PhilipCaldwell Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 hello, just went down the end of the garden to do my nightly chook routine and Brenda is dead!she has had a moult recently and was looking sorry for herself, she had lost her feathers on her neck, underneatth and back end.she had been acting differently recently but i took it as her going broody as she had been sitting on an egg in the nesting box all day.She was about 1 year old.Have other people being getting this, do ya think the cold has got to her since she has been in moult?Edith seems fine, and is pecking away happily with a good plumage still. What is my next course of action, I dont want edith to be left alone as i have heard chickens get lonely, and give up, i think i might get 2 more POL chickens tommorow to keep her company and stop her croaking like brenda.This is my first chook death so any advice is welcomed Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 What a shock and so young, I am so sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 Aww thats sad what a shame If you keep the other one on her own for a long time she certainly wont like it but it would be unusual for her to die because of that thankfully The idea to get two new hens is a good one but I would hold off for a week or so in case your dead hen had anything contagious (sp?) so be sure that the remaining hen is healthy before bringing any more home, she will be perfectly ok on her own during this time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilipCaldwell Posted December 30, 2009 Author Share Posted December 30, 2009 Thats ok then, as long as she doesnt die of lonliness, i will get 2 more in a week or so then.Edith seems perfectly fine, she had a bit of a moult, but not like Brenda, i think she has died of the cold to be honest.Excuse my naivity but what is SP? When it comes to introducing new chooks, will they fight with the existing chicken?Will the new 2/3 pick on Edith? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 (sp?) is only a way of saying that I am not sure the previous word is spelt correctly Edith won't die on loneliness but she may have pcked something up from the dead hen so keep an eye on her The cold on ts own won't kll chickens but if one was already ill it wouldnt have helped, sadly chooks are excellent at hiding illness so chances are you will never discover what killed your chook without a post mortem The two new hens will need to be introduced slowly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilipCaldwell Posted December 30, 2009 Author Share Posted December 30, 2009 Well, fingers crossed she is ok and not picked up a bug, i will keep a really close eye on her for the next few days before purchasing some new chooks.Edith looks really good, has good feathers amd is foraging around fine, eating a drinking ok aswell so touch wood she is ok Will keep ya'll posted on how she is doing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathybc Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 sorry to hear your news, fingers crossed that Edith remains healthy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 Sorry to hear about Brenda . That is young . You may get some arguments when you introduce new girls but they are usually easily managed . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilipCaldwell Posted December 31, 2009 Author Share Posted December 31, 2009 just to update, edith still seems fine and plucky today, i took brenda to work to dispose of the body and other than the lack of feathers she seemed ok, on ispecting the dead body she had nice bright red comb and wattle, no mites, no scales or anything untoward.I did notice this morning though that the dropings tray is a bit of yellow diarrhoea, they were prob wormed about 9/10 months ago, do you think she had really really bad worms? It just strikes me as odd that one choock is still tip top and one went downhill rapidly, I just took it as Brenda going broody as for her last week she would sit on the nesting box warming the eggs up, when i shooed her off the nesting box she would eat, drink and walk about ok, it was only monday that i gave them the run of the garden and she was foraging around happily.hope its not something im doing wrong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 I'm so sorry you've lost Brenda. Sometimes chickens do just die so it's unlikely you are doing anything wrong. It's going to be cold in the next few days so make sure Edith keeps warm. I'd put some extra bedding in as she hasn't got her sister to cuddle up to. Tricia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patsylabrador Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 I was told once by a vet that it is often difficult to know what's going on in the body of a small creature, and they can give the appearance of being well until they suddenly succumb to whatever is going wrong. In this case it was a little guinea pig but I assume the same applies to chickens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutti Frutti Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 What a shock and so sad But she was happy right up to the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Kate Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 Our ex bat peeper had to be put down this week and the other two were absolutely fine - bursting with health and chickenness. sometimes I guess one just has enough. the vet said the same thing - you can't tell what's going on in an animal that small and simple. glad the others are okay though and good luck with the new ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docsquid Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 Sorry to hear your news. It sounds like you did all you could - animals are good at hiding ill health because otherwise they are rejected by the rest of their group. I hope you get some more chickens soon, and that everything goes well with the introductions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madchickenlady Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 We lost a one year old hen in the summer. No signs of illness what so ever. Some animals, like people, just have genetic problems. I suspect that our beloved Belinda just had a heart attack. She died eating her breakfast, so very sudden. Sorry for your loss Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilipCaldwell Posted December 31, 2009 Author Share Posted December 31, 2009 thanks for the replies everyone, definatiley gonna get more chooks next weekend, gonna spend all day tommorow cleaning the eglu and run, gonna disinfect and pressure wash it aswell as rake out the run thoroughly and disinfect the glug n grub, just making sure everything will good for the new additions, I have decided to get 3 newbies to keep poor Edith company, i have a run extension so they all 4 should get along ok.Also gonna make sure they are wormed every 3 months rather than 9-12 months. RIP Brenda, I enjoyed your eggs and looking after you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CluckyBucks Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 Sorry for your loss xx xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilipCaldwell Posted January 1, 2010 Author Share Posted January 1, 2010 Just gave my eglu a good disinfect and a power wash, will give it a week now and see how edith gets on, she seems spot on, no worries with her so im still at a loss to why Brenda gave up on life?Anyway, will get more chickens next week so edith doesnt get lonely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chick wiggle Posted January 1, 2010 Share Posted January 1, 2010 So sorry to hear about Brenda Phil, unfortunately it seems these things can 'just happen' It sounds to me like your doing everything possible to look after Edith. Why not take this week to worm her before you get your new chooks? Let us know what you get and how you get on Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancing cloud Posted January 1, 2010 Share Posted January 1, 2010 So sorry to hear about Brenda Lots of ((hugs)) to you and yours, and all the best in finding new friends for Edith. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilipCaldwell Posted January 2, 2010 Author Share Posted January 2, 2010 good advice wiggle, will definately get some flubevet into edith asap!dont know why i havent done it sooner.P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dappy Chick Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 Sorry to hear about Brenda Phil Your thread set me thinking though & would be interested in other thoughts: Would you get 2 chickens that have been in the same run together - if so I would be worried about the 2 picking on your existing hen. Or would you get 2 hens that are from different runs that way it would be a totally fresh start?? Just a thought - you probably all think it is a silly question????? Phil, if it were me I would certainly worm the new ones before introducing them to your hen, or re worm them all together once you have done your quaranteen and intros etc - GOOD LUCK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 You have a point there DC, if the pen was big I would have no problems taking two from one pen but if they were in a small group of three of four probably not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilipCaldwell Posted January 2, 2010 Author Share Posted January 2, 2010 i will hopefully get chooks from different pens, so its like a fresh start for them all, so hopefully no bullying will occur. When i got Edith and Brenda they were in a large open pen of (estimate) 20-30 chickens or so, they sorted out their order quickly when i got them home, they hardly ever had a disagreement Wormed Edith today with flubenvet which i got from Gibsons for £17.99, again, Edith seems fine today, doing all the things a good chook does!She is still laying well considering it is sooo cold here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
