Sudden Chicken Death Syndrome?

[Fivechicks5]

Thank you. I didn't realize how attached I had become. I appreciate your words.

 

[ampho]

I lost my beautiful golden Wyandotte yesterday Athena she was acting strange and tired. last two weeks but still eating and drinking and laying. Three years old.
Nothing looked abnormal could this just be her life span? So sad

 

[No roo]

Found my BO laying under bush in yard at time to put them up for the night. She was obviously not feeling well, her tail was dropped, she had a limp, I thought maybe she hurt her leg, placed her in the run, she drank a good bit of water. I went to pick her up, to separate her from the others for recovery, fluid poured (like a cup) from her vent, like she had peed. I know that fowl do not pee. She had laid an egg earlier that morning. I got her some feed, water with some ACV, hoped for the best (this was my grand daughters pet chicken), put her in chicken hospital, found her dead early next morning. What was all that fluid? My father ( 85 year old farmer) said he had not ever seen anything like that. We are looking for answers, I have another one that seems to not feel well today.

 

[No roo]

Found my BO laying under bush in yard at time to put them up for the night. She was obviously not feeling well, her tail was dropped, she had a limp, I thought maybe she hurt her leg, placed her in the run, she drank a good bit of water. I went to pick her up, to separate her from the others for recovery, fluid poured (like a cup) from her vent, like she had peed. I know that fowl do not pee. She had laid an egg earlier that morning. I got her some feed, water with some ACV, hoped for the best (this was my grand daughters pet chicken), put her in chicken hospital, found her dead early next morning. What was all that fluid? My father ( 85 year old farmer) said he had not ever seen anything like that. We are looking for answers, I have another one that seems to not feel well today.

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Found my BO laying under bush in yard at time to put them up for the night. She was obviously not feeling well, her tail was dropped, she had a limp, I thought maybe she hurt her leg, placed her in the run, she drank a good bit of water. I went to pick her up, to separate her from the others for recovery, fluid poured (like a cup) from her vent, like she had peed. I know that fowl do not pee. She had laid an egg earlier that morning. I got her some feed, water with some ACV, hoped for the best (this was my grand daughters pet chicken), put her in chicken hospital, found her dead early next morning. What was all that fluid? My father ( 85 year old farmer) said he had not ever seen anything like that. We are looking for answers, I have another one that seems to not feel well today. UPDATE: My other one is feeling better, after some vitamins, ACV, home grown tomatoes, maybe part of her problem was mourning, they were always together.

 

[Faraday40]

Found my BO laying under bush in yard at time to put them up for the night. She was obviously not feeling well, her tail was dropped, she had a limp, I thought maybe she hurt her leg, placed her in the run, she drank a good bit of water. I went to pick her up, to separate her from the others for recovery, fluid poured (like a cup) from her vent, like she had peed. I know that fowl do not pee. She had laid an egg earlier that morning. I got her some feed, water with some ACV, hoped for the best (this was my grand daughters pet chicken), put her in chicken hospital, found her dead early next morning. What was all that fluid? My father ( 85 year old farmer) said he had not ever seen anything like that. We are looking for answers, I have another one that seems to not feel well today.

So sorry for your loss. I too have no idea what would pour out the back. If it was a hot day, then a heart attack / heat stroke is very possible. The bigger breeds like Orpingtons have a harder time in the heat. If she was overheated & dizzy, then she may have been too weak to get to water. It's very easy to fall in love with orps. Give your granddaughter a big hug.

On a lighter note:
I had a hen drink too much water on a very hot day. Then my DD picked her up & started skipping, twirling, etc. I saw my poor hen "vomit" The liquid just poured out the beak & my DD learned a valuable lesson not to spin around while carrying chickens. At the time I was very freaked out - especially since chickens don't vomit. I thought we were going to lose my fav hen. I brought her inside for some cooling & watched closely. It turns out that if chickens drink too much (like on a hot day), the excess water will spill out...... but it's still never a good idea to spin a chicken.

 

[Beulah Mae]

Wanted to find out what could have happened to my 4 and 1/2 yr old Barred Rock hen - found her dead in the coop on return from vacation this am. It didn't look like a predator got her, (no signs of violence, bites, feathers missing, etc.), looked like maybe she had been eating something?? Possibly choked? So sad - was one of my favorites because her funny personality. One of 9 hens all the same age. She was the first to pass. Silly how attached I've become to the hens, despite dwindling egg production!

Interesting to hear unexplained, sudden death happens fairly often.

 

[No roo]

Sorry to hear of your loss Beulah Mae, I know how frustrating it is. My BO was healthy that morning, or so I thought. I have become more aware of each and every one of my girls now every day as I let them out to free range. Paying closer individual attention to them.

I got my flock as chicks this spring, just weeks after I had to put my 16 year old Yorkie to sleep. She was always with me. Building the chicken house and run helped take my mind off the great loss I had. (I am a single mother and my children are all grown). My chickens bring me so much joy, and THEY feed ME as well as I feed them.

My grand daughter was devastated at the loss as it was her own pet chicken.

Funny how you can become attached to animals from all walks of life.

Hope your others are doing well.

 

[kfintoni]

I came to the forum today to try and find answers for a sudden death and found this thread. It is good to know I am not alone. We had 4 great Buffs all seemed healthy and happy and we were getting 2-3 eggs a day, they are about 7 months old so just started laying a few weeks ago. Our Cassie who was the leader of the pack was fine yesterday and when we went out this morning to check on everyone and check for eggs she was laying in the back of the coop on her side. I checked the coop and run for signs of a break in and everything was secure, all the rest of the hens were fine also. This was my daughters hen that I just dropped off at college last weekend. She wants me to bring eggs up to her when we come visit as she says the eggs at school are horrible.

Karen in MA

 

[No roo]

I came to the forum today to try and find answers for a sudden death and found this thread. It is good to know I am not alone. We had 4 great Buffs all seemed healthy and happy and we were getting 2-3 eggs a day, they are about 7 months old so just started laying a few weeks ago. Our Cassie who was the leader of the pack was fine yesterday and when we went out this morning to check on everyone and check for eggs she was laying in the back of the coop on her side. I checked the coop and run for signs of a break in and everything was secure, all the rest of the hens were fine also. This was my daughters hen that I just dropped off at college last weekend. She wants me to bring eggs up to her when we come visit as she says the eggs at school are horrible.

Karen in MA

I understand the upset that came with that shock, perhaps she fell off the roost? Don't know how hot it has been where you live, but it has been bad here, I have been setting out some electrolytes for the ladies to help them deal with the heat. our BO was fine earlier that day too, near as I can figure it to be is liver failure/acities. Luckily it was an isolidated incident for us. Amazing how attached we can get to chickens, mine follow me around the yard like puppies. I just love them.

Also I agree with your daughter, store bought eggs are horrible, we will never go back.

I hope the rest of your flock is doing well.

Good luck!

 

[Suep666]

we've recently replaced our flock that was taken by a fox at the end of last year... we have 8 mixed breeds all no more then 25 weeks... our little speckeldy was one of our first layers but Friday morning she looked a little dodgy.. had a fair bit of discharge from her rear end and went very slow moving. we were all set to create a back room hospital for her as we have had to do for previous sickly birds but when we went to fetch her out Saturday morning and shed already passed away.

so distressing... were sitting here thinking we could have got her home quicker but unsure if this would have just caused her more stress

ive tried to look these symptoms up but cant find anything... wonder if it was egg related. we had a Warren brown that was an ex-batt who although an excellent layer got all dodgy and slow with similar discharge... and after a week in the warm backroom hospital and plenty of tasty porridge managed to pass a crumpled egg and was totally fine afterwards ...

finding the short amount of time between noticing something was wrong and the death really upsetting...

Anybody have any thoughts ?