Neighbour making formal noise complaint.

[chook norris]

hi all

 

i wonder if any one can shed some light on what might have happened to millie may pepperpot. i've had her from omlet for just over 7 weeks along with another pepperpot and a gingernut ranger. she was the first to start laying within about three weeks of them arriving. in the last week or so she started pecking at the other two (maude the other pepperpot was pecked badly enough to bleed). we tried leaving the door to the eglu open incase it was happening when they wanted to get out in the morning, the pecking continued so we tried alternating keeping them separated at night by bringing one into the housing. the pecking carried out so we finally thought it was because they are in the run during the day and millie was getting stressed about not getting out, we let them out when we get home from work and when were around the house on weekends. we decided out of desperation to separate them during the day by allowing millie to free ranger in the enclosure. we haven't had any problems with the local cats and theres no sign of foxes in the area. i came home at lunchtime yesterday to see how they were and found millie dead by the side of the run. at first i thought that my worst nightmare had happened and something had attacked her but when i checked closed it seems that her intestines etc has been forced out of her crop and there was no sign of an attack. i found an egg nearby covered in blood and blood splattered over the run cover. it seems that she died trying to lay an egg. we did leave a cat box outside in the run with bedding in it for her and food and water because she couldn't get into the eglu with the other girls.

 

has anyone else heard of this happening to other chickens? do you know what might have caused this? do you think the aggression could be linked?she wasn't doing anything else out of the ordinary before this happened and looked healthly (still eating, laying eggs, walking around, shiney feathers, pooing, bright eyes and red wattle and comb, etc).

 

i've read on the forum that the intensive breeding of hybrids could mean that aggression and health problems aren't bred out.

[Christian]

So sorry to hear this bad news Chook.

 

It is never easy to lose a hen, especially when it is so sudden.

 

Can't offer much advice, but it would seem that maybe she had a prolapse? One of mine had it and they really do strain to get an egg out.

 

As the others weren't there, she wouldn't have been pecked by them (they have a strange fascination with blood).

 

Maybe the strain and stress was too much for her?

 

Terrible shame.

 

edited to add -

 

The breeding of hybrids such as the Gingernut Ranger and Pepperpot is supposed to make them more docile I thought. They take the best bits of certain breeds to make a happy, friendly good layer?

[chelsea]

sorry to hear about Millie

 

I cant shed any light on why she died im afraid. Although when you look into the possible chicken illnesses that chickens can get you would be quite surprised (there are a lot), so please dont worry about it was something you did or something you could have prevented as a lot of the time it can be quite sudden.

 

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* when I say there are a lot of illnesses/ailments this doesnt necessarily mean your chickens will get them either, as lots of chooks lead happy healthy lives* (dont want new forum members to panic )

[Sheilaz]

How very sad, my heart goes out to you, must be a terrible shock.

 

Two thoughts really;

either a predator, in which case you'll need to be really on your guard about the others. I would definitely consider this possibility if unsure.

 

Or, an individual health problem beyond your control. Although hardy in some ways, hens have a fragile hold on life in others.

In the context of many thousands of pet hens, a few will have an underlying physical weakness.

 

Either way, I'm so sorry. I hope the other two bring you a lot of pleasure and that future chickenkeeping is full of happiness.