Very ill chickens

[April’s Zoo]

It’s heartbreaking to think about, but you need answers and you said your GLW is getting worse.... you might consider euthanizing her if she doesn’t make some miraculous turn around in the next few days, so that you can have her necropsied. For me, it would be harder to take if I had one that died outside the time window the university gave, and I wasn’t able to afford the necropsy at that time.... especially knowing that I could’ve ended their suffering sooner, and maybe gotten some answers.

Is there any chance the GLW is egg bound? Do you know if she is laying regularly?

 

[HuskerHens18]

I think the bright green poop is bile - I recently lost a speckled sussex pullet to wasting and she would pretend to eat, pecking and scratching around, but she wasn't actually eating. Is your GLW thin?
I hope you find out what is going on soon!!! It always seems like problems come on all at once! Can really feel overwhelming.

Yes she is actually, that would make sense.. it started with her being broody so I wonder if she starved herself too far and is now sick because of it?

 

[HuskerHens18]

Sorry for your losses and still not knowing

I appreciate it

 

[HuskerHens18]

It’s heartbreaking to think about, but you need answers and you said your GLW is getting worse.... you might consider euthanizing her if she doesn’t make some miraculous turn around in the next few days, so that you can have her necropsied. For me, it would be harder to take if I had one that died outside the time window the university gave, and I wasn’t able to afford the necropsy at that time.... especially knowing that I could’ve ended their suffering sooner, and maybe gotten some answers.

Is there any chance the GLW is egg bound? Do you know if she is laying regularly?

That would probably be best, I'll see how she does today and make a decision tomorrow. The vet clinic is already closed for the day so I'd have to wait until Monday anyway to send her off.
How do I check for egg binding? She is broody so she's not laying eggs. Even while she's this sick she keeps trying to go back to her nest. I have her in a pen outside so she gets fresh air instead of coop air.

 

[Conan]

Yes she is actually, that would make sense.. it started with her being broody so I wonder if she starved herself too far and is now sick because of it?

That very well may be. Some hens really do go full crazy and practically starve themselves to death to brood. I'm certain it weakens them against other parasites and illnesses as well. Poor thing! I hope she turns around for you

 

[April’s Zoo]

If she’s broody and not laying, then she’s almost certainly not eggbound.
It’s always a little iffy to me when I say that though, because I feel as if it’s never an exact science as to when they stop laying or when they start again. There’s also the chance that what is thought to be broodiness is really the hen not feeling well, and because they’ve been “broody” no one is expecting them to be laying, but the real reason they aren’t laying is that they’re eggbound, unfortunately.
The way to check isn’t pleasant for the hen or you— it involves carefully sticking a well-lubed finger up the hen’s well-lubed vent and feeling for a stuck egg. It generally goes better if you can first relax her in a warm Epsom-salt bath.
In the end, you know your chicken, so if you are confident that she’s broody, then there’s no need to go feeling her up for no reason.

I, too, hope she starts feeling better soon. There’s so many things that can go wrong, and as you’ve found out, not even having good vet care can always get you the answers you need. It’s possible that you’ve had multiple different things going on at different times, and they’ve all just kind of blurred together giving the impression that there is one mysterious problem and if you could somehow only find what it is you could solve it and all would be well again.
Sadly, it’s rarely that easy.

 

[HuskerHens18]

Update, I still haven't received any necropsy paperwork for the eggbound hen, but I got another call that explained a few more details that this Jersey Giant hen had a deformed reproductive track(forgot the proper term for it) and all it took was one misshapen egg and it caused a "backup" and eggbound her to death. Which would explain why she'd been laying fine the last year, she never had any weird eggs, they were always perfect.

My GLW refused any feed yesterday, but ate an egg. Then this morning before church she could not support herself enough to even stand, and when I got home she was dead.
Then on top of that, out of nowhere one of my 4 month old Splash Orphingtons died. She looked a bit droopy this morning so I isolated her, I didn't want her getting trampled. By the time I got home from church she was dead.
I dewormed and studied every chicken yesterday, everyone seemed fine, I didn't notice any weird behavior.

Kind of a morbid thought, but at least I now have 2 bodies of different age groups to be necropsied. They'll be sent off on Monday.

 

[MandS]

I am really sorry for you and your girls. I hope you find the answers and keep the happy memories, not the bad ones.

 

[ChickNanny13]

So very sorry for your losses I hope you can get resolve with what's happening to your chickens Keep us updated.

 

[Morrigan]

So very sorry for your losses.

It's a dang shame, but reproductive problems are a huge problem in today's modern hatchery stock. I read somewhere that by the age of 5, approximately one-half of production hens will suffer from reproductive disorders. Quite simply, the egg load that modern hens are bred to produce is incredibly taxing them and is not natural. It's probably an understudied and reported problem, because commercial egg farms, as well as many backyard flock raisers, routinely replace birds after they are 18 months to two years old, so many birds don't live long enough to succumb to the disease.

If I read one of your earlier posts correctly, you have over 100 birds. The reality of this is that you may experience multiple deaths each year. It's not surprising that they would show up in Spring and early Summer when hens are ramping up egg production. It doesn't mean you are doing anything wrong, or that you have a sickly flock. Sadly, it's just the way it is. The best you can do is try to keep you hens in optimal health -- which it sounds like you are doing -- and breed for hardiness, if you have the means to do so.

Dealing with ill chickens is the worst part of chicken keeping. In many cases, there is nothing you can really do, other than to ease their passing.