Sudden Chicken Death Syndrome?

[AmberRex]

• I just lost my first chicken today. I saw her roosting under the coop and tried to coax her out but to no avail. I put out some food scraps but she still did not move. When I looked closely, I noticed her breathing was labored. I pulled her out from under the coop and she was limp. She was gone in just a few seconds. She was a year this month, has been the biggest of my clutch and sweetest. I wonder if I should worry about the rest. I have a hen brooding with 9 eggs under her and I wonder if I should move her now. I change the water daily and keep the coop clean of excess feces. Is there anything else I should do.

I would say that the only thing that you could do is to keep doing what you are doing now... sorry for your loss.

 

[Robadams12]

I came out this morning to find 5 of my barred rocks dead and another one close to death. They were in a coop with 5 of my 4H meat birds and all of the meat chickens are fine. They were only about 2 months old and the 6th bird died by the end of the day... Im at a loss as to why only the 6 barred rocks died and not the cornish rocks??????

 

[ForPiper]

I had 3 chickens in my flock, Wyandotte and 2 easter eggers. I raised them since they were 1 day old (born 2/28/2012). The Wynadotte had a problem at 4 months old, she had a prolapse where a read balloon was on her butt, she was in evident pain and I spent that night disinfecting and giving her enemas with a solution of iodine and distilled water to avoid her poop from backing up and cause blockage. Next morning at the vet she got stitches to held her butt in and antibiotics. After a week, the stitches came out, but her prolapse repeated, so I improvised a treatment of preparation H and just push her butt back in, and two weeks later she was back to normal. I was concerned that scar tissue can give her trouble when she started laying eggs, but once she started laying, she was giving us eggs almost every day. During those weeks she imprinted with me, she wouldn't go to bed until she had a chance to roost on my shoulder, groom herself and my beard and then nap while I was sitting on the sofa watching tv. Once she re joined the other girls, I still had to spend sometime in the run every evening for a couple of weeks, as the other where going in, she was at the door waiting for me, to jump on my shoulder, say goodnight and then go inside.

On June 11, 2013 I went to open the coop at 6am and she was not herself. She was by the coop door while the other two were still on the roosting bar. She looked at me, tried to stand up but sat down again, I picked her up and brought her inside the house, her wattle was pale orange rather than bright red and showing effort to breath, and she passed in my arms. She had no visible marks, no skin parasites, nothing odd with her beak or mouth. no lumps or mark on her skin. The only things evident were her passing out, labored breathing and pale comb and wattle.

Still don't know what happened. The other two are fine, I inspected the coop and nothing odd with it or the run.

 

[CalS]

I am greatful for this forum, because it has helped me come to terms with my loss:
When I opened up the coop this morning at 6 am only three of my four 16-month old chickens were ready at the door and they were unusually quiet, not the usual clamour to get out. I checked the laying box thinking that the Black Australorp might be there, having skiped laying the previous day. When she was not there I sensed something was terribly wrong. I found her body in the sleeping compartment, in her usual place, stretched out on her side with neck bent, head resting against her breast, still slightly warm. Her face and beak were clean; I could not find any evidence of injury or of stuggle, it seems as if she went to sleep and her heart just stopped. She was the most consistent layer of the four giving perfect eggs every time; the other three are a Barred Plymouth Rock, Buff Orpington and a Rhode Island Red. The previous day I spent all afternoon with them in the back yard up until 6 pm and know that the Australorp was her normal self all day showing no evidence of egg binding or any other ailment. I am heart broken because she was my favorite, so sweet and, though at the bottom of the pecking order, she was a very proud bird. I now know that SCDS just happens and comes with keeping chickens.

 

[ten chicks]

I am greatful for this forum, because it has helped me come to terms with my loss:
When I opened up the coop this morning at 6 am only three of my four 16-month old chickens were ready at the door and they were unusually quiet, not the usual clamour to get out. I checked the laying box thinking that the Black Australorp might be there, having skiped laying the previous day. When she was not there I sensed something was terribly wrong. I found her body in the sleeping compartment, in her usual place, stretched out on her side with neck bent, head resting against her breast, still slightly warm. Her face and beak were clean; I could not find any evidence of injury or of stuggle, it seems as if she went to sleep and her heart just stopped. She was the most consistent layer of the four giving perfect eggs every time; the other three are a Barred Plymouth Rock, Buff Orpington and a Rhode Island Red. The previous day I spent all afternoon with them in the back yard up until 6 pm and know that the Australorp was her normal self all day showing no evidence of egg binding or any other ailment. I am heart broken because she was my favorite, so sweet and, though at the bottom of the pecking order, she was a very proud bird. I now know that SCDS just happens and comes with keeping chickens.

So very sad,heartbreaking when a beloved pet dies.

 

[My 3 Babies]

Perhaps it is Mareks. Were your chickens vaccinated?

 

[ForPiper]

Marek causes asymmetric paralysis of one or more limbs, difficulty breathing or dilation of the crop and there are frequently tumors in the skin. You can see it coming.
New Castle in other hand, can show signs like gasping, twisting of head and neck, or no symptoms and sudden death, with the only clue being greenish, watery diarrhea.

 

[darktigeress]

My husband and I have (had) 6 chickens. This morning, I found one of our girls dead on the floor of the coop. Not a mark on her. It was like she just laid down and died during the night. She was only about 14 months old. She was a good layer providing 5/6 eggs per week. From what I've read of the previous posts, it's normal for them to die suddenly? Now I'm worried about the other 5.

 

[darktigeress]

The same thing just happened to one of our chickens today....identical to your description. Others unusually quiet when I let them out and her constant companion the last to leave the coop. I too knew something was "off" with their behavior.

 

[srolin53]

guess I consider myself lucky that my red sexlink, the last of 3 seemed to have died peacefully in her sleep with her head tucked up under her wing. She was so lonely after the other two died from misadventure that my sis and I became her family. She sat in our laps, came when called and crapped all over my wrap around porch. I got her some companions 6 mos. ago and she was definetly head chick. I sure miss my Henryetta.