Eglu Cube Coop For Sale

[clarefm]

Three weeks ago my Cream Legbar - hatched last summer, so never laid as reached POL in Autumn, died suddenly. She had seemed fine until the previous day - in fact her bright red comb seemed to promise that eggs were on their way. The day before she died she disappeared, and when I found her, as it was going dark, she seemed stunned or in shock. I put her in with the others and next morning she was dead. Her comb seemed blueish, so i wondered if something had frightened her and she'd had a heartattack.

 

I bought three new girls a week after that and today came home to find my new Black Rock having some sort of fit in the henhouse - she didn't seem able to stand and was gasping, or more like gaping her beak wide. She was clearly in massive distress and kept flapping violently. I had to take my toddler into the house and settle him on his own and about 10 minutes after went out to see to the hen, but she'd already died. This morning when i let them out of their house she had trotted out with the others, seeming completely fine.

 

I also lost a Marans recently, but she showed signs of being ill, off and on for a while. Her comb turned pale and she looked hunched and unhappy and she had diarohea and I quarantined her in a coop on her own. I treated her with Apple Cider Vinegar which seemed to help, but then she went downhill again. Her death was no surprise as she was an older hen I'd got last September and had never laid at all. I always wondered if she was quite right?

 

I now fear for my other 7, seemingly healthy hens. Three are laying and the other four are all either just POL or came to POL during the winter and should start any day now. They all have bright red combs and look their normal, perky inquisitive selves. We've checked the garden for possible poisons and can't find anything - I don't use any insecticides or slug pellets and my compost heap is covered at all times with a heavy carpet (and boxed in around the sides).

 

Has anyone else experienced this? I'm loathe to go to the vet as I've been told by other hen keepers around here that none of our local vets know anything about chickens, and I'm afraid I don't have cash to splash on expensive, useless diagnoses. Anyway, the CLB and BR died so suddenly that there was no time to get to a vet.

 

Other henny friends tell me I've just been unlucky, - if you roll a dice 6 times the odds are the same that it will be a six each time as a different number - but I'm wondering if its more than that? Any ideas gratefully received!

[meezers]

I think I would agree with your friends, that you've just been unlucky. Chooks do seem to have a habit of dying suddenly for no apparent reason - I've also had chooks who didn't look well at all and I expected the worst, but they pulled through and are still going strong. I've lost 6 chooks over the last few years , 2 seemed perfectly healthy, 2 were just a bit under the weather, and 2 I expected the worst.

[gongladosh]

today came home to find my new Black Rock having some sort of fit in the henhouse - she didn't seem able to stand and was gasping, or more like gaping her beak wide. She was clearly in massive distress and kept flapping violently.

 

Sorry to hear it, it sounds like you've been very unlucky - sometimes you get a run of extreme bad luck with hens, it sounds like you've had bad luck.

 

If it helps, your girl wasn't in distress. When a hen dies, as the brain shuts down, it fires electrical impulses left right and centre, what you saw was the limbs responding to those impulses: your girl had already 'gone' a minute or so earlier - this is peaceful, I've seen it happen.

 

As for the CLB, she probably had a heart attack (the blue comb can be a sign of a heart problem) - it may not be due to a fright, some hens, like humans can have heart conditions that aren't immediately obvious.

[clarefm]

Thanks for the words of support.

The problem with chickens is they get under your skin. The thought of another one meeting an untimely end is just awful. But of course, that's life isn't it? We just keep on doing what we think is right, and the little chooks give so much pleasure just by being themselves. Fingers crossed we've had our run of bad luck now! My children at least have learned that pets can die, which is a tough one at first, but an important life lesson all the same.

[staceychristie]

Hens don't want to outwardly show signs of ill health, otherwise the rest of the flock will pick on them. This is why you should handle your girls at least twice a day - checking crop empty/full, and damage caused by fighting or falling out with each other.

Blue combs suggest heart/circulation problem. You can only do your best, and keep your husbandry as clean as you can - Often a dirty feeder/drinker is all it takes to start outbreaks of problems.

 

(((Hugs)))

 

Stacey

[clarefm]

Luckily for us it has been sunny today - the perfect day to wash out and disinfect the henhouse and drinkers/feeders.

 

Unluckily though my Barnevelder was looking just a bit quieter than usual first thing. After close obs I caught her doing the beak gaping thing, so she is straight into quarantine. I suspect mycoplasma, although there is no foamy eye, but she has a bit of a runny nose. I'm treating her with colloidal silver in her water, which is supposed to be a natural antibiotic. if she worsens I'll take to to a vet for antibiotics, but I have been told the silver works really well. It could be just a bit of a cold, but after yesterday I'm ultra cautious.

 

Maybe its what the Black Rock had, although I'm certain there was no foamy eye or runny nose in her case. Fingers crossed - hoping for the best, expecting the worst!