UPDATED: LACEY PASSED 4:00 AM 6/9/21

[Bird fanatic]

Thank you to those who responded. I do appreciate it. Lacey just died in my arms. I am grateful I was able to comfort her. I probably would have found her dead in the coop this morning, if I had not gone out there.
Very sad morning, now almost 4:00 am.
I doubt she had coccidiosis. This was an acute issue, possibly she ingested something.
She was a beautful, sweet girl. Such a mellow personality. She will be dearly missed. View attachment 2710781

I'm so sorry for your loss she was a beautiful hen at least she's not in pain anymore

 

[Jose11632]

Looks like canker to me. The cure for it is to put Ronidazole in the water for 7 days or sometimes longer and then it should go away. Or you can put apple cider vinegar in the water instead.

Also does you chicken have raspy breathing or nasal discharge

Thank you to those who responded. I do appreciate it. Lacey just died in my arms. I am grateful I was able to comfort her. I probably would have found her dead in the coop this morning, if I had not gone out there.
Very sad morning, now almost 4:00 am.
I doubt she had coccidiosis. This was an acute issue, possibly she ingested something.
She was a beautful, sweet girl. Such a mellow personality. She will be dearly missed. View attachment 2710781

feels horrible loosing these beauties lost one to cocci few weeks ago, man it hurt may she rest easy now.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I know it's still fresh, can you answer a few questions for me though?

How was she standing when you noticed she was sick?
Did she try to roost at all and if so did she fail?
Did she have a healthy appetite and drinking after she was noticed?
If you haven't already, are you up for having her necropsied or doing one yourself?

I'm so sorry, sound like you were very close to the bird and I know the feeling of losing one you're close to

 

[rayrose]

Sorry for your loss, but sounds like you may have been
over dosing your hen on too any different things.JMHO.
From your description of her symptoms, she had a respiratory
infection. Buy some tetracycline(TS) and keep it on hand. It will
cure respiratory infections the next time one of your birds exhibits
the same symptoms. Put the bird in a crate and bring her inside your house. Give her 1 pill per day for 4 days along with a calcium tablet. It's a large pill, but she can swallow it. Hopefully you won't lose any more birds.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

I know it's still fresh, can you answer a few questions for me though?

How was she standing when you noticed she was sick?
Did she try to roost at all and if so did she fail?
Did she have a healthy appetite and drinking after she was noticed?
If you haven't already, are you up for having her necropsied or doing one yourself?

I'm so sorry, sound like you were very close to the bird and I know the feeling of losing one you're close to

Thanks, yes she was one of my favorites, but all my chickens are pets. I hatched her from a local breeder's egg last June.
To answer your questions, I went out to the coop here at 2:00 am as I heard a strange unfamiliar noise. Thought at first it was one of the neighbors' dogs. Lacey was sitting on the roost as she normally would be at 2:00 am.
She had been fine yesterday, eating and drinking normally. Did her usually dust bath yesterday. Acting completely normal. She had been broody for about 6 weeks, just started laying again 2 days ago. She did not seem weak or lethargic at all.
Half the flock developed diarrhea a few weeks ago, Lacey was one of them. It did not seem to affect them in any way. All eating and drinking and acting normally. I did not see any worms in their poop, but I decided to treat presumptively, just completed second round of febendazole. Just completed corid treatment as well.
We do not have any chicken vets here. My friends with chickens usually come to me with issues with their birds. (I am a people doctor though, not quite the same I know),
Lacey was making regular, stange short honking noises. Mouth open, slight gurgling. Eyes and nostrils were clear. I brought her in the house, looked down her throat, I could not see anything. I managed to get her to drink a little warm water. She seemed comforted by my holding and petting her. She was a very tame and friendly bird. She then convulsed and died. Very strange and I wish I could figure out why and what happened. I do not have necropsy available to me here. I live in a very rural place.
Thank you for your sympathy. I appreciate it.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Thanks, yes she was one of my favorites, but all my chickens are pets. I hatched her from a local breeder's egg last June.
To answer your questions, I went out to the coop here at 2:00 am as I heard a strange unfamiliar noise. Thought at first it was one of the neighbors' dogs. Lacey was sitting on the roost as she normally would be at 2:00 am.
She had been fine yesterday, eating and drinking normally. Did her usually dust bath yesterday. Acting completely normal. She had been broody for about 6 weeks, just started laying again 2 days ago. She did not seem weak or lethargic at all.
Half the flock developed diarrhea a few weeks ago, Lacey was one of them. It did not seem to affect them in any way. All eating and drinking and acting normally. I did not see any worms in their poop, but I decided to treat presumptively, just completed second round of febendazole. Just completed corid treatment as well.
We do not have any chicken vets here. My friends with chickens usually come to me with issues with their birds. (I am a people doctor though, not quite the same I know),
Lacey was making regular, stange short honking noises. Mouth open, slight gurgling. Eyes and nostrils were clear. I brought her in the house, looked down her throat, I could not see anything. I managed to get her to drink a little warm water. She seemed comforted by my holding and petting her. She was a very tame and friendly bird. She then convulsed and died. Very strange and I wish I could figure out why and what happened. I do not have necropsy available to me here. I live in a very rural place.
Thank you for your sympathy. I appreciate it.

Would you be okay doing one yourself?
I'm just asking because the symptoms sound a little similar to when I lost quite a few birds rapidly. We're pretty sure it ended up being poisoning from eating something since it was onlynsmall, young birds from the group that had symptoms that died. When they were kept penned, everyone from that group that was older got better

 

[Zoohtasim]

Thank you to those who responded. I do appreciate it. Lacey just died in my arms. I am grateful I was able to comfort her. I probably would have found her dead in the coop this morning, if I had not gone out there.
Very sad morning, now almost 4:00 am.
I doubt she had coccidiosis. This was an acute issue, possibly she ingested something.
She was a beautful, sweet girl. Such a mellow personality. She will be dearly missed. View attachment 2710781

I am so so so sorry! She was a beautiful girl and didnt deserve to die this early. I am so sorry..

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Sorry for your loss, but sounds like you may have been
over dosing your hen on too any different things.JMHO.
From your description of her symptoms, she had a respiratory
infection. Buy some tetracycline(TS) and keep it on hand. It will
cure respiratory infections the next time one of your birds exhibits
the same symptoms. Put the bird in a crate and bring her inside your house. Give her 1 pill per day for 4 days along with a calcium tablet. It's a large pill, but she can swallow it. Hopefully you won't lose any more birds.

Thank you, but I beg to differ. She had no respiratory symptoms until just this morning. She and half the flock had diarrhea only and it was improving. I suspect she ingested something yesterday. None of the other birds have any similar symptoms. We have no bird vet on this island and I have had to learn about the different bird illnesses myself.
I do have antibiotics on hand for respiratory issues, thankfully have not had to use them yet.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Would you be okay doing one yourself?
I'm just asking because the symptoms sound a little similar to when I lost quite a few birds rapidly. We're pretty sure it ended up being poisoning from eating something since it was onlynsmall, young birds from the group that had symptoms that died. When they were kept penned, everyone from that group that was older got better

I do not think I could bring myself to do a necropsy, even with my medical background.
I am so sorry you lost your birds, did you figure out what happened?
I do let my big girls "free range" under supervision for about an hour a day. Have done so since they were about 3-4 months of age. I stay out with them and clean the coop and do other chicken chores, as we have daytime predators here. I suspect she may have ingested something, no way to know if it was something poisonous. They do not go off of our property and we do not use any pesticides of chemicals on the property.

 

[Callender Girl]

I am so sorry for the loss of your Lacey. It's always terrible when they are suffering, but especially when you want to help and can't make them feel better or save them. Take care of yourself today.