Worried about rest of flock after one of our hens died

[Wolf1988]

My wife and I are new to backyard chickens so any experience of feedback would be very helpful. Our cute little faverolle hen died this morning and we are very sad. She was about 12 weeks our and we have had her since she was 8 weeks. She was always smaller than the rest of our hens(different breeds) but wasn't growing at nearly the same speed as the others. Ever since we got Boots always looked like she was trying to cough up a hairball and would sit sometimes with her eyes closed and just open her beak and stretch out her neck. Last night that was pretty much all she did. She also barely ate or drank last night. She would often spit up water if we picked her up and last night her eye was a little bubbly looking and she almost sounded weezy and wet when she breathed. We separated her last night from the rest of the group but I am worried if she had something more dangerous that it is too late and that the rest of flock may be in danger. We are very sad to lose Boots but our main concern now is making sure that the flock is healthy and will be okay. All of the other hens are growing and eating tons, food scraps, feed, grass etc, and seem to be doing very well. Any idea what may have caused Boots to get sick or what she had or what we should do to ensure the safety of the other hens?

 

[Ridgerunner]

It’s too late for that hen, but you might want to contact your county extension agent and see how you go about getting a necropsy (chicken autopsy) in Texas. Each state is different but what you need to find out is cost and the timing and handling procedures to get a chicken necropsy. It will probably involve refrigeration so the body does not deteriorate. At least you will know what your options are if it happens again. In some states it is really inexpensive, especially if they have a commercial chicken industry. They want to protect that.

There are several different things that could cause something like that. It’s possibly a disease which is why it would be good to know about necropsy if you see it happening again. It’s possible she was hatched with a birth defect.

It could be something else. Realize these are really rare but they can happen. It’s possible she could have had an impacted gizzard or crop, though with an impacted crop you would probably see a he crop and have commented on it. Sometimes the exit to the crop or gizzard gets blocked. It’s possible one could eat so much sand that it blocks the exit. There is just something wrong with a hen that does that and it is really really rare, but not all hens are right in the head. There’s not much you can do about those. A much more common cause for impacted crop or gizzard is that the chicken eats long strands of something, could be long strands of grass or other vegetation but sometimes string or plastic. The long strands or whatever make a tangled ball and it can’t pass on down the digestive tract. They starve to death. Most of the time the grit in the gizzard will help grind that stuff up so it can pass on through, but as I said, in rare cases it doesn’t.

Another possibility that I also really rare is that the chicken eats a nail or a screw. Usually these pass on through the system without a problem, but occasionally the nail or screw will puncture the lining of the gizzard when it is grinding. Then you have a wound where the contents of the gizzard can leak into the bird’s body cavity. This and the impacted crop of gizzard are slow deaths.

None of these are pleasant to think about. I’d certainly keep an eye on the others in case it is a disease, but unless I saw something with the others I’d think it was something more likely specific to this bird.

I wish you luck. These things are never easy.