honor_christine
Hatching
- Jan 26, 2026
- 2
- 0
- 2
I have a small backyard flock that free ranges and (until last week) has been very healthy. Last week I found one of my Jersey Giants dead in the coop. She was acting totally normal the day before, and was curled up in the straw against the wall (not on her back). I figured it was a weird one-off and buried her.
Then this morning I found another hen (Easter Egger breed) dead in a similar situation (also in the coop). I had noticed her looking lethargic yesterday; she was out in the yard but hunched over (she looked cold). I gave her water and put her in the coop for warmth and she seemed to perk up, but clearly there was an issue because she's dead today.
This time I did a necropsy. Her liver did not look good at all, and she had a very full crop (lots of what looked like mud). She also had some very small pieces of plastic in there.
My research points towards Fatty Liver Hemorrhagic Syndrome, but my hens free range and they're not overweight at all (both hens seemed to be a healthy weight when they passed). The plastic pieces seemed too small to block the digestive system, but maybe? Does anyone have any ideas of what killed my birds?
It's been a little colder here in VA (20s and 30s) but nothing crazy. I feed my hens a mixture of 16% layer crumbles and some cracked corn, plus lots of table scraps. No sign of parasites or worms in their droppings, and the hen I necropsied looked clear.
Any tips to figure out the culprit and protect the rest of my flock would be appreciated!
Then this morning I found another hen (Easter Egger breed) dead in a similar situation (also in the coop). I had noticed her looking lethargic yesterday; she was out in the yard but hunched over (she looked cold). I gave her water and put her in the coop for warmth and she seemed to perk up, but clearly there was an issue because she's dead today.
This time I did a necropsy. Her liver did not look good at all, and she had a very full crop (lots of what looked like mud). She also had some very small pieces of plastic in there.
My research points towards Fatty Liver Hemorrhagic Syndrome, but my hens free range and they're not overweight at all (both hens seemed to be a healthy weight when they passed). The plastic pieces seemed too small to block the digestive system, but maybe? Does anyone have any ideas of what killed my birds?
It's been a little colder here in VA (20s and 30s) but nothing crazy. I feed my hens a mixture of 16% layer crumbles and some cracked corn, plus lots of table scraps. No sign of parasites or worms in their droppings, and the hen I necropsied looked clear.
Any tips to figure out the culprit and protect the rest of my flock would be appreciated!
