pagesguineas Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 My mum rang me up earlier with some sad news Ginger, our first chicken (we've had her from POL for about 4 years now) has suddenly died. The way she died was very strange so I am hoping to gain some advice here. Basically so I am told mum went to put the chickens to bed last night and all the girls had gone to bed, apart from Ginger who had made it to the run part of the coop (they free range in a fenced off bit during the day) but she hadn't made it up the ladder like the others. When mum tried to pick her up to put her in the coop she was sick (didn't even know chickens could be sick ). As it was late mum put her in the coop but she didn't make it through the night As a precaution she has cleaned and disinfected the coop, but is there anything else we should do/give them. It was just so sudden we are now worried about the others. Thanks for reading A sad Catherine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percy049 Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Sorry for your loss She did live to a very good age, but make sure you keep any eye on your other girls, incase it was an illness and it may be contagious. It might be something poisonous she ate to make her sick, or something else eating related. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 4 years is a very good age for a hybrid. I wish when mine went they went as quick as that, it's horrible when they linger and you don't know whether it's kinder to have them PTS or to leave them be It's obviously impossible for us to tell you what was wrong with her as we are not vets but she may have just died of old age sorry for your loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miller30 Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 I think by the signature ginger was a buff orpington which i thought lived longer than 4 years i had a splash orpington that went to bed normal and next morning she was dead and she was only 11 months you will never know what killed ginger sadly some do just die for no reason but your mum has done the right thing by cleaning out the coop just keep an eye on the others leanne. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pagesguineas Posted May 17, 2011 Author Share Posted May 17, 2011 Hi, thanks for your replies Yes, Ginger was a pure-breed Buff Orpington and we expected her to live a few more years yet - she always was so healthy (and beautifully fluffy!) It is difficult because they have such an expanse of land to free range on, we're not sure to confine them to their coop and run which we know is fully disinfected or to let them all free range still. Forgot to add in my last post - the winds had caused one of the fences at the back of the garden to blow over slightly. I'm thinking perhaps she got into the garden opposite us and perhaps they had some kind of rat or slug poison down I suppose it would be good if that was the case as it means the others would have been affected by now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 It sounds like she may have had a blocked and/or sour crop, when you pick up a chicken with an overfull crop you can accidentally squeeze it a bit which will cause the chook to 'be sick' Chooks as a rule aren't sick in the same way we are Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pagesguineas Posted May 17, 2011 Author Share Posted May 17, 2011 Thanks Redwing, that makes sense. I'm now a little concerned as I know our last chicken died of a blocked crop which the vet told us was relatively common and not too worry too much . Is there anything we should be doing to try and prevent this happening? We've owned chickens for 4 years now but fortunately not much has gone wrong so we are relatively novice when it comes to poorly chooks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Long grass is a prime cause of blocked crop, also things that can 'stodge' together like grass clippings and large amounts of bread can cause it, also excess grit Sometimes it can be just pure bad luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathybc Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 sorry to hear about your girl x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
