Sudden death - only one lonely pullet - now what?

[Bawkbok]

So we were down to just two pullets - a Golden Comet and a Cinnamon Queen - both 6 months - neither of them laying yet, which perplexed us but at any rate they both are (were) seemingly healthy, no illness of any kind. I always put fresh food and water out in the dark and wait for them to come off the roost at first light to check their crops. This morning, no one came out as usual. The queen was always first out and it was silent inside. My worst fears realized as I opened the (omlet coop) layer door and found her deceased. The comet was laying on the roost side facing the queen just looking at her. How pathetically sad. I am shocked and dismayed. I have no idea what happened. There was no sign of injury, nothing oozing from anywhere, she foraged as usual pre-coop last night. I checked on them at midnight and they seemed fine. They were both vaccinated for Mareks, although we have lost 3 unvaccinated pullets in the past 5 months to Mareks related neurological issues so now I'm concerned, even if vaccinated, could this have been the cause? What would cause a chicken to suddenly die overnight? She wasn't egg bound as not laying yet.

The comet is now alone - it is so sad, she 'cries' loudly all the time now - she used to be quiet. I noticed today she is plucking feathers out - I watched her pull a wing feather out - she worked at it for about 40 seconds before it came out. I actually heard a popping noise as it yanked out, so I don't think it was loose to begin with. There are many smaller feathers all over the run. Is this a stress related behavior? We are really new at this and the losses have been emotionally devastating. I've been spending more time with her all day - at the risk of ignoring my family - getting her out to free range much more frequently than the typical am and pm and just being with her in the coop. She won't yet allow me to pick her up. I don't know what to do in this situation.

We are not set up for chicks without a brooder. The farm we bought the Comet and Queen from won't have any pullets available until early November. That's two months alone. I'm trying to search locally for anyone that might have similarly aged hens available and we're thinking 2-3 but don't want the comet to feel ganged up on. What would be the best time to do this? Then of course there's the risk of buying from a local chicken owner and possibly introducing diseases. It seems in my initial research the only option right now is to go with older adults or wait for new pullets. Would the comet be overwhelmed by older birds?

What to do? How many; 1, 2, or 3? We are allowed only 4 hens maximum where we live. What timing? What signs do I watch for or what actions can I take to make life easier on the comet?

I completely understand why people have 30 chickens and we would if we could - city life sucks.

Any advice or suggestions is appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

That is odd. I'm sorry for your loss.

With admitted Marek's on the property, it is possible it could be Marek's related as the vaccination for Marek's is like the flu vaccination in people. It only protects against particular strains and slows progression of the tumors of the disease. It does not prevent transmission or infection.

However, a sudden drop without any prior signs would be extreme. Marek's traditionally manifests with dropped wing behavior and increasing paralysis if it is attacking the neural system. Cloudy eyes if attacking the eyes. Slow wasting if attacking the internal organs with tumors.

It could have been heart problems. It might have been internal laying problems or ovarian cancer with a Comet as they are hybrids selectively bred to mature fast. It happens. Even doing an necropsy might not prove anything. It is something to consider if you have an Ag college nearby. Most vets wouldn't know what they were looking at and likely wouldn't do one.

As to your question, try to find another pullet about 4 months old. That should help this one be happier. Chickens are flock animals. If you get 2 pullets, make sure they are both younger so they don't gang up on your remaining hen.

Good luck finding something. Check your facebook pages. There likely is some chicken pages for your area.

Once you find a pullet, be sure she is vaccinated for Marek's since you've had it on the property or comes from a resistant line (even better). Also you want to isolate her from the other hen for 2 weeks, if you can. Most of us don't have a lot of room on our property for true isolation but even putting her in a large dog cage in the garage can head off any scaly leg mite or parasite infestation being passed. Virus is a lot harder and takes enclosure away from the other animals with careful non-cross contamination practice.

LofMc

 

[Bawkbok]

Thank you so much for your reply and information. Now that you mention it, just last night I told my husband that Queenie appeared to be walking with a limp but I found no injury and her left wing seemed to be hanging a little lower than the right one. She also tried to fly a week or so ago, made three wing flaps and fell on her face. I thought that was very strange and again I saw no injury. She got up and ran right toward me. I chalked it up to her being so young, still developing and entering the clumsy stage. Her eyes were clear. She was always extremely small to me but being new to the Cinnamon Queens, I had no idea what to expect. Her vent was exceptionally small, no larger than a pea. She couldn't have weighed more than a pound or so. I wonder if all these signs collectively were a warning that something was amiss.

I appreciate your suggestions on the quarantine, we are not set up with separate coops / runs with such a small yard nor do I have a way of segregating them in the same run space.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Queenie sounds like failure to thrive. A Cinnamon Queen should be a robust, adult sized medium weight bird and laying eggs at 6 months of age. They are bred to be fast maturers and fast layers (often by 5 months, sometimes 4 months). Most chicken breeds are fully mature by 6 months. Only some giant sized birds and roosters take 8 to 12 months to fully mature.

As she was so underweight something was definitely off. Is the other one undersized as well? You might have a lurking coccidiosis problem which can cause a failure to thrive. Were they on medicated chick feed to start?

Slow Marek's can definitely cause a slow wasting and failure to thrive.

So sorry for your loss. Let me know the stature of the other bird. A Golden Comet is also a fast maturing, fast laying breed. Both are simply red sexlink hybrids selectively bred for that. They both should be full size by 6 months of age and laying.

LofMc

 

[Bawkbok]

I had that exact 'failure to thrive' thought earlier today. We wanted two Cinnamon Queens and the farmer had two, but wouldn't sell us the other one because he said "she seems off" but didn't elaborate. She was also very tiny. He talked us into the Golden Comet, same age, and said they would get along which they did. Goldie, as we call the comet, seems to be growing fine. She is much larger, seems to be developing quickly, but we also thought we'd be seeing eggs from her by now also.

Now with the stress of all the changes - losing two birds in two weeks - I'm very concerned for Goldie's health. Rosie, an EE was 7 months old and she was not vaccinated and we lost her two weeks ago to irreversible neurological issues. Goldie the Comet acts normal, eats, drinks, forages, flies, talks, reacts to the environment, etc. all things a normal chicken should do so my fingers are crossed. She is a beautiful bird and appears to be growing quickly and looks to be almost adult size, based on the EEs we had and their size.

The farmer told us to keep the comet and queen on layer feed as that is what he was feeding. I thought this was wrong since they were only 12 weeks old. I switched them to grower / starter (nonmedicated) and once I did that their growth took off. I'm kicking myself for not doing that sooner - I made that change just a few weeks ago as opposed to when we first brought them home. I'm now worried she's under nourished since she is not laying yet, but she is foraging well, eating a ton of greens, lots of bugs, etc. She doesn't drink as much water as I would like her to in this blazing heat and she seems to pant all the time. We have fans running 24x7 and they are located in the shade under tarps, with access to a sunny spot if they want.

We chose the Red Sex Links for their egg production but at this point, I just want to keep the bird alive.

 

[Bawkbok]

I forgot to mention, I did start treating them with Corid last week, thinking there may be an issue when I saw some runny poop from both of them for a day. Since, the poops have looked normal and healthy with an occasional runniness quality in the heat of the day but the tray always has good quality poop.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I would disagree with your farmer to have red sex links on layer feed earlier than 12 weeks of age. 12 is early. RSLs do take layer feed earlier than other breeds as they develop and mature quickly (actually RSL aren't a breed, they are a hybrid, but I use the term for ease of discussion). However layer feed has lower protein and does not allow for proper bone growth. It also has a lot of calcium. Perhaps he had them on chick start until 12 weeks and switched then. That can be common as again RSL can be switched to layer earlier than most breeds who don't take layer until 16 to 18 weeks. So, it may be they were on layer too early and somewhat stunted.

However, the other Cinnamon on the farm was a failure to thrive too. That gives me a warning. I would have walked away from any other hatchlings of that batch, but that's with the experience I have now. There are many reasons for failure to thrive from poor hatching conditions to poor nutrition to poor genetics. I would not return to this farm to get more chickens in the future.

Your Golden Comet should be full size and laying by now. She does need layer at this stage to come into lay as she will need the calcium. Or....I would put her on higher protein all flock and place calcium grit or oyster shell out for her. That way she gets to load up on more protein to finish growth and still have oyster. It's a balance. Too much protein too fast for layers and you get leg deformities from pushing growth too fast. Calcium too early can cause kidney failures and slow growth. Most people leave them on chick start for the protein, vitamins and minerals until about 14 weeks then switch to layer to gear them up to laying.

You can also get some chick saver probiotics/vitamins/electrolytes packets and place in water for her. It's like chicken gatorade and may perk her up. It's hot, and she could use the pick up.

All chickens pant in hot weather. Make sure she has shade, water, and a place to cool off, and she should be fine.

Heat and stress can slow down the first lay too.

LofMc

You should be seeing an egg any day now.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Runny poop is how they cool off in the hot. If there were no blood or green yuck in it, likely it was the heat.

LofMc

 

[Bawkbok]

Oh my goodness, thank you for the details on feed. I've been messing this up all along. Ok, so I need to switch her back to layer for the calcium. I assume I do it as I would dog food, 50/50 for a few days and then a full switchover or can she handle the change now?

I have provided grit and oyster shells 24x7 separate from their food, always available if they want it. I also grind up egg shells and put that in there too. I have noticed Goldie never eats any oyster shells or grit. She will if she needs to I presume.

She is not yet doing the getting ready to give you an egg squat and still runs away when I reach for her. Hoping this will change soon, but now there is no one to teach her where to lay an egg. I have a ceramic egg in the layer but she is sleeping there these days, not on the roost. I don't know if I should discourage this and without knowing what time of day /night she'll lay, I don't really want to prevent her from the layer access.

Today, given the stress of things, I put Purdue Emergency 911 in her water which is electrolytes for stress. Should I be giving her additional supplements like Calcium or B complex vitamins? Is this necessary or should the layer feed contain what she needs? We feed Kalmbach brand.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I'm not familiar with Kalmbach, but I looked at the label. It has a lot of corn which can be fast carbs. I'm not a feed expert, but the feed I use has a mix of grains, not just corn. Too much corn for chickens is sort of like too much fast food for us. The analysis looks within the ball park right. The proof is always in the production.

Sounds good that you put her on the electrolytes. Always a good move for really hot weather. With failure to thrive, a bout of Corid can be good.

Sounds like you've done everything well for your Golden Comet. Destressing her will be the most important thing now. That likely will be having a flockmate...but the right flockmate. A pullet slightly younger and nonaggressive probably will settle her.

LofMc