Tiny Silkie Sudden Death Please Help!!

[Chris Hernandez]

We bought a silkie hen and rooster a few months ago. The rooster I bought with her with is doing fine. They were both still young (she hadn't started laying eggs yet). She was always small and timid and usually didn't run around much. She was always very apprehensive to even walk out of the coop. She was also very light and didn't weigh a lot (but she was eating and drinking fine). My other chickens got sick with coryza and I had to give them colloidal silver in their water (everyone's water system is connected). Last night she didn't go up into the coop and so I thought something was wrong, I checked her eyes, nose, and face to make sure she wasn't sick or had any snot or bubbles in the eyes. She didn't show any signs of any sickness but when I checked on her this afternoon I found her dead at the bottom of the coop. Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Also, I gave her DE in the food and bedding so I'm almost 100% certain that she didn't have worms. And her poops looked fine.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Unfortunately they sometimes die. Sounds like she may have had something wrong with her from the start, and it took a while for it to get advanced enough to kill her, especially since she was undersized.

 

[AmazingRachel]

Send her body to your state lab for a necropsy.

 

[Chris Hernandez]

Unfortunately they sometimes die. Sounds like she may have had something wrong with her from the start, and it took a while for it to get advanced enough to kill her, especially since she was undersized.

Ok thank you.

 

[Chris Hernandez]

Send her body to your state lab for a necropsy.

I wish I could but isn't that a lot of money?

 

[Relleoms]

I wish I could but isn't that a lot of money?

So sorry for the loss of your girl
Our state university diagnostics lab charged me $53 for a very comprehensive necropsy which included a fecal float and 4 histo slides (it did not include shipping costs as I delivered her myself). For me, that was a small fee for peace of mind, knowing my entire flock wasn’t going to die of some weird, contagious disease. But I know for many, that’s probably more than they can or choose to spend.

Edit to add: they sent preliminary results the same afternoon I dropped off the body. It took about 3 weeks to get the final results, but it turned out the preliminary diagnosis was spot on (ovarian cancer in a 38 week old pullet). It was nice to know I couldn’t have done anything to make her better, even if I tried.