Sudden Chicken Death Syndrome?

[FuzzyMugz]

To aliciasimon:

• I'm so sorry for your loss! Of course you miss your Buttercup -- I don't know why but it always seems to hit hardest when the ones with lots of personality leave us. That's been my feeling or experience anyway. I don't think it gets easier ever. And I can empathize with loving the grumpy ones very much . . . .and the naughty ones . . . and the ones that have any manner of fascinating quirks and foibles.

I think the best we can do is to spend as much time as we can with them so we can build all the great memories possible for each other.

I wish you the best and hope you'll find comfort in the numbers of folks here who can relate.
Take Care,
Ellen

 

[aliciasimon]

Thank-you Ellen Buttercup did have a lot of personality. It's amazing that all of our 6 chickens (now 5) have a distinct personality. One is bossy, one is shy, one is honky, one is grumpy, etc etc etc. They are so cute, I love my girls.

 

[smallbabybird]

We had bought a little white silkie that was maybe ten weeks old, we only had her 9 days before she ended up dead monday morning. The night before there was very loud thunder, we think the little chick had a heart attack but she was my favorite little chicken and I was very upset to lose her.. R.I.P Sugar

 

[scoopi321]

smallbabybird, hi, you know I do believe that chickens feel the impact of thunder just like we do, after all dogs feel it and are scared of it. im very sorry to hear of your loss. I had bought just 22 chicks, all hens. and all but two died, no injuries or signs of trauma. but we had had some thunder storms a day or day before. so I have just 2 hens left. but I was able to hatch a chick, I think is a hen. out of a 5 gallon bucket. I hope she lives. that will be 3. get yourself another favorite chick as it will help with the pain of loosing your silkie, hopefully. my chick is just 2 months old now.

 

[under the radar]

That sounds like what happened to my favorite little 18 month old Orp today. I am sad tonight because she was my favorite.

 

[KPJUK]

hello, KPJUK, im so sorry for your loss. I have been there. as I have lived in fla. prior to 3 years ago. and I have had chickens my whole life. but when I moved to al. 3 years ago. I started out with 22 hens and lost all --1 each day til I had 2 left. like you said no injurys, just dropped and died. but I did notice a couple kept dropping her wing as if she were going to fall. so I ended up loosing more, I checked around and was told to worm them, never wormed chickens before, but I bought dewormer, and added to their water, and didn't loose anymore, go figure, well this is something you can try. I did start with 12 chicks I bought this time since I moved here were from tractor supply. lost all of them. keep doing what you are, things will get better, I know you cant replace the ones that were close to you, but you can start again, I had too. I hope this might help some.

Thanks for the reply - my apologies for not replying sooner! They have all been fine since and the Cou Cou is now a regular layer.

I have even rebuilt the coop with a new roof...lord it was big haha.

We now have an Indian runner duck to add to the fold!

 

[Jen1979]

I'm not "glad" I found this thread because it means there's so many people who have lost their chickens for seemingly no good reason, but glad I found it because it has happened to us too, if you know what I mean!

About a month ago our most favourite chicken Matilda was found dead in the coop. She was completely fine the day before, and when we went out there in the morning, she was just laying dead under the roost. There was no sign of a struggle, no injuries, not even a feather out of place, but her neck looked broken. We had no idea what had happened and whether another chicken had pushed her in the night trying to squeeze into the same spot she was sleeping in or something. Now, reading this thread, I know that maybe, it was just an unexplained sudden death and apparently it happens!

We were absolutely devastated. She was the sweetest, funniest little french wheaten maran. She knew her name, loved being cuddled and bought a lot of joy into our life. We built a beautiful herb garden in her honour inside the coop and painted a cross to stand in it that says "Matilda's Garden".

It's been the saddest part of our poultry owning yet We have previously lost one other chicken who we also loved. Even though I was still devastated, she was very sick and we had her put to sleep. Somehow, knowing the reason behind why she died made it just that little bit different.

 

[amber757]

So thankful to have found you all tonight. It has been awful here the past couple of hours. My favorite died this afternoon. He has been fine, jumped up on my lap yesterday for his daily snuggle session. I didn't know losing one would cause so much upset in my family. He was only 20 weeks old and I've had him since he was a day old. I'm just devastated! Gosh I hope this doesn't happen again.. Breaks my heart!

 

[aliciasimon]

I'm so sorry to hear. I lost a favorite chicken too and I still miss my big fluffy girl.
We love our chickens but, well, it's frustrating that they are so darned fragile
Hang in there.

 

[Jen1979]

So thankful to have found you all tonight. It has been awful here the past couple of hours. My favorite died this afternoon. He has been fine, jumped up on my lap yesterday for his daily snuggle session. I didn't know losing one would cause so much upset in my family. He was only 20 weeks old and I've had him since he was a day old. I'm just devastated! Gosh I hope this doesn't happen again.. Breaks my heart!

So sorry to hear, it's just horrible isn't it when they are part of your family Gorgeous pictures too