What do you think: Heat exhaustion in California or something else?

[Sunshine Flock]

Last week we lost our largest hen. We found her dead in the chicken yard. I assumed it was heat exhaustion because that was the one day I neglected to check on them in the morning. During the extreme heat we've been having here in California, I check on them a couple times a day. I also saturate the thick pine needle and leaf mulch in their yard with water. I'll do that every time I check on them.

The hen that died had no symptoms. That's why we assumed it was heat exhaustion.

Now as of early this morning another chicken is exhibiting the same behavior. I wasn't able to observe Gertrude when she wasn't feeling well. She died before I had a chance to see her. But with Rosa she's spreading her wings out to stabilize her balance, just like Gertrude presumably did. She can only take a few steps before needing to sit down.

I gave her a cold epsom salt bath, and she's now inside the house in a crate. She ate some Greek yoghurt and some of the chicken feed, so she has an appetite. I'm about to give her some cooked eggs for protein, and I'm going to give her some oregano oil in the yoghurt. I'm also going to give her a homeopathic remedy, and she'll stay inside until I see clear indications she's better.

I'd welcome your thoughts on whether this could be something else. The concern with Rosa is that her symptoms started in the morning well before the heat arrived. It could be lingering heat exhaustion that has accumulated, but they were all doing well yesterday. Can Merricks kill chickens without symptoms? Are there heat exhaustion symptoms that are distinctly different than those of Merricks?

ETA: She was not panting when I found her.


Thank you!!

 

[Sunshine Flock]

I gave Rosa some shredded lettuce and eggs, with some blueberries off to the side. Her eyes got big as she stared at the eggs, and then all of a sudden she lunged her head at the blueberries and ate some.

She had to sit down to eat. I pulled her out of the crate and put her on the wood floor. She did manage to stand for a few minutes, longer than she was standing earlier.

I'll continue to document her progress. Hopefully she's going to be okay.

 

[Sunshine Flock]

I haven't received any responses and don't know if anyone is reading this thread. But I wanted to share that my sweet little Rosa died an hour ago.

Earlier tonight I checked to see if I could feel any eggshells inside her and felt nothing.

When Gertrude died, I didn't notice anything unusual. But then again, she was quite heavy and very stiff by the time I found her, so I wasn't able to do much of an examination. With Rosa I discovered a very mushy and bloated belly, much more than what it was earlier. I noticed some squishy softness to her, but her underside wasn't anywhere near as swollen as it was when she died. Her skin in one area was bright reddish purple, almost like road burn but without any wounds.

I've now lost two chickens in less than two weeks and am wondering if my flock has a disease. It was 108º when Gertrude died. Today was just over 100º. They both died the day they exhibited symptoms, both had to use their wings for balance.

I'm anxious to figure this out. If another one dies, I'd like to have a necropsy done.

 

[Sunshine Flock]

Continuing to document here in case it helps someone else.

Rosa did not exhibit leg paralysis, one of the main symptoms of Mereck's disease. I'm also remembering that the few times she was able to stand today, she looked odd. It matches the description of an egg bound chicken. She only had a few droppings, and they were very wet and stringy.

I couldn't feel an egg in her belly and no hint of eggshells or a stuck egg inside her vent. The super squishy and huge bloating, that escaped my notice earlier in the day, got worse just before she died. I'm not seeing that listed as a symptom of being egg bound, nor the deep reddish purple coloring of her skin.

She was molting but seemed excessively bare in the areas of discoloration on her underside.

Gertrude really did strike me as having died from heat exhaustion. So these two deaths may be unrelated. I sure hope so.

 

[Waves]

First, i'm very very sorry for your losses
Second, i'm sorry to not have seen this thread before!
Third, i can't answer to your question..i'm answering so the post goes up in the section and someone could answer. Sorry

 

[FransGran]

I am so sorry about your losses.

 

[Sunshine Flock]

Thank you so much. It does seem like she was egg bound and backing up inside, which would explain the swollen belly. It had happened so fast as far as symptoms go. She died the same day she told me something was wrong.

I don't think this sounds like Marek's, but I'd welcome some feedback.