What's going on with these chickens?

[australorp_breeder]

Okay, so one of my friends has been trying to figure out what the heck happaned to her chicken. She doesn't know why, but one day one of her chickens just decided to die. There weren't any symptoms, it was just found dead on the ground. Another person she had talked to said that one of their chickens had died the same way in the past. Everything seems to be fine the way she raises them. She lets them free-range, and then locks them up in the coop at night. Feeding and watering are in order.

(can't answer much of this one because I wasn't the owner):

1) What type of bird , age and weight.
Female Barred Rock.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
She was just found dead.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
No symptoms.
4) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
Nope.
5) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
None that I know of.
6) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
Whatever food she fed hers, and water.
7) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Normal.
8) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
None. No problems before.
9 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
N/A
10) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
N/A
11) Describe the housing/bedding in use
Outdoor, open coop.


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Bonus Question: Is it possible for a chicken to get pneumonia if they've lived in a closed/indoor coop at night and then suddenly they're placed in an open outside coop at night? I'm trying to figure out if maybe that is how my cockerel passed away. I'm not sure how he was housed before, but when I had him he was outside both day and night and I know for a fact he got pneumonia. It's been around 47 here at night -

1) What type of bird , age and weight.
Male, Partridge Cochin, 10 months.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
Lethargic (moving slow), drinking a lot, tail hung low, not eating a lot, closing eyes a lot, comb/wattles turned purple, stopped crowing, not alert.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
For a week and a half.
4) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
Nope.
5) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
I'm thinking he wasn't used to the cold.
6) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
Hen Scratch, and water.
7) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Runny, white/green colored.
8) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Medication with a long name, used for respiratory infections. We gave it to him about four days after he was already like this.
9 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
Tried treating him myself.
10) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
N/A
11) Describe the housing/bedding in use
Outdoor, open coop. Kept him in a cage alone with straw as bedding to keep him warm.

If you can't answer the Bonus Question please mainly try and answer the first question.

 

[WilczenskiFarm]

I have nothin for ya - I'm a newbie. But I do know they like you to fill out the following information:

"Give us the following information. The more you tell us, the better we will be able to help you."

1) What type of bird , age and weight.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
4) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
5) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
6) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
7) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
8) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
9 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
10) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
11) Describe the housing/bedding in use

 

[australorp_breeder]

Thank you WilczenskiFarm, I edited my post. I never looked for the outline and should've.

 

[OverEggstended]

Newbie here too. But I do know that heart attacks are far from unheard of in poultry. If there were no signs of desease and the rest were and are fine... could be the simple answer.

 

[chookchick]

Could have been a heart condition, tumors, internal egg problems--do you know the age of these birds?
As for the cockerel--47 degrees is not cold for a chicken, mine have no problem into the single digits. You say you "know he had pnuemonia"--was there some other symptom that made you think that? I don't believe chickens get pnuemonia, there might have been some other respiratory infection, but I think you would have seen other signs such as sneezing, goopy eyes, gasping for air, etc...if this was the case.

 

[australorp_breeder]

Quote:
No sorry, I don't know the age of the other birds. All I know is that they were older then a year. I told the lady it could've been an egg problem, seeing as both chickens were female. Who knows though...I wish I did. I just thought it was odd how both chickens from different owners, yet same breed and color, had this happen to them.

And the only reason I know that my cockerel had pneumonia is because I called this one guy who has raised chickens a lot longer then I have and when I was describing the symptoms he instantly knew what was wrong. One of the local feedstores over here recommends that people call this man with their chicken problems. I just wanted to see what people here on BackYardChickens might've wanted to say.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

You can call the State Vet and see if there is a place nearby that will do a necropsy for free. i live in Sacramento County and UC Davis will do that for free, and provide a very comprehensive report. Here is the state vet info:

State Veterinarian, Richard Breitmeyer, DVM, MPVM
Director, Annette Whiteford, DVM
Special Assistant, Dave Preciado
1220 "N" Street, Room A-114
Sacramento, California 95814
Phone: 916-654-0881

If a chicken dies suddenly without symptoms, it can be any number of things. They get cancer and have strokes and heart attacks just like people. Then for the hens there is always risk of trying to lay too big an egg or laying internally.

For the rooster you mentioned, i would be concerned that he had something contagious. If the combs and wattles turned purple, then he wasn't getting enough oxygen. Absent of any sneezing, wheezing, or goopy eyes, it could have been a heart condition. i would *think* that any respiratory illness would have shown other symptoms. i'm not sure you can know for sure your rooster had pneumonia just because you described his symptoms to a guy who has raised chickens for a while.

 

[australorp_breeder]

I'm pretty sure the lady had told me that they did look her chicken over, and still couldn't find out what had happened. Thank you for the address and information though. I think I will let her know and see if she'd...lol! I was going to see if she would want to take the chicken to get looked at again but I doubt she still has it

.

It's weird though because I know what my cockerel had didn't seem to be contagious, because I was still keeping him with my hens in the same coop, but he was isolated in a cage. My hens are fine, even with the cockerel gone. My hens were vaccinated before they left Murray McMurray Hatchery...I wonder if that had anything to do with it. I'm not sure what they were vaccinated for, but I'm guessing Marek's.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Yeh, mareks is generally what they vaccinate for, but his symptoms don't sound at all like that is what he had. Pneumonia, from what i understand, comes from getting fluid in the lungs. i gave one of my hens liquid medication once and she aspirated it. It was pretty horrible to watch. She really struggled for breath. The necropsy indicated pneumonia.

i guess i wouldn't rule out that he was too cold being outside. Birds generally buddy-up to stay warm. Different species, but i recently had to have one of my persians shaved down. She was just so horribly clumpy i couldn't wait till Spring. She came down with an upper respiratory infection within a week, even though we were keeping the house warm and created lots of cozy spots for her to snug into.

Not sure what part of California you are in, but this constant rain and cold can't be good for anyone, especially our chicken friends who are stuck outside in it day and night.

 

[australorp_breeder]

Considering my cockerel, he didn't have anyone to buddy with. He didn't know how to fly and roost up top like my hens, so he would sit on the ground, or on one of the haybales in the coop at night. And I love in Hollister. I don't really like the rain right now because I have people from out of town that I've sold chickens to and they currently can't come because of the rain.

Sorry about your hen