- Thread starter
- #11
In case anyone looking for information has come this far, I want to report that this hen died last night. After returning her to the flock, she resumed "normal" hen behavior, was the first to lay an egg after molting/short winter days, and generally seemed fine. I was concerned that about a week ago I picked her up and saw that her vent was still not "normal" looking--that it looked a lot like it had when we'd had her in the house--sort of permanently open with a bit of poo visible, but no skin, definitely no prolapse, sticking out. Being relatively new to chickens--she is part of our first flock and less than two years old--I thought maybe this was just "how she was." Then, when checking the flock after work one day, I could see she was very sick--purple comb, stability issues, using wings for balance. (When we let them out in the morning it is pitch black, so they don't usually come out--unable to know how she was that morning.) I immediately scooped her up and we took her inside. Couldn't find anything wrong--no wounds, nothing broken, only the unusual situation of her bum. We gave her a warm bath for her vent like we had before, dried her, and put her in the dog crate in our bedroom and she died overnight. I am perplexed and very saddened. The only thing either my husband or I can surmise is that either maybe she had worms (so we're worming the rest of them just in case) or else maybe it was something congenital. We lost one of her flock mates just a month or so prior also for no apparent reason. I have researched and researched here and elsewhere and I am convinced that she didn't have any of the typical poultry illnesses. (I have a Ph.D., so I know how to find answers.) We have no vet anywhere in our region who will see poultry, so we are stuck trying to fend for ourselves. I don't know if this will help anyone else, but I wanted to update this in case something somewhere in our troubles can save someone else some trouble or heartache. Thanks to all who previously responded to my original plea for help. The folks on this forum are a wonderful support network.