Sudden Death

[Weeg]

I lost my first buff today (Dec. '22) No apparent illness or injury. I do feed from a tube feeder which is a mix of organic layer pellet, org. scratch, and oil sunflower seeds during the winter. Could it have been too much overfeeding?

Sounds like a recipe for fatty liver disease. What happens is the lead birds will pick their favorite treats out of the feed. Likely the scratch and sunflower seeds. While these treats are fine in moderation, if a bird is consuming them instead of their complete feed it is not balanced and can cause fatty liver disease. Leading to sudden death.
What you need to do is fill the feeder with only the complete feed. Remove the scratch and sunflower seeds completely. You can feed them treats in the future, but for now keep them strictly on the balanced feed.
Note, those things should make up no more than 10% of the diet. That’s about one tbsp per bird per day.

 

[Eggcessive]

It helps to do a home necropsy, opening the abdomen to have a look at the abdominal organs if you are up to it. Your state vet will also perform a necropsy if the body is kept cold, nit frozen and taken in on Monday. If you do a neceopsy yourself, take pictures of the major organs (liver, intestines,) and post them here. I would stop putting sunflower seed and scratch in the feeder. The balanced layer feed is all they need. Then once in a while you could trow out a small handfull of the other for a treat. Birds will choose the scratch and seeds over layer feed, and it will less their protein and other nutrients. Similar to your kids eating candy for dinner. They will get fat, and liver disease can be common. They do not need the extras to keep warm in winter. Very sorry for your loss.

 

[Wanna Farm]

Sounds like a recipe for fatty liver disease. What happens is the lead birds will pick their favorite treats out of the feed. Likely the scratch and sunflower seeds. While these treats are fine in moderation, if a bird is consuming them instead of their complete feed it is not balanced and can cause fatty liver disease. Leading to sudden death.
What you need to do is fill the feeder with only the complete feed. Remove the scratch and sunflower seeds completely. You can feed them treats in the future, but for now keep them strictly on the balanced feed.
Note, those things should make up no more than 10% of the diet. That’s about one tbsp per bird per day.

Thanks. We will change it. I listened to 2-3 chicken channels on YT that were proponents of a mixed feed and swore their birds were healthy and happy because of it. One was "Becky's Homestead" and "Survival HT", have you ever watched these channels?

 

[Eggcessive]

Layer crumbles or pellets are balanced and have everything a hen needs for a balanced diet. I usually put a separate container of crushed oyster shell and another of poultry grit. They do like an occasional treat, and I use a bit of scrambled egg or just a little scratch grains, especially if I need them come to me.

 

[Rich Chickens]

Hi yall...
It's been kinda a hard day.
My hen, Angelica, passed away very unexpectedly early this morning.
She turned two years this June.
She is a Buff Orpington, and lives in a big coop with two other hens and a rooster, who don't pick on her, and has clean bedding and dirt, and water and food.
She laid 5-6 days a week.
There was no animal, no disease, no symptoms, no marks on her body from a potential animal that tried to kill her, absolutely nothing to tell me she was going to die.
The last time I saw her alive was yesterday evening. I was holding her and talking to her and she was perfectly fine.
The only thing I can think of is that she was just starting to molt, but even so, I kept a close eye on her, and gave her a safe amount of extra protein everyday.
Angelica was so happy here, anybody know what happened?
She was the teacher's pet and the most energetic and friendliest out of our whole flock besides our rooster.
I miss her so much.

We’ve had something similar happen with two Buff Orpingtons in different flocks.

 

[Rich Chickens]

Hi yall...
It's been kinda a hard day.
My hen, Angelica, passed away very unexpectedly early this morning.
She turned two years this June.
She is a Buff Orpington, and lives in a big coop with two other hens and a rooster, who don't pick on her, and has clean bedding and dirt, and water and food.
She laid 5-6 days a week.
There was no animal, no disease, no symptoms, no marks on her body from a potential animal that tried to kill her, absolutely nothing to tell me she was going to die.
The last time I saw her alive was yesterday evening. I was holding her and talking to her and she was perfectly fine.
The only thing I can think of is that she was just starting to molt, but even so, I kept a close eye on her, and gave her a safe amount of extra protein everyday.
Angelica was so happy here, anybody know what happened?
She was the teacher's pet and the most energetic and friendliest out of our whole flock besides our rooster.
I miss her so much.

We’ve had the same thing happen to two buff orps at separate times (different flocks)