Chicken Panting and holding wings out and down.

[tlcmurphy]

One of my 3 girls is behaving oddly. She came running out an hour and a half ago when I let them out to free range, now she’s standing still, holding her wings out to the side with her tail down and panting. Poops look fine, she won’t come out for treats, and lets me pick her up which she hates. I see no injuries, she laid an egg yesterday and doesn’t lay every day. It looks like she’s over heated, but it’s not hot. Her comb/wattles are also paler than usual.
Any ideas please?

 

[tlcmurphy]

@Wyorp Rock @azygous @Eggcessive
Anything I can do for her? She’s a 3 year old Wesummer.

 

[tlcmurphy]

 

[tlcmurphy]

She’s gone. My beautiful baby girl was fine and dead 4 hours later. My heart is broken

 

[CoopBoots]

I am so, so sorry. I've lost three all of a sudden, but I've never seen the lead up coming. They were there and then gone a few hours later. Probable cause was fatty liver, but I'm no expert and sometimes I don't have the heart to do an exam...

Barring a sudden and traumatic internal issue, like a rupture of some kind (like fatty liver or a reproductive issue) only other thing I could guess at is accidental poisoning.

 

[azygous]

I would guess she was a victim of egg binding and low blood calcium from your description of her obvious stressed state. That's what beak gaping and wing thrusting signifies. If you were to do a necropsy, you'd likely find an egg lodged in the oviduct. When it hits the shell gland and blood calcium is very low, there is not enough calcium in the system to keep the heart beating, and heart attack sometimes occurs.

It may have been prevented if you had calcium citrate tablets on hand and gave her one at the first sign of distress.

 

[tlcmurphy]

I would guess she was a victim of egg binding and low blood calcium from your description of her obvious stressed state. That's what beak gaping and wing thrusting signifies. If you were to do a necropsy, you'd likely find an egg lodged in the oviduct. When it hits the shell gland and blood calcium is very low, there is not enough calcium in the system to keep the heart beating, and heart attack sometimes occurs.

It may have been prevented if you had calcium citrate tablets on hand and gave her one at the first sign of distress.

I did give her one, but it didn’t help, or wasn’t soon enough. Thank you!

 

[tlcmurphy]

I am so, so sorry. I've lost three all of a sudden, but I've never seen the lead up coming. They were there and then gone a few hours later. Probable cause was fatty liver, but I'm no expert and sometimes I don't have the heart to do an exam...

Barring a sudden and traumatic internal issue, like a rupture of some kind (like fatty liver or a reproductive issue) only other thing I could guess at is accidental poisoning.

Thank you. My other girls are big girls so I’d suspect fatty liver disease, but she’s a skinny girl. We’ve had hawks circling, but I see no injuries.

 

[Lovely_Ladies]

She’s gone. My beautiful baby girl was fine and dead 4 hours later. My heart is broken

I’m so sorry for your loss

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She’s gone. My beautiful baby girl was fine and dead 4 hours later. My heart is broken

I'm sorry about your lovely hen