I just lost my first chicken - a Golden Buff - after 2 years and 2 months. All of a sudden she had a drooping comb which became paler and paler. She behaved as though she had the flu, sort of standing there, not very peppy. Nothing wrong with her legs, no wheezing, no oozy stuff anywhere, no weird poop, no nasty vent business. She stayed kind of status quo - in the "I don't feel good" kind of way - and I'm sad to say that I failed to get antibiotics in time. After some research, it's possible she had parasites, maybe cancer (?) and who knows what else it could have been.
My poor chicken, Arwen, died the other day. Here's my confession and homage to her; part of my very first flock of chickens and my very first tragedy.
http://beabetterearthling.com/when-your-city-chick-dies/
I have since dusted the coop and sand bath area with Diatomaceous Earth and since I now have the antibiotics I failed to acquire in time for Arwen, I am keeping a close eye on the rest of the flock for signs of illness. If one more chicken goes ill, I'll probably treat all of them - which I hate to do, but I do not want to lose another chicken. I've also given them all vitamins and electrolytes in their main water, as an extra immune boost. I may even give them some probiotic yogurt, which will seem like a huge treat, but will boost their gut flora, too. Right?!
Hopefully some of this info will help someone else, but don't ever put off til tomorrow what you should do today. Sometimes a little life can depend on it.
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