Lost a hen today - not sure why?

[clfehler]

And I'm at a loss as to why.

I'm pretty sure she hasn't laid the last few days,(She's my only white egg layer) and yesterday she stayed in the nest box all day. Today she seemed to want to do the same, but I took her out and put her on a nice fluffy towel with food and water in the sunshine so I could clean out the coop. I noticed that she was wheezing a bit, but seemed pretty alert. Then my best friend called from the hospital with a gallblader attack and I rushed off to pack her a bag and take to her. When I finally got home a few hours later the hen had moved several feet away and was crouching near the house. When I picked her up the wheezing seemed worse, and I notice a black spot on her beautiful red comb. It looked kind of like mold. Then she started gasping for breath and looked like she was gagging and died in my arms.

There was only the one spot so I don't think it was pox, and she'd only been "wheezy" for a day or so. Could she have been egg bound or something? Darn it! I wish they could talk so they could tell us what's wrong!

Cyndi

 

[Gmamatotwo]

Cyndi, I'm so sorry about your hen. I have one that's been off for a few days. I too wish they could talk.

 

[crawfordmama]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

Because she sat on the nest all day it sounds like she may have been egg bound. Did you happen to notice if she was walking strange?

On the other hand, I lost a hen this past spring to egg peritonitis. She had a very swollen abdomen, refused to walk, and toward the end, was also very wheezy, becasue her little body just couldn't keep up with the infection.

I do think whichever it was, your girl had laying complications. Again, I'm sorry to hear about her.

 

[casportpony]

So sorry for your loss... If you're brave, you could always try to do your own necropsy. If not brave, you could send her to your state lab and have them do it.

 

[casportpony]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

Because she sat on the nest all day it sounds like she may have been egg bound. Did you happen to notice if she was walking strange?

On the other hand, I lost a hen this past spring to egg peritonitis. She had a very swollen abdomen, refused to walk, and toward the end, was also very wheezy, becasue her little body just couldn't keep up with the infection.

I do think whichever it was, your girl had laying complications. Again, I'm sorry to hear about her.

I had one die on a nest just the other day and I can tell you for sure that it was not egg related, but liver related. Either way, it's very easy to find out. Not trying to be insensitive, just want people to know that there are other options.

Sorry for your loss, too. I have also lost a few to egg related issues. It never gets easier...

 

[clfehler]

Thank you all for your replies. Looking back, and reading other posts about egg bound hens, I remembered that Saturday night when I put all my hens to bed (I go in and do a head count and bed check LOL) she had her back end toward me on the roosting bar and she was pumping her tail (and maybe she looked a little swollen.) I wish I had known that this was concerning. Yeah - I know - live and learn. But I'm going to be doing a lot of reading now. "Be prepared!" (Girl Scout motto) I WILL get the hang of this!!

Cyndi

 

[hoorayfortulips]

If doing a necropsy is an option for you, I totally recommend the experience. I'm new to chickens too and learned a lot when our first chicken died a couple months ago. We were not brave (although we did suck it up and killed her ourselves) and sent her to a lab, but it put our minds at ease that it wasn't something infectious. I'm very sorry you lost one today. I know this is part of the deal, but its definitely not the easy part.