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Why has my chicken died
OnTheUp_2-2
Posts: 692 Forumite
Im devastated, one of my chickens has died. Can anyone shed some light?
To give brief background, i have five and they are just over a year old. Have been happy and healthy since I have had them and always good layers. About 3 months ago a friend was babysitting them at there house, however I was disgusted to see them not looked after properly and took them away.
They were malnorished and I elieve had strted pecking there fetahers on theirs breasts. They were given very little and not given any grit. Naturally i was mortified on my return and immediately removed them and will never speak to the so called friend again.
Because we were in the process of moving a family member offered to take care of them and 4 weeks ago they moved to their new home and the chickens were over the moon, they had a huge field to free range in and loads of layer pellets and fresh veg.
All was fine until 3 days ago when they went to let them out. One of the chickens did not get up and they just assumed they were laying an egg. Upon their return from work they found the chicken dead.
There are no marks at all, no sign of distress, eyes beak and bum looked fine. Im really gutted. Could it be that she suffered some long term damage from not being looked after properly?
Maybe she was egg bound?
To give brief background, i have five and they are just over a year old. Have been happy and healthy since I have had them and always good layers. About 3 months ago a friend was babysitting them at there house, however I was disgusted to see them not looked after properly and took them away.
They were malnorished and I elieve had strted pecking there fetahers on theirs breasts. They were given very little and not given any grit. Naturally i was mortified on my return and immediately removed them and will never speak to the so called friend again.
Because we were in the process of moving a family member offered to take care of them and 4 weeks ago they moved to their new home and the chickens were over the moon, they had a huge field to free range in and loads of layer pellets and fresh veg.
All was fine until 3 days ago when they went to let them out. One of the chickens did not get up and they just assumed they were laying an egg. Upon their return from work they found the chicken dead.
There are no marks at all, no sign of distress, eyes beak and bum looked fine. Im really gutted. Could it be that she suffered some long term damage from not being looked after properly?
Maybe she was egg bound?
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Comments
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It's very sad to lose a young hen.
Maybe she was egg bound?
This is the most likely cause in a young bird, if all the others are still healthy. Eggs develop continuously in a hen's egg ducts, (they don't make a whole big egg overnight), so the egg laid today started to develop and grow about three weeks ago.
What most likely happened is that the hen didn't have enough calcium to make a hard shell around the egg, and the squeezing pressure of trying to lay it would have ruptured the egg inside her. She then had nothing to push against at all so the egg stayed inside and the subsequent infection would kill her.
Hens need calcium as well as grit, so you need to give them oyster shell, or recycle your eggshells by baking them in the oven until dried, crushing them up, and feeding back to the hens. Baking them kills off any bacteria, and also prevents the hens from getting a taste for fresh eggshell, which could then lead to them eating their own eggs. HTH
If I'm over the hill, where was the top?0
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