Single hen

[helenw]

Hi I am new to the forum I have had a browse around before but never posted. Up until Friday I had 6 girls however when I went to check for eggs on Friday morning my favourite chicken elizabeth (a black pearl) was lying on the floor shaking and couldn't move or stand. I picked her up and brought her inside but it seemed inevitable she didn't have long. By lunch time she was dead. I spoke to our local avian vet who was helpful but couldn't really give me a lot of information as he said it could be anything.

Has anyone had anything similar?

She had an eye infection a couple of months ago and recovered from that we put her back in but was getting bullied. It seemed to have stopped but over the last week or so she lost feathers above her tail and seemed to be losing weight. She was eating fine and I even fed her first occasionally incase she was getting bullied. She was only 10 months old and she was the only one that had never laid. Her wattle and comb had never developed either. But prior to the eye infection seemed fine. When I picked her up on Friday she was so light and seemed just feather and bone, however you couldn't really tell until I'd picked her up.

The other 5 seem ok however I have noticed another bird, who had a cold just before elizabeth had got her eye infection, is now losing her feathers at the base of her tail. She is also losing them from her neck so am hoping that this is just a moult.

Does anyone think it is possible that I have something that may affect all my girls or was it that Elizabeth may have been moulting and her body couldn't cope?

Hope someone can help!

[chelsea]

hmmm I am not sure Helen. But coincidently I currently have a chicken with an eye infection. She is being treated with Tylan (antibiotic) which we are injecting but it doesnt seem to be getting rid of the infection. The vet told us that chickens sinuses are behind their eyes.

 

Could it possibly be that your chicken had some kind of respiratory/sinus/cold combination that took hold of her? Chickens have very sensitive respiratory systems and an infection can be fatal if not treated quickly.

 

So sorry to hear about Elizabeth.

[helenw]

Thanks for the reply she didn't seem to have any breathing problems but will keep an eye on the others thanks. Your set up looks great. How does your gsd get on with the girls. Our 6 month old is very curious wont be letting them out together though!

[alih]

Sorry to hear your news Helen,

 

I had a black rock who showed the same symptoms - she too had laid only a few eggs at the beginning but not for months, never developed her comb/ wattles and got thinner and thinner. She did have a crop problem but the cause of her eventual death was liver failure. If they can't eat or drink or don't for some reason apparently this happens. But they don't show it until they are really ill and are very good at hiding things.

 

No answer for the feather problem but I would just keep an eye on the others for now.

 

[Groovychook]

Sorry to hear about Elizabeth