Sudden death of 3 year old chickens

[rgardiner7000]

Hello All,

We lost a chicken this morning and one several months ago. The way they behaved when they died makes me think they're connected, but I'm not sure.

My Rhoda, 3 yo Rhode Island Red got lethargic one day. I noticed she had a dirty butt so I gave her a bath and when she didn't perk up I brought her to the vet. He said that she had water belly and drained fluid from her abdomen. He suspected that she had egg periostitis, so he gave her a hormonal tablet under her wing to stop her egg laying (though she hadn't been laying eggs for a while) and sent us on our way. She stayed sleepy for several hours and then her comb went from pale (which was concerning) to dark. Then she had a convulsion where her back legs stopped working, and liquid came out of her mouth and nose as she died. It was horrifying and awful.

Before this she was perky, eating all sorts of snacks and stuff, running around like wild. Then one day, she looked lethargic and that evening she was gone.

The vet gave me no answers-- he said that he thought she would pull through.

I had the feeling that maybe it was undiagnosed coccidiosis, as her butt was dirty and is not usually so.


Fast forward to today: Gloria was a 3 year old Cuccoo Maran. Yesterday, I noticed she had a dirty butt and it looked like some of it might have contained blood, as it was a darker color. Nothing extreme, but unusual for her. I gave her a bath, and worried about Cocci I gave her an oral dose of Corid as well as an antibiotic (trying to cover my bases). (In the past, I had worried that she had water belly too. She had previously had a vent prolapse and I pushed her back in and gave her an antibiotic and the swelling of her abdomen seemed to go away.) I made her comfortable in a nesting box and she slept...she seemed like she was doing okay. She made it through the night and seemed bright when I checked on her early in the morning. But she kept sleeping in the box. Then around noon I went out to check on her and she was gone. It seemed she had died in her sleep.

Does any of this sound like Coccidiosis???
Does it actually sound like Egg periontitis? She had been laying, though not as consistently as before. She was eating like mad a few days ago!

I am so confused and saddened. I have lost faith in the vet I went to (he's more of a parrot vet and gave me very little information when my Rhoda died, plus a $700+ bill).


It hasn't been super hot lately. It's been pretty rainy though. A few of them got into the compost a few days ago and were eating grubs and stuff in there....could it have been something from contaminated compost? (I threw out the compost idea on the first chicken death, but the vet didn't think it seemed likely.)

I'm so confused.

If you have experienced chickens with Coccidiosis-- how did you know?

If you experienced chickens with Periontitis-- how did you know?

Why are they dying so quickly?

Please help,

thank you
Raleigh

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Chickens tend to do that. We don't often notice the subtle signs they aren't feeling well initially. By the time we notice it's generally too late to do anything. Most times in my experiences you can't help a sick chicken long term. Most live anywhere from 4-10.

Ascites is generally from organ failure. Usually the kidneys. There's nothing you can do. Chicken deaths also seems to come in multiples. Not sure why, but I will generally lose a few than nothing the rest of the year. Fall seems to be the most common time.

I've never dealt with cocidiosis here. Usually adults are immune to it, but if something else is going on with them they can be more susceptible to coming down with it because their immune system is stressed.

 

[rgardiner7000]

Chickens tend to do that. We don't often notice the subtle signs they aren't feeling well initially. By the time we notice it's generally too late to do anything. Most times in my experiences you can't help a sick chicken long term. Most live anywhere from 4-10.

Ascites is generally from organ failure. Usually the kidneys. There's nothing you can do. Chicken deaths also seems to come in multiples. Not sure why, but I will generally lose a few than nothing the rest of the year. Fall seems to be the most common time.

I've never dealt with cocidiosis here. Usually adults are immune to it, but if something else is going on with them they can be more susceptible to coming down with it because their immune system is stressed.

thank you!