what happened

[henhubble]

I wrote before about receiving young birds with wry neck or swollen hocks. I believed it was vit deficiency as person we got them from used own feed, barley mixed with lentils. We are very sad after just losing the barred rock. she got to be almost a year old. her neck was crooked and she had lost her balance but she grew and even laid eggs. we gave vitamins and she improved some over when we got her at about 4 months. but yesterday she seemed to have a slightly paler comb. a couple weeks ago one eye seemed swollen but that went away. Anyway, I was holding her and she was moving her legs and breathing with her beak open, which was usual, but she always quit breathing hard before. this time she continued breathing hard after stopping moving her legs. i noticed her comb was a little pale. i offered her grapes and she would not eat which alarmed me. she continued with her open beak breathing, then convulsed a couple times and slowly died. I thought her heart gave out, that possibly her heart and lungs never developed fully for adulthood. she had no new symptoms except maybe a touch less appetite. i am at the :what could I have done or how did I fail her?: stage. was there any hope ever? We miss her but I do not think she would ever walk.
Wry neck? Mareks?

 

[micstrachan]

I’m sorry for your loss. If you really want to know what killed her, You can send her chilled (not frozen) body in for necropsy.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I wrote before about receiving young birds with wry neck or swollen hocks. I believed it was vit deficiency as person we got them from used own feed, barley mixed with lentils. We are very sad after just losing the barred rock. she got to be almost a year old. her neck was crooked and she had lost her balance but she grew and even laid eggs. we gave vitamins and she improved some over when we got her at about 4 months. but yesterday she seemed to have a slightly paler comb. a couple weeks ago one eye seemed swollen but that went away. Anyway, I was holding her and she was moving her legs and breathing with her beak open, which was usual, but she always quit breathing hard before. this time she continued breathing hard after stopping moving her legs. i noticed her comb was a little pale. i offered her grapes and she would not eat which alarmed me. she continued with her open beak breathing, then convulsed a couple times and slowly died. I thought her heart gave out, that possibly her heart and lungs never developed fully for adulthood. she had no new symptoms except maybe a touch less appetite. i am at the :what could I have done or how did I fail her?: stage. was there any hope ever? We miss her but I do not think she would ever walk.
Wry neck? Mareks?

I'm sorry about your hen
Sadly there is no way to know the cause without having a necropsy performed.
If you will let us know what state you live in, I'll be glad to find your state link for you.
If that's something you want to do, double bag the body and refrigerate it.

 

[henhubble]

Thanks, we already buried her. I think her lungs were never fully developed, or...she had not laid an egg in a few weeks so maybe a reproductive issue that weakened her somehow. The other hen got somewhat better but then her hock became more swollen and she died. She had never gotten fat even though she ate pretty well. When we got her, she would not eat, poor thing, just sat there. She got well enough to hop around on one leg but the hock on the other one was always enlarged. We now just have the roo with the bad foot..curly toe?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thanks, we already buried her. I think her lungs were never fully developed, or...she had not laid an egg in a few weeks so maybe a reproductive issue that weakened her somehow. The other hen got somewhat better but then her hock became more swollen and she died. She had never gotten fat even though she ate pretty well. When we got her, she would not eat, poor thing, just sat there. She got well enough to hop around on one leg but the hock on the other one was always enlarged. We now just have the roo with the bad foot..curly toe?

Sounds like they had problems from the start unfortunately. Hopefully if you get more you can source chickens from a different place/person.

Does your rooster get along o.k. and he eats/drinks by himself good?

 

[henhubble]

Sounds like they had problems from the start unfortunately. Hopefully if you get more you can source chickens from a different place/person.

Does your rooster get along o.k. and he eats/drinks by himself good?

/rii===

/the rooster does eat fine and drinks fine. He is kind of upright and hunch backed in a way as he won't put weight on the foot with the curled toe. We are going to splint it. We had been told we had to rebreak it and we were reluctant to do that, but splinting is something to try, although I don't know if he will try to put weight on it. Also, he tends to want to stick that leg straight out backward if we pick him up. Other than that, he is a healthy rooster, he just would like to catch a hen someday.
We didn't try to get these birds, my older son worked for this lady , cleaning sheep pens and feeding the sheep, and then she got over enthusiastic and bought 60 chicks in January of last year. She gave the 3 disabled ones (and one not disabled ROOSTER who is fine) to us. We can't bear to let something die without trying, although our success was never total and was short lived. The two hens did improve until they suddenly developed....well the one's hock became more swollen, so perhaps an infection?, although the skin on the hock did not appear to be broken. And then the barred rock, I am not sure, perhaps her lungs and heart were just not developed enough for an adult hen? She did not appear to have a respiratory problem or diarrhea. She was harder to feed, but she loved grapes and clover and dandelion as well as the usual pellets and grain. I just don't know why she suddenly died, she kept breathing with her beak open and her comb started to pale, so somehow her circulatory system was giving out. Very sad. Perhaps it was even a reproductive problem as she had not laid an egg in a couple weeks, perhaps she laid a dozen or two in her much too short lifespan. She and the other were little angels who came to visit and now we miss them

 

[Building Bridges]

So sorry for your loss....and for the challenges you've had to contend with! It's amazing how quickly they carve out a little place in our hearts, isn't it? Good luck with the remaining roo.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

/rii===

/the rooster does eat fine and drinks fine. He is kind of upright and hunch backed in a way as he won't put weight on the foot with the curled toe. We are going to splint it. We had been told we had to rebreak it and we were reluctant to do that, but splinting is something to try, although I don't know if he will try to put weight on it. Also, he tends to want to stick that leg straight out backward if we pick him up. Other than that, he is a healthy rooster, he just would like to catch a hen someday.
We didn't try to get these birds, my older son worked for this lady , cleaning sheep pens and feeding the sheep, and then she got over enthusiastic and bought 60 chicks in January of last year. She gave the 3 disabled ones (and one not disabled ROOSTER who is fine) to us. We can't bear to let something die without trying, although our success was never total and was short lived. The two hens did improve until they suddenly developed....well the one's hock became more swollen, so perhaps an infection?, although the skin on the hock did not appear to be broken. And then the barred rock, I am not sure, perhaps her lungs and heart were just not developed enough for an adult hen? She did not appear to have a respiratory problem or diarrhea. She was harder to feed, but she loved grapes and clover and dandelion as well as the usual pellets and grain. I just don't know why she suddenly died, she kept breathing with her beak open and her comb started to pale, so somehow her circulatory system was giving out. Very sad. Perhaps it was even a reproductive problem as she had not laid an egg in a couple weeks, perhaps she laid a dozen or two in her much too short lifespan. She and the other were little angels who came to visit and now we miss them

Poor fella!
Do you have photos of him?