[feldar]

One of my ex-bats has died she was looking fine clucking and pecking around me yesterday, no sign of ill health then last night she was sitting alone all fluffed up very sorry for herself eyes closed. I brought her in to the shed in an isolation cage to keep warm overnight and she seamed to rally round a bit, but this morning she is dead.
The other three are fine, doing chicken things, any ideas? she just looked so well feathers good and comb was good pink colour.??

[darkbrowneggs]

Hi there, and so sorry about your hen dying.  I think it can happen with ex-commercial girls as they have laid so many eggs over their laying life it can stress them so they never truly come round.  Also I think they have a series of injections at the beginning of their life to give immunity from certain diseases, but these injections tend to have a protection period of around a couple of years, which would be the normal laying lifetime

The one thing which did worry me a bit was that you say her comb was a good pink colour.  At this time of year a hen in good health should have a bright red comb, and a nice bright shiny eye.  Sometimes when the combs are pink it can be a sign that redmite or lice are taking a lot of their blood.  It might be something worth checking out just in case.  Are all the others similar?

all the best and sympathy  its horrid when you lose something
Sue

[SallyintNorth]

Sorry to hear about your chicken, feldar.  I have had one or two similar experiences over the years.  Sometimes it just seems as though their number is up.  Better to go quickly than a protracted illness, though - but makes it more of a shock to you.  Hope the others continue ok. 
Sally

[feldar]

Hi Thanks for the sympathy, i hate things dying on me especially when i don't know why. Idid the delousing treatment last week and sprayed their house for redmite.
Yes you are right, their combs are more a shade of pink than red so i will do the treatments again can i repeat so soon after doing it once?

[doganjo]

Hi Thanks for the sympathy, i hate things dying on me especially when i don't know why. Idid the delousing treatment last week and sprayed their house for redmite.
Yes you are right, their combs are more a shade of pink than red so i will do the treatments again can i repeat so soon after doing it once?

Sorry you lost her, I thought I'd lost one of mine this morning - was off her legs, left her inside with food and water and now she's fine, think she must have got trapped when I locked up last night!

You can spray the  house again, and you could dust them with diatom earth - I put handfuls in their dust bath places.  Give them poultry spice in with their food or make up a porridge (porridge oats, boiling water, add honey and the  spice)  Citricidal is good, and also cider vinegar.

[darkbrowneggs]

Hi Thanks for the sympathy, i hate things dying on me especially when i don't know why. Idid the delousing treatment last week and sprayed their house for redmite.
Yes you are right, their combs are more a shade of pink than red so i will do the treatments again can i repeat so soon after doing it once?

You hadn't mentioned you have recently treated them.  What did you use?

[feldar]

I used total mite kill in their house and a powder for the lice (can't remember the name at the moment i will check when i get home from work)
They are free range and only go home at night so i kept them out fof the house on the day i treated the house and overnighted them in a spare rabbit hutch. All the products were bought from our Agri merchants

[darkbrowneggs]

If you have done it that recently unless it says on the instructions to repeat with 7 days or something, then I wouldnt do it all again.  You can check with a torch after dark, and wipe white paper round the ends of the perches to see if there is a tell-tale red blood smear.

Pale combs can mean almost anything, from just going into moult, to blood sucking insects, to mild or serious diseases.  Its just that at this time of the year pale combs in this warm weather can mean redmite.

Ex-commercial birds can drop dead for no apparent reason at all, which is why the industry refers to them as "spent-hens"

Check what it says on the packs of stuff you bourght.  See if the others begin to redden up and egg production increases.  Check on shell quality, if they are going into a moult shells will often weaken and thin, and there will be more loose feathers around than usual.

All the best
Sue

[feldar]

Many thanks Sue
I will keep an eye on them they may be getting old, hubby will try to bump them off but he's got to get past me first i am kindoff attatched to them

[hughesy]

One of the unfortunate features of chicken keeping is that they can have a tendency to die. Randomly and for no apparent reason. The more birds you have the more dead ones you will have to deal with. It's just something you have to get used to like culling unwanted cockerels or injured or poorly birds.

[little blue]

One of the unfortunate features of chicken keeping is that they can have a tendency to die. Randomly and for no apparent reason. The more birds you have the more dead ones you will have to deal with. It's just something you have to get used to like culling unwanted cockerels or injured or poorly birds.

and this is particularly true with ex-battery hens.
they either go on for ever and ever, or seem to live fast and die young, once they are rehomed (ours certainly did!)

Sorry to hear about your girl Feldar , hope the others are alright

[feldar]

Thanks everyone, I'm new to chicken keeping but on the plus side my green hen budgie laid her first egg today and her mate is being really attentive to her, so one dies and hopefully another will hatch soon. but as they say;
Don't count your budgies..........

[jaykay]

How cool, baby budgies  Haven't seen any of those since my Grandad stopped keeing them. Seem to remember they're the bald, only-their-mums-could-love-them type of chick  (nidi...?)

Fingers crossed for both the budgies and the other chooks 

[Roxy]

I have a large number of ex batts, arriving at different times.  Little Blue is right, some die pretty soon after release, others go on a lot longer.  If you get two, maybe three years, from them you are lucky.

They have been bred to lay as many eggs as possible, and it wears them out.  They are also prone to all sorts of diseases and illnesses.

However long they are here, I look at it, that they have had their freedom.

[feldar]

How cool, baby budgies  Haven't seen any of those since my Grandad stopped keeing them. Seem to remember they're the bald, only-their-mums-could-love-them type of chick  (nidi...?)

Fingers crossed for both the budgies and the other chooks 

If any hatch and they should, she is being a good mum, i will try to get a picture of what must be the ugliest baby bird in the world. They do turn pretty eventually