At some point in your flock’s life span, you will go through the heartbreak of loss… Here’s what to do when that happens:
After recently discovering our rooster, Biff, had passed away while on the roost bar, I decided it would probably be helpful to many seasoned and new chicken owners to know what to do if they unexpectedly lose a member of their flock.
First, determine cause of death. I cannot stress enough how important it is to figure out what killed your chicken to, hopefully, avoid losing more. One way to do this is to search the immediate surrounding area. Was there anything he/she could’ve gotten caught on? Stuck in? Is there any blood? Any signs of a predator attack? Was the chicken acting normal in the days preceding their untimely passing? Basically, are there any obvious signs that would lead to a conclusion of cause of death? If not, move on to the next step.
Get a necropsy. – If your chicken was ill before their passing, or there is no obvious cause of death, your best course of action is to have a necropsy done. (You can do this yourself, but you’re never going to catch me doing one! 😀 ) Contact your local vet (we use Nate Glaza with Licking Valley Vet) to have them fill out a necropsy request form. If you live in Kentucky, you will then bring this form with you to the UK Veterinary Diagnostic Lab in Lexington, Kentucky. It costs $80 and usually takes a couple weeks to receive the results.
It’s just a chicken. Why go to all the expense and trouble?
I’ve been posed this question quite frequently, honestly. The reason I choose to have necropsies done is because you never know if the bird may have been a carrier of a highly communicable disease and therefore could present in the rest of the flock as well. It could also be something with the feed too – is there a nutritional deficiency? These are all things a necropsy will tell you, along with their parasite load. Of the three that we’ve had done, one had a horrible antibiotic-resistant strain of E. Coli, one had a fatty liver and the other had a ruptured hepatic hematoma (a bruise on her liver). Once you know what the cause is, you can potentially treat it in the rest of your flock before you lose anymore.
