The most dominant hen of flock suddenly died, need advice, graphic pictures

[Hensofthehill]

Hi family! Have a question for you all.

My chickens are free ranging in the afternoon, so I came out today around lunch to feed my birds and discovered that one of the most dominant hens of the flock(2yo) is laying on the run floor, dead and the whole flock of 30 chickens was stomping, trying to poke her vent. It was not pretty, death never is pretty unfortunately

her vent looked like she was trying to-lay but there was no egg…

So I took her to side and opened her. She was full of fat and her organs were huge, some blood started coming out of her mouth.

Is it FLHS or something else to be concerned about? All other 30 birds seem to be ok.

I am incinerated her as I have 2 young cats that were too curious what they can get out of this unfortunate situation… i love all my pets so much.

Thank you in advance you all…

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry that you lost her. Did you see any prolapse or bowel coming from her vent? I am not an expert or vet, but I do think she had fatty liver hemorrhagic disease because of the large amounts of fat and the pale liver. Did you notice any blood clots near the liver? Was the hen acting normally earlier? Is there a rooster in the flock?

 

[Hensofthehill]

Sorry that you lost her. Did you see any prolapse or bowel coming from her vent? I am not an expert or vet, but I do think she had fatty liver hemorrhagic disease because of the large amounts of fat and the pale liver. Did you notice any blood clots near the liver? Was the hen acting normally earlier? Is there a rooster in the flock?

Thank you, never gets easier loosing a loved pet. But its part of lifes cycle
.

No prolapse. She was so active with the flock yesterday. It is finally so nice and warm in Minnesota that I was able to sit down yesterday and observe them for at least 30 minutes eating some freshly emerging grasses.

It looked like there was a blood clot right by the liver. I also thought that was very weird and strange. Are you familiar with this or have you ever heard about it before?

Unfortunately, I did not see them in the morning as I change the water for them in the evening. She was still warm but stiffening up around noon when I was opening her up.

I do have two roosters in my flock with them. One is a bit more active than another.

What caused that clot? Is that what killed her?

 

[Hensofthehill]

You can see part of the clot here. I moved it as it was kinda everywhere…

 

[Eggcessive]

Yes, I have seen fatty liver in one hen of mine that died. Blot clots are normal because of the liver hemorrhaging. Livers can be tan, putty colored or more pale. What do you feed your hens? Are any overweight? Fatty liver can have a number of possible causes, but many times, they are eating a large amount of corn, scratch, and other carbs. Sometimes mold or aflatoxin poisoning can be a cause. Being overweight with little exercise is another. Here is a good article to read:
https://tvmdl.tamu.edu/case-studies/fatty-liver-hemorrhagic-syndrome-in-a-chicken/

https://opensanctuary.org/fatty-liver-hemorrhagic-syndrome/

 

[Hensofthehill]

Yes, I have seen fatty liver in one hen of mine that died. Blot clots are normal because of the liver hemorrhaging. Livers can be tan, putty colored or more pale. What do you feed your hens? Are any overweight? Fatty liver can have a number of possible causes, but many times, they are eating a large amount of corn, scratch, and other carbs. Sometimes mold or aflatoxin poisoning can be a cause. Here is a good article to read:
https://tvmdl.tamu.edu/case-studies/fatty-liver-hemorrhagic-syndrome-in-a-chicken/

https://opensanctuary.org/fatty-liver-hemorrhagic-syndrome/

Thank you so much @Eggcessive. I appreciate you always trying to help us all… love you for loving us!

How would I know if any hens are fat? Attaching few pics of my flock.

Also attaching a label from feed that I am feeding, its a 17% layer feed from local mill.

Thank you so much for helping so much with your knowledge…

 

[Hensofthehill]

Also @Eggcessive why did you ask about rooster? Could the rooster cause this death somehow?

 

[Tennessee Great Granny]

Hi family! Have a question for you all.

My chickens are free ranging in the afternoon, so I came out today around lunch to feed my birds and discovered that one of the most dominant hens of the flock(2yo) is laying on the run floor, dead and the whole flock of 30 chickens was stomping, trying to poke her vent. It was not pretty, death never is pretty unfortunately

her vent looked like she was trying to-lay but there was no egg…

So I took her to side and opened her. She was full of fat and her organs were huge, some blood started coming out of her mouth.

Is it FLHS or something else to be concerned about? All other 30 birds seem to be ok.

I am incinerated her as I have 2 young cats that were too curious what they can get out of this unfortunate situation… i love all my pets so much.

Thank you in advance you all…

If the liver was pink I'd say fatty or diseased liver but it is normal liver color and they are normally pretty vascular. That liver looked very normal in color to me with none of the signs of petechial hemorrhages (bright red round spots). A green liver is backed up with bile. That wasn't present either.
The yellow fat is normal for "laying hens" near the vent and cavity area. It's prized by chicken eaters as schmaltz- a special chicken fat which gives many dishes a special flavor when rendered.
I could not identify the lungs. They should be a pale pink. Those with small hemorrhages are spotted with red or if it is serious the entire lung tissue is bright red and very heavy. Lungs are light colored and airy.
A vent which was relaxed and open or prolapsed can also be a sign the bird was under duress. If she was egg bound the other birds might have pecked out the stuck egg. I would think you'd find shell fragments or runny yolk in the vent though. First sign of an egg bound chicken in serious trouble is they walk or run like they are ready to drop a load any second with legs wide apart. We lost one to being egg bound.
Pecking parties are common for chickens yet she was dominant. It's usually low bird on the totem pole that is the victim of a pecking party but any bleeding or injured bird can be the subject of a pecking party. We established a large bird hospital just for such occasions. I did not see the bloody gaping wounds one sees with pecking parties. Feather pulling can be a form of chicken abuse too. If her feathers were plucked there is usually raw spots and some blood. Her belly was bare... usually they do that with nesting to get the eggs warmer nearer to the skin. Dominance can just as easily change from hen to hen with chickens. Our tiny runty chicken Little Shy One became dominant hen when she got really fed up with being bullied by the dominant hen Miss Priss. She knocked the dominant hen around bad who became quite low on the totem pole after that. We tend to not interfere unless we see blood. If the perp is bullying multiple birds they get caged in the pen not allowed to join the flock until they can prove they can simmer down. It may take 2 to 3 weeks but that method has straightened out more then one bully! The injured bird gets placed in protective custody and fed healing foods in a big cage in the hospital. Wounds are treated and they are watched closely. They must heal 100% before going back home or it just happens to them all over again. I have two hens who are permanent residents of the hospital which is doubling as a maternity ward for Midget white turkeys. LaDonna is never going to have feathers just above her tail, it's scarred. We sent her back too soon and by morning she was bad off. She likes living with the turkeys and lays her eggs with her sister chicken in an unused turkey nest next to their turkey sisters. Neither gal misses being with a rooster.
One thing I know about bird flu. If she died of that you are going to find your entire flock decimated and sick in very very short order. We are talking hours here not days. Birds suffering from bird flu are extremely sick and none of them are going to be laying eggs. All of them will be dead. I don't think people are supposed to burn the carcasses. But I'd sure keep the carcass away from everyone including the cat! Cremation does not necessarily get rid of infecting microorganisms. They actually found CoVid was spreading around cities in areas near crematoriums from the vented smoke getting released into the atmosphere. I also remember MRSA (a drug resistant microorganism) was strongly suspected of being spread via medical waste incineration at hospitals from the smoke putting entire communities at risk for hospital acquired diseases. I read that in a medical journal on break at work but never read the follow up later on that. Not sure why because I read every medical journal I could get my hands on. It might have been the busy time of year and no time even for breaks no less reading. In any case these are things to consider. I hope you don't have any more sick birds. It's hard to lose one. I would be devastated if I had to lose my flocks of birds from disease. It's hard enough losing one to a sneaky predator

 

[Tennessee Great Granny]

Thank you so much @Eggcessive. I appreciate you always trying to help us all… love you for loving us!

How would I know if any hens are fat? Attaching few pics of my flock.

Also attaching a label from feed that I am feeding, its a 17% layer feed from local mill.

Thank you so much for helping so much with your knowledge…

They look like healthy hens to me. None looked even mildly obese, and I have had two that were excessively obese in spite of a good diet. They just loved to eat all the time. The feed looks appropriate too. All laying hens do develop a fat pad and that is completely normal once they start laying eggs.

 

[Hensofthehill]

If the liver was pink I'd say fatty or diseased liver but it is normal liver color and they are normally pretty vascular. That liver looked very normal in color to me with none of the signs of petechial hemorrhages (bright red round spots). A green liver is backed up with bile. That wasn't present either.
The yellow fat is normal for "laying hens" near the vent and cavity area. It's prized by chicken eaters as schmaltz- a special chicken fat which gives many dishes a special flavor when rendered.
I could not identify the lungs. They should be a pale pink. Those with small hemorrhages are spotted with red or if it is serious the entire lung tissue is bright red and very heavy. Lungs are light colored and airy.
A vent which was relaxed and open or prolapsed can also be a sign the bird was under duress. If she was egg bound the other birds might have pecked out the stuck egg. I would think you'd find shell fragments or runny yolk in the vent though. First sign of an egg bound chicken in serious trouble is they walk or run like they are ready to drop a load any second with legs wide apart. We lost one to being egg bound.
Pecking parties are common for chickens yet she was dominant. It's usually low bird on the totem pole that is the victim of a pecking party but any bleeding or injured bird can be the subject of a pecking party. We established a large bird hospital just for such occasions. I did not see the bloody gaping wounds one sees with pecking parties. Feather pulling can be a form of chicken abuse too. If her feathers were plucked there is usually raw spots and some blood. Her belly was bare... usually they do that with nesting to get the eggs warmer nearer to the skin. Dominance can just as easily change from hen to hen with chickens. Our tiny runty chicken Little Shy One became dominant hen when she got really fed up with being bullied by the dominant hen Miss Priss. She knocked the dominant hen around bad who became quite low on the totem pole after that. We tend to not interfere unless we see blood. If the perp is bullying multiple birds they get caged in the pen not allowed to join the flock until they can prove they can simmer down. It may take 2 to 3 weeks but that method has straightened out more then one bully! The injured bird gets placed in protective custody and fed healing foods in a big cage in the hospital. Wounds are treated and they are watched closely. They must heal 100% before going back home or it just happens to them all over again. I have two hens who are permanent residents of the hospital which is doubling as a maternity ward for Midget white turkeys. LaDonna is never going to have feathers just above her tail, it's scarred. We sent her back too soon and by morning she was bad off. She likes living with the turkeys and lays her eggs with her sister chicken in an unused turkey nest next to their turkey sisters. Neither gal misses being with a rooster.
One thing I know about bird flu. If she died of that you are going to find your entire flock decimated and sick in very very short order. We are talking hours here not days. Birds suffering from bird flu are extremely sick and none of them are going to be laying eggs. All of them will be dead. I don't think people are supposed to burn the carcasses. But I'd sure keep the carcass away from everyone including the cat! Cremation does not necessarily get rid of infecting microorganisms. They actually found CoVid was spreading around cities in areas near crematoriums from the vented smoke getting released into the atmosphere. I also remember MRSA (a drug resistant microorganism) was strongly suspected of being spread via medical waste incineration at hospitals from the smoke putting entire communities at risk for hospital acquired diseases. I read that in a medical journal on break at work but never read the follow up later on that. Not sure why because I read every medical journal I could get my hands on. It might have been the busy time of year and no time even for breaks no less reading. In any case these are things to consider. I hope you don't have any more sick birds. It's hard to lose one. I would be devastated if I had to lose my flocks of birds from disease. It's hard enough losing one to a sneaky predator

Thank you so much for your kind message and sharing your experience, this means a lot to me.

So you think that that fat around her organs is normal?

Her vent was wide open when I found her laying on the ground and I did not see any egg shell fragments. Her vent looked like there could have been an egg in, but those were intestines.

Unfortunately, I did not look at her lungs.

She had all feathers on her belly, I plugged some so I can open her.

And she was super healthy and happy yesterday…. Cant wrap my head around it.