Re: just had my first chicken death
- From: fowls@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (nuele mersch)
- Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2005 20:53:35 +0100
JacobSwan <swanpoool@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> One of my hens has fallen off her perch over night. We've had 3 hens
> for 3 years and this is our first death. Luckily my sons are at their
> grandparents and didn't discover the body. (I remember how upset they
> were when we lost a goldfish.)
> She was a healthy (?) 3 yr old speckledy and looked fine and well
> yesterday. Is it likely to have been natural causes as I know cross
> breeds don't live for long? The other two seem fit and well, just a
> little spooked this morning when their sister wouldn't wake up. She was
> missing a few feathers from her tail since yesterday and I spotted a
> rat this morning. Is it possible she got gnawed overnight? She was the
> fattest of the three and a bit of a bully, but she'll still be missed.
> Is there anything I should do to make sure the other two are ok?
> Silly question, but what do I do with the body? Is it classed as
> agricultural waste? Can I get away with wrapping it up well for the bin
> men?
>
> Cheers,
> Bryann
Hi Bryann,
you need to find out what regulations apply in your region. Here in
Germany, we may bury a single chicken carcass if it is at least 0.5m
deep. But what is legal in one place may be illegal in a different part
of the world.
There is really no way to determine the cause of her death unless you
have a post-mortem done by a knowledgeable person. If you have opened a
lot of chickens yourself for the kitchen you will know what the inner
organs look like in a healthy chicken, and will notice any differences.
I usually take any bird of mine that dies unexpectedly to the vet's.
It's always very interesting to watch him open them. I've learned a lot
about chicken anatomy that way.
As you say she was the fattest, it is possible that this is what killed
her. Very fat chickens get a fatty liver, and eventually a ruptured
liver with internal bleedings that kill them very suddenly. The
post-mortem would show that internal bleeding as well as a shocking
amount of fat everywhere, with the liver tissue being much lighter in
colour than usual.
This can be the result of a wrong diet, although I have had very fat
hens that were fed good quality layers' pellets, only too much. That's
when I realised that offering pellets ad lib was not the right thing for
my breed, and they are doing better with two meals a day.
Nuele (D)
.
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