Sudden Chicken Death

[Littlefoxhat]

My husband called me at work today saying one of my birds (~2.5 y/o Rhode island Red) was laying on the run floor with her face on the ground, mouth open, very floppy. He picked her up and she startled a little bit and she pooped on him, it was very watery. He said her neck was not supporting her head and kind of flailing around while he was holding her. She passed away within seconds of him calling me, and there was not much that we could have done.

She had eaten very little today (her crop was probably empty this morning, but I rushed through my chicken chores this morning and didn't get a great look at her when I opened the coop at about 6am, I am pretty sure she came out with the others, though). She may have been poorly for several hours, but my husband wasn't home until right before he called me, about 11am. I asked if her face or comb or wattles seemed swollen or purple, but he said "maybe her eyelids were swollen" but he wasn't at all sure and when I saw her after she passed, she was just pale and no swelling was obvious. She hadn't been coughing or sneezing, and the inside of her mouth seemed normal. I checked her throat for obstructions, found nothing. No mites or other feather bugs and I am pretty sure no internal parasites as she had been laying regularly and seemed in good health.

I am sending her to get a necropsy at the San Bernardino CAHFS lab. I am at a loss, I really don't have any explanation of what happened to her. I am, of course, worried that it's the HPAI/H5N1 but I am trying not to obsess over that at this point. I keep my birds in their run most of the time, though they did get a few hours of free-ranging yesterday afternoon and the hen in question seemed fine and she laid an egg that afternoon as well. The other three birds seem alright, but of course on of the listed "symptoms" of HPAI is "sudden death".

I guess I am here looking for some solace and maybe some pre-necropsy hope that it's not bird flu. Has anyone else just had a perfectly healthy, young hen drop dead for no reason? Any possibility of her having eaten something that could have killed her so quickly? How worried should I be for the rest of my flock, my other animals (two dogs and a cat) and my husband and myself?

I will update this thread if I get any information from the necropsy.

 

[townchicks]

I'm sorry, it can be a shock when they go so quickly. You obviously will have to wait for the necropsy, but chickens are so good at hiding illnesses, something could have been brewing without showing, for a while. Just keep an eye on the rest of the flock.

 

[Littlefoxhat]

In case anyone was watching this thread for updates; the necropsy results revealed that my Margie died of a liver hemorrhage consistent with hemorrhagic liver syndrome (fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome).

I did a little reading and am wondering if it's possible for a hen who is not overweight to develop fatty liver. Marge always seemed one of the smaller birds in terms of body composition, I could always feel her keel and felt she was "bony" compared to my other birds.

I feed a 17% grower feed (Scratch and Peck) with a 2.5% crude fat content as free choice, offering each bird about 7.25 oz per day (sometimes they would finish, sometimes not). They get a few handfuls of garden scraps (mostly leafy greens like nasturtium, kale, romaine, pak choi, and grape vines) most days. The birds get free choice oyster shells and have coarse granite/limestone sand as litter.

I read that crude protein should be above 17.5% and fat lower than 3.5% and to reduce feeding of high-sugar foods like grapes (which they love but haven't had since last year when our grape vines were fruiting). I feed fruit pretty sparingly and they don't get kitchen scraps like bread, potatoes, or rice but once in a while.

Does anyone have any luck with supplements like flax, lycopene, or milk thistle? Has anyone had a chicken die from fatty liver hemorrhage that wasn't fat/obese?

Thanks!

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. I did a necropsy on one of my hens who was normal sized, and she also had a tremendous amount of visceral fat, in some places 1.5-2 inches. Her liver was tan and had a large blood clot. None of my other hens ever had that again. She ate a normal diet of 16-20% protein feed and some occasional scrambled egg and a few tiny bits of scratch. Fatty liver disease can have a number of possible causes. Estrogen levels, nutrition, and environment can affect hens prone to fatty liver. Heredity or genetics is a major one. Exposure to aflatoxin can be another cause. Here is some reading and pictures for you:
https://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/fatty-liver-haemorrhagic-syndrome

 

[townchicks]

Thanks for updating with the necropsy results. We can all learn something when people let us know what happened. It doesn't seem like anything you could have prevented.