First Loss… Why Did She Pass So Suddenly? EYP?

[franciemayhem]

Yesterday, I lost my first chicken, Lucy, who was also my first pet. As a small animal veterinarian with limited knowledge of chicken medicine, I’m struggling to understand her sudden death and would appreciate insights from the chicken community.

She had been acting normal all day—eating, foraging, and resting by my side while I studied. That night, I moved her to her usual sleeping spot on the windowsill. About an hour later, I heard her panting. She was disoriented, had a pale comb, couldn’t stand, and her abdomen felt mildly squishy cranially and firm distally. She passed yolk-colored stools and had a lump on the left side of her neck that I hadn’t noticed before.

I massaged her crop and neck throughout the night, kept her warm, and gave her yogurt and an antibiotic, which she managed to swallow. Despite my efforts, she started convulsing and gasping before passing away in my arms.

Based on my research, I suspect egg yolk peritonitis (EYP) as the cause. She was 1.4 years old and stopped laying eggs 6–8 months ago. I wanted to confirm with a necropsy but it all happened so quickly that by the time I sat down to think… my father had buried her and I didn’t want to dig her back up and open my own pet. At that point I wanted to let her rest.

Can EYP take a seemingly healthy chicken so quickly, with little warning? I’m struggling to accept how fast this happened and would love any advice or similar experiences.

I am so sorry for your loss. If it’s any consolation, you took care of her very well in her final hours. She passed away in the arms of her friend.

 

[YaySlee]

She was a beauty! I wish you all the best in your chosen career and encourage you to follow our Educators on the threads here, you will learn so much. Look for a little black "badge" beside their names that says "Educator," some I depend on most are Wyorp Rock, Eggcessive, azygous, aart, coach723, (these folks esp for injuries and ailments), RidgeRunner (behavior) U_Stormcrow (nutrition), Shadrach (roosters) and DobieLover (housing among other things). There are many, many knowledgeable people here, rich in experience, and all more than willing to share and help the "newbie" any way they can. Please make yourself at home. Oh, and if you want to "tag" or call anybody into your thread, just type their name with an @ symbol before it and no space between.

Thank you! I’ll make sure to give them a follow and stay connected.

 

[YaySlee]

I am so sorry for your loss. If it’s any consolation, you took care of her very well in her final hours. She passed away in the arms of her friend.

Thank you. I am happy I was there and she didn’t sleep that night in her coop.

 

[CHlCKEN]

I am sorry to hear of your loss.

By calculation, she has stopped laying in her first year, that usually indicates problem with her health. Did you investigate why she had stopped laying so early?

I have learnt many things through years of my chicken raising/keeping, I am sure you will gain knowledge as you go as well.

Hens usually pause laying in winter months when the days becomes shorter. It’s normal, not cause for concern.

 

[YaySlee]

Hens usually pause laying in winter months when the days becomes shorter. It’s normal, not cause for concern.

Yes, I read about that too, but she stopped laying well before then. She had her first batch of eggs as soon as she reached laying age, but her last few eggs had soft shells at the base. One time, she became egg-bound, and I had to help her. Her final egg was a fairy egg, and after that, she never laid again. That’s why I suspect it might have been EYP with salpingitis or possibly liver failure due to toxicity. What I’m struggling with is understanding why it happened so quickly, leaving no time to treat her.
But my grievance will eventually reach the acceptance stage and I know I did what I could to keep her happy and maybe it was best that she left quickly and not chronically. I read EYP could be painful.

 

[CHlCKEN]

Yes, I read about that too, but she stopped laying well before then. She had her first batch of eggs as soon as she reached laying age, but her last few eggs had soft shells at the base. One time, she became egg-bound, and I had to help her. Her final egg was a fairy egg, and after that, she never laid again. That’s why I suspect it might have been EYP with salpingitis or possibly liver failure due to toxicity. What I’m struggling with is understanding why it happened so quickly, leaving no time to treat her.
But my grievance will eventually reach the acceptance stage and I know I did what I could to keep her happy and maybe it was best that she left quickly and not chronically. I read EYP could be painful.

Peritonitis is a fast acting infection that can put your bird into total system failure very quickly. Things are ‘brewing’ before symptoms occur but you usually won’t know it until they do. Birds naturally hide illness to avoid appearing vulnerable and becoming the target of potential predators, it’s in their nature.

It sounds like this was her first year laying, so pauses between eggs can be explained by that alone too. They can take a while to get into the swing of things, and although soft shells aren’t cause for alarm in a new layer, they are cause for active monitoring because they can break so easily and kill in the blink of an eye.

Peritonitis isn’t very uncommon, so don’t feel as if you did something wrong. It just happens sometimes and unfortunately they aren’t always able to pull through. So sorry for your loss, I know this can be a traumatic one.

 

[YaySlee]

Peritonitis is a fast acting infection that can put your bird into total system failure very quickly. Things are ‘brewing’ before symptoms occur but you usually won’t know it until they do. Birds naturally hide illness to avoid appearing vulnerable and becoming the target of potential predators, it’s in their nature.

It sounds like this was her first year laying, so pauses between eggs can be explained by that alone too. They can take a while to get into the swing of things, and although soft shells aren’t cause for alarm in a new layer, they are cause for active monitoring because they can break so easily and kill in the blink of an eye.

Peritonitis isn’t very uncommon, so don’t feel as if you did something wrong. It just happens sometimes and unfortunately they aren’t always able to pull through. So sorry for your loss, I know this can be a traumatic one.

Thank you for the insights. As a first-time chicken owner, I did my best to keep her as healthy as possible, especially during the time she wasn’t laying. After her passing, I put on gloves and checked as deeply as I could for any signs of a broken egg but felt no hard shell. The glove only came out with yolky yellow material, so it must have been internal laying or possibly a ruptured oviduct—both of which are secondary causes of peritonitis.

I think I just needed to hear from other chicken owners with experience if clinical signs like these could lead to such a sudden death. It was definitely something that had been “brewing.”

Thank you again

 

[Bigbluefrog]

Unfortunately, I buried her yesterday morning, so I don’t think I’ll be able to perform a necropsy myself. While I do know how to do them from my time in clinics, I didn’t have the heart to examine my first and only one. Instead, I’ve been researching online to piece together her probable cause of death. I agree with you—I’m leaning more toward EYP, especially since she stopped laying months ago and exhibited nesting behaviors daily without producing any eggs. Maybe in the future, if I have more chickens, I’ll consider doing a home necropsy to be 100% certain and find some peace of mind. Thank you for taking the time to comment

Sorry for your loss, I recently had a hen die and I did open her up. Everything looked perfect except her gizzard was full and impacted. I am guessing she aspirated too as her crop was full.

It is always a challenge to figure it out! I understand if your done. I have 16 hens so my goal is to keep everyone healthy. Cleaning the coop and making sure they have clean water and fresh feed.