Hello everyone, (long post)
I'm reaching out because one of my hens passed away today, and i have no idea what she might have been sick from. I'd like to try to find out to see if it's possibly something contagious to the rest of my flock. I have a small flock of 4 chickens. One of my hens (Opal; the one who passed) was adopted from someone when she was already an adult. We have no idea how old she was but we assumed she was elderly as she wouldn't lay eggs, and by the state of her legs. Nevertheless she was a good eater and our top hen. I noticed about a couple weeks ago that she wasn't eating much of the treats I would give them, but since she was still eating feed I assumed she was fine. Then last week one of my hens (Ruby) stopped laying. She hasn't laid since and she would usually lay everyday or once every 2 days. Then this past Friday, i noticed that my older hen was pooping out these fleshy objects that look similar to lash eggs, and her and Ruby would eat them before I could stop them. Since I'm not able to egt to a poultry vet and no antibiotics were available, I supplemented their water with vitamins. This past Monday afternoon, Ruby began to get lethargic and appeared ruffled up. Unsure of what she could have, I gave her an Epsom salt bath and then put corid in the water. The next day she was completely fine, just not laying. Which leads to today. The rest of the flock was fine but Opal the old hen was suddenly lethargic in the afternoon. Within the span of 2 hours, she began with rattly/gurgly breathing, sneezing and vomiting clear liquid. She had what appeared to be a seizure and then passed away. I'm shocked as she was fine this morning. Does anyone have any input as to what she could have had? I hope it was simply old age and nothing contagious but unsure.
I'm reaching out because one of my hens passed away today, and i have no idea what she might have been sick from. I'd like to try to find out to see if it's possibly something contagious to the rest of my flock. I have a small flock of 4 chickens. One of my hens (Opal; the one who passed) was adopted from someone when she was already an adult. We have no idea how old she was but we assumed she was elderly as she wouldn't lay eggs, and by the state of her legs. Nevertheless she was a good eater and our top hen. I noticed about a couple weeks ago that she wasn't eating much of the treats I would give them, but since she was still eating feed I assumed she was fine. Then last week one of my hens (Ruby) stopped laying. She hasn't laid since and she would usually lay everyday or once every 2 days. Then this past Friday, i noticed that my older hen was pooping out these fleshy objects that look similar to lash eggs, and her and Ruby would eat them before I could stop them. Since I'm not able to egt to a poultry vet and no antibiotics were available, I supplemented their water with vitamins. This past Monday afternoon, Ruby began to get lethargic and appeared ruffled up. Unsure of what she could have, I gave her an Epsom salt bath and then put corid in the water. The next day she was completely fine, just not laying. Which leads to today. The rest of the flock was fine but Opal the old hen was suddenly lethargic in the afternoon. Within the span of 2 hours, she began with rattly/gurgly breathing, sneezing and vomiting clear liquid. She had what appeared to be a seizure and then passed away. I'm shocked as she was fine this morning. Does anyone have any input as to what she could have had? I hope it was simply old age and nothing contagious but unsure.
