well. Two days ago I went into the hen house to let them out (they are free ranged all day) and here lie this hen stiff and dead. It was a very hot day. Does anyone have any idea what may have happened, I would like to protect our other hens. Thank You, Kenneth G.Smith, [email protected]

 

[Sue Gremlin]

I just finished doing a necropsy on my chiquita that I found dead in the coop this morning. She had fatty liver and ascites, and signs of catastrophic hemmorhage.

 

[Sue Gremlin]

We had six (one year old) hens and one of them appeared to be molting. She also stopped laying (although having 3 laying hens it was only post mortem that this could be determined). She had diarrhea frequently for most of her life. Although through all of this she always appeared healthy and energetic, she ran with and followed her two sisters and ate very well. Two days ago I went into the hen house to let them out (they are free ranged all day) and here lie this hen stiff and dead. It was a very hot day. Does anyone have any idea what may have happened, I would like to protect our other hens. Thank You, Kenneth G.Smith, [email protected]

Sorry about your chica, Kenneth. What my chicken died of is apparently THE most common reason for otherwise healthy laying hens to die. I learned something new today. However, the fact that your girl had chronic diarrhea and quit laying would make me want to take a fecal sample from one or a few of your remaining chickens and get a veterinarian to do a fecal exam on them for coccidiosis. Just in case.

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

I also had this happen recently, to 2 different 10 week old pullets. The first one died in the coop overnight for no apparent reason. She appeared healthy and happy the evening before. There were no signs of trauma. The 2nd pullet died a week later in the run early in the morning. Again, totally healthy, no blood or missing feathers. The only thing the 2 deaths had in common was that they occurred during nights when we were having big storms. I have no idea if that's related. I'm so baffled!! I've been raising chickens for a while, but I've never had this happen!

 

[ForPiper]

I lost a second one to the +104F heat, so I have only one left from the original flock of three. This time I took her carcass to the vet to see if they could find out cause other than the high temperature. Nothing odd inside her, but sent tissue for testing to the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory and came back positive with Leukosis. The vet said that sometimes they might live their entire lives with no problems, other times sudden death with no apparent symptoms, or they might stop eating, develop diarrhea with bright green poop. Vet said there is no vaccine or treatment for Leukosis and if one bird has it, most likely the others and the environment they are at has it too.

 

[YumeRyuu]

I just lost one of my Golden Comet / Buckeye hens. She was only 5 weeks old and doing so well. I don't know why. Last night she was fine and I woke up this morning and she was dying and then died very quickly.
There was a little bit of blood in her cage but NO blood on her. I thought she might have had cocci, but there was no other visible bloody poo in the pen and it happened so quickly (like in the span of an hour). I don't get it. She was so well taken care...

 

[ForPiper]

Hi YumeRyuu
So sorry for your loss. I strongly recommend you refrigerate her body an take it to a vet for a post mortem, so you can have info on why she died and if you other ones are at risk.

 

[zhockeymom]

Ironically, my two hens were totally opposite. One was so aggressive with the new babies, we had to send her out to a friend's farm (where she is quite happy running the roost.) The other has gradually accepted all but two of my new girls. The two are "designer" hens (both are crested) and she pecks at them relentlessly. I had to separate the two girls.

My husband was thrilled because I made him build a new section to the coop just for them

I don't think they will ever integrate with the rest of the girls, else they will get hen pecked to death.

 

[zhockeymom]

Hi Jks103,

If you add a chicken to the flock, even if it's the same age, the others may not welcome it. It can vary between individuals, but when you welcome a new chicken in go slow and keep a close eye on them. Make sure she has enough room to get away if need be. If nothing else, there will be a little bumping and pecking to establish pecking order. Good luck and

Ironically, my two hens were totally opposite. One was so aggressive with the new babies, we had to send her out to a friend's farm (where she is quite happy running the roost.) The other has gradually accepted all but two of my new girls. The two are "designer" hens (both are crested) and she pecks at them relentlessly. I had to separate the two girls.

My husband was thrilled because I made him build a new section to the coop just for them

I don't think they will ever integrate with the rest of the girls, else they will get hen pecked to death.