Chickenmama_
In the Brooder
- Apr 10, 2025
- 22
- 8
- 18
I’ve lost 2 birds in less than 24 hours. Yesterday my Barred Rock was taken to the vet for the 2nd time this month. She wasn’t improving and it was determined that she had a severe case of egg yolk peritonitis. We unfortunately made the decision to euthanize her as she was not doing good at all and we didn’t want her suffering. She was the top hen of my flock of 6.
Fast forward to today, my Easter egger was fine yesterday. This morning when I let them out of their run I noticed she didn’t follow suit with the other hens. We picked her up and examined her and when we set her back down she sort of lost her balance. She kept doing that so I took her down in my basement where I had just been isolating my chicken who passed away yesterday.
She had a pale comb and was lethargic. I syringe fed her some water. Then she ran away from me and was running around the basement. Like 5 minutes later I was holding her and she went completely limp and clear fluid came out of her vent. I thought she had passed but she came back to it.
She was still visibly lethargic but she was alive. About 30 minutes later I was holding her and she started to go limp again. Then she started clucking and flailing around almost like she was having a seizure and she passed. Is that normal? Do they typically do that when they pass?
I am a first time chicken mom and have had my chickens since last year. They are only a year old and 2 have died within the last 18 hours. Does anyone have any advice or any clue what could have been wrong with my girl?
I also included a picture of the coop. I only had 6 hens so they have plenty of room. Now I am down to 4. We recently have had a rat problem where they are tunneling into the run at night, despite burying hardware cloth and a semi tarp. We are trying to deal with them.
Fast forward to today, my Easter egger was fine yesterday. This morning when I let them out of their run I noticed she didn’t follow suit with the other hens. We picked her up and examined her and when we set her back down she sort of lost her balance. She kept doing that so I took her down in my basement where I had just been isolating my chicken who passed away yesterday.
She had a pale comb and was lethargic. I syringe fed her some water. Then she ran away from me and was running around the basement. Like 5 minutes later I was holding her and she went completely limp and clear fluid came out of her vent. I thought she had passed but she came back to it.
She was still visibly lethargic but she was alive. About 30 minutes later I was holding her and she started to go limp again. Then she started clucking and flailing around almost like she was having a seizure and she passed. Is that normal? Do they typically do that when they pass?
I am a first time chicken mom and have had my chickens since last year. They are only a year old and 2 have died within the last 18 hours. Does anyone have any advice or any clue what could have been wrong with my girl?
I also included a picture of the coop. I only had 6 hens so they have plenty of room. Now I am down to 4. We recently have had a rat problem where they are tunneling into the run at night, despite burying hardware cloth and a semi tarp. We are trying to deal with them.
Where do you live? Would you be open to having a necropsy done to find the cause of death?
