What to do??

[brickmom68]

I posted a few months ago re: a question about molting. I had a hen, approx 16 months old that had gone off her lay and appeared to be molting. I’d never experienced a molt before (first time chicken owner). I noted throughout the week that she was back in the egg boxes, her feathers appears to have come back in and I had just commented on how pretty she looked. Today I went out to the coop and all my hens ran up to me and I opened the gate—except one. She was standing all by herself with her head bowed waaaay over, I thought she was preening her chest feathers, but she was still as a statue. When reached out for her she just keeled over! I picked her up and her neck was just limp, she pulled her legs up and just died. No wounds or injuries. Nothing seemed amiss in the coop at all. I isolated all the others away from where she usually roosts and I plan to scrub everything with a dilute bleach. Any ideas what it might be? What else should I do to protect the rest of the flock? I’m mortified!!

 

[Tonyroo]

That is mystery. @Eggcessive , @Wyorp Rock , can you help.

 

[Kanekoded]

I posted a few months ago re: a question about molting. I had a hen, approx 16 months old that had gone off her lay and appeared to be molting. I’d never experienced a molt before (first time chicken owner). I noted throughout the week that she was back in the egg boxes, her feathers appears to have come back in and I had just commented on how pretty she looked. Today I went out to the coop and all my hens ran up to me and I opened the gate—except one. She was standing all by herself with her head bowed waaaay over, I thought she was preening her chest feathers, but she was still as a statue. When reached out for her she just keeled over! I picked her up and her neck was just limp, she pulled her legs up and just died. No wounds or injuries. Nothing seemed amiss in the coop at all. I isolated all the others away from where she usually roosts and I plan to scrub everything with a dilute bleach. Any ideas what it might be? What else should I do to protect the rest of the flock? I’m mortified!!

So sorry for your loss.

 

[brickmom68]

So sorry for your loss.

Thank you! Of course I’m sad— but also very concerned for the rest of my girls!!

 

[StinkyAcres]

So sorry, that is awful! Was she laying or just sitting in the nest boxes?

 

[Quarterhorses1]

Any way she could’ve broken her neck?
When was the last time you dewormed?
Any other symptoms before death?

 

[Eggcessive]

She might have become very weak or dehydrated during her molt. It is hard to know what she died from without getting a necropsy by your state vet or doing one yourself. Molting is a stressful time. So very sorry that you lost her.

 

[WingsysRoost]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

What was her body condition/weight like? Was she eating/drinking normally? Behaving like her usual self? Any known history of laying issues before she stopped laying (soft shell eggs, egg binding, prolapse, etc)?

Unfortunately, it's really hard to tell what might have happened without a necropsy when there are no visible issues. I hope you're able to figure out what happened.

 

[brickmom68]

So sorry, that is awful! Was she laying or just sitting in the nest boxes?

No. She hadn’t laid in a few months. And I know this for sure because she was my only hen that laid blue eggs! I thought she was looking ‘smallish’ during her molt but I just attributed that to the loss of her Downey feathers. This past week I thought she was looking really good. She was looking fluffy. And she never acted I’ll, she was always in the yard scratching and pecking, her appetite had been just fine. She had been a great layer prior to the molt. I had just noticed her in the boxes this week, and commented to my husband that I thought she might start laying again. But never saw a blue egg. Then this

 

[brickmom68]

She might have become very weak or dehydrated during her molt. It is hard to know what she died from without getting a necropsy by your state vet or doing one yourself. Molting is a stressful time. So very sorry that you lost her.

Oh my! Then I hope the others her age don’t go thru a molt ever—I’m obviously not good at managing that.

Any way she could’ve broken her neck?
When was the last time you dewormed?
Any other symptoms before death?

funny you say that. Because my husband came out to look her over with me and said “it looked like her neck was broken”
I have no idea what a chicken with a broken neck would look like. She was STANDING when I approached her, but her head was so bowed down I could not even see it. I opened the door and she sort of moved to get away, I reached out to grab her and she just fell over. I lifted her up and she drew up her legs (which were dusky and very cold BTW) and her head just hung down. And that was it... I’ve never DEWORMED...I change their bedding weekly and spread First Saturday Lime once/month. They always have fresh water.