Another dead chicken :-(

[grubbysoles]

Hi everyone,

Well, the sad day came today when I went outside to muck out my hens and found one of them curled up in the corner of the run, dead as a dodo. Thank goodness my 4-yr old was at her grandparents' house and the 1 yr old is too little to care/notice. But I have no idea why my chicken died I have 4 hens which I got at point-of-lay 2 years ago, and these are the first chickens I've ever had - and the first hen death I've seen - so I'm a bit green at figuring out what has gone wrong.

She was an ISA Nick Brown (or something like that) and she seemed absolutely fine and happy. When she was last in the garden on Monday afternoon she was pottering around, scratching the ground, pecking for worms, etc, etc, and seemed absolutely fine. The other chickens are fine - they have plenty of food/fresh water/fresh bedding every day. One thing that DID happen at the weekend - my 4 year old said 'Mummy, Beans has got blood on her bum'. Well, I watched Beans pecking around and she seemed perfectly happy and I thought her bum feathers were just a bit mucky so I didn't worry about it. And now she's dead. I took a look at her vent tonight and the feathers around it really are very bloody - the vent itself was very red and raw, but I couldn't see any obvious sign of any kind of egg blockage (although I didn't look too deep inside!).

If anyone has the stomach for it, I uploaded a picture - it's quite yucky and it is here: http://www.mediafire.com/?9o8rn67ak6r9lhz It looks worse in the pic than it did in real life - there's a big clump of bloodied tail feathers but the actual vent is above the clump, sort of to the right of the pic, and was not quite as messy as those tail feathers.

I feel like I've let her down and should have taken a proper look when my DD told me to! And what's worse, she was the nicest chicken. The other 3 are kind of narky, so Beans will be sadly missed. I can't pick the others up for a cuddle!! Presumably it would be worth me checking the other chickens' bums?

Thanks for any advice. Sorry for such a long post and such a yukky picture!

Emma

[grubbysoles]

In a little addition to that post, I've been doing some googling and wonder if it might be coccidiosis? Have ordered some apple cider vinegar to add to the remaining hens' water just in case - it seems to be something that people recommend on some forums and won't do the hens any harm, even if they're not having a coccidiosis outbreak!

[darkbrowneggs]

I am not 100 percent certain - but I think I read somewhere that all commercial chickens are vaccinated for various things including coccidiosis when chicks, but the immunity only lasts around 18 months - hence the big farms generally clear out after the first years production

Of course once the vaccination is no longer effective they have built up no natural immunity so are a risk from pretty well everything they were vaccinated against.

All the best, and sorry for you loss.

Its amazing how attached one can get - even to a hen

Sue

[red]

hybrids dont tend to last that long, so it might just be old age eventually?

i could not get the picture to work btw

[Millymollymandy]

I couldn't view the picture either and don't know anything about bloody bums. Just sorry that you lost your hen.

[becks77]

hugs sorry for your loss

[grubbysoles]

Oh, sorry the pic isn't working - although it's pretty horrible anyway! I didn't want to plonk it in the middle of the post in case people didn't want a dead chicken's bum jumping up at them half way through breakfast.

I have also heard before that hybrids don't tend to last that long. Actually, I sometimes used to feel quite sorry for her because she only had a little body and would lay these enormous eggs every day. They were obviously too big for her body, but I know that's what these hens are bred to do - lay lots of big eggs and take up as small a space as possible. No wonder their bodies often don't last very long. I think I will probably not get another hybrid - I'll just get something 'normal' that lays eggs at her own pace if I get another one!! Maybe a black rock? I hear good things about that breed.

Ho hum. Keep telling myself she was just a chicken, but she was such a nice chicken! And so good with the children Have to break the news to my DD now as we are off to the garden to muck out the remaining hens. And I shall, unfortunately, be donning my disposable blue gloves to take a good look at the other hens' bums. Not nice, but I don't want a repeat incident!

Thanks everyone.

[grubbysoles]

Thanks Susie, I'll take a look at the Calder Rangers - never even heard of them before! I'll see how I get on with just the 3 hens for now, but it sort of feels wrong there not being a fourth one pottering about!

[darkbrowneggs]

Thanks Susie, I'll take a look at the Calder Rangers - never even heard of them before! I'll see how I get on with just the 3 hens for now, but it sort of feels wrong there not being a fourth one pottering about!

Sometimes a single bird can find it hard being introduced to an established group.

I personally would only sell birds in two's or more for that reason. Think how you might feel if you suddenly had to move into a dormitory where 3 others had been living together for a while, they probably wouldn't be very welcoming, so at least if 2 of you moved in at the same time you would have someone to pal up with

All the best
Sue

[eco-mick]

Another reason why I don't get ISA browns as they only last 18m to 2 year before thye move on.

Looking at the photo (got it to load) it appears to be alot of blood on the vent area - am thinking egg bound?

Best of hugs for the lost.. but know this - she lived a happy life with your family

[bonniethomas06]

Don't beat yourself up about it grubbysoles - so long as you act when you see a hen suffering and keep them in the best possible conditions, I think you can sleep with a clear conscience. Unfortunately, sometimes they just die.

I lost a blackrock within about 2 months of getting it. I still don't know what was wrong although I suspect it was a sour crop now that I have experienced it since - but the damn thing was in a brand new run, clean water every day and the best organic food - I even used to go around with a trowel and pick up all of the poos every day!

As mik says above - I am convinced it is the quality of life they lead that is the most important thing.

[oldjerry]

Agree with all that,though to be entirely accurate,and charachteristicly picky,Isas,Blackrocks,Calders,are ALL hybrids,and as such to some extent bred to produce more eggs than a pure bred,and TEND to be shorter - lived,though I've Known them last for years.

Bonnie's right,sometimes they just croak,you do your best for them,and in return they do well by you.(Interestingly a poor flying bird of similar size e.g..partridge, etc. doesn't do so well in the wild either in terms of longevity.

Above all,and please don't be offended by this,as far as we know,they have no concept of their own demise,it's easy to slip into human ways of looking at things, I'm sure they can feel illness,pain,fear, but not the mortality thing.(that's one up on us then).

[grubbysoles]

Thanks for the replies. Not sure if she was egg-bound, eco-mick - I had a look around but couldn't see any sign's of anything stuck in there, but then I don't really know what to look for as I've not got a lot of experience in hen health/death! There was only so much I wanted to pull her about, anyway, so I left her alone after that.

But yes, she had a nice life and I don't think she could have suffered much before she died as she was hopping around the garden quite happily up until it happened. It certainly wasn't a slow, miserable demise.

The day after she died my partner's work colleague had his life support machine switched off, which puts it all in perspective, really. Don't want to say 'she was just a chicken', but compared to that, she was.

[little blue duck]

she was still a life. and loved, so that makes her special.

sounds like maybe a prolapse... and may have been made worse by the other hens pecking at it (sorry, but its true!)

Apple Cider vinegar wont "cure" coccidiosis, but it is recommended by alot of people as a kind of tonic for your hens.
Cocci can only be treated by medication, the signs include a very hunched body posture (kind of "depressed" looking) sometimes diarrhoea of a particular violent colour....

where there's livestock, there's dead stock as they say ... but that doesn't make it any easier does it.
And sorry to hear of your partner's colleague

[Stonehead]

ISA Browns are fairly prone to being egg bound or prolapsed, especially from the end of their second year. All hen's eggs get larger as they age, but with commercial hybrids the effect can be even more exaggerated and occur faster.

We have ISA Browns alongside Scots Greys. Our oldest Scots Greys are six years old and still going strong, laying 2-3 eggs a week and going off lay through winter. The eggs of the oldest hens are bigger but still manageable.

The oldest ISA Brown is three years old, the rest are 18 months to 2 years. Once they come into lay, they lay big eggs daily for 12-14 months, then begin to tail off to 3-4 very big eggs for another 6-8 months, and then lay a few enormous eggs before dying. I'm expecting the oldest ISA Brown to die soon as she's now laying enormous eggs.

The main thing is to monitor them daily, particularly once they get to the enormous egg stage, ie about twice "normal" size. As soon as you spot an older ISA Brown is getting egg bound or has a prolapse, then you should put it down. I've saved a few from being egg bound but it invariably happens again within a few days. And again. It's much less cruel to put them down promptly.