my chicken died...

[clare]

Can anyone help?I had a chicken die about 3 months ago she just went all pale for want of a better word, pale comb and eyes and just stood about until she died,she was eating and drinking.Now I have another with similar symptoms.I did have red mite in the house a few months back but scrubbed and sprayed every few days until they went I also dusted the birds although a bit tricky to get them!They are ex-batts so are now nearly 3 years old but I am worried it is not old age but something awful.....

[Milims]

Could it possibly be that she is beginning to go through the moult? On of ours did a similar thing recently and then she started to loose her feathers and soon after the others followed.

[shell]

i was told exbatts can be expected to live for around 2 years,only know this as i`m getting 4 the coming weekend,although a freind got 4 years out of her pet exbatt hen.so at least yours had 3 good years,and thats great news.


p.s. i have a phone number if anyone in ireland wants some?they are coming from cork area.available next weekend.
but they need to know before then.

[jampot]

sorry to hear you lady died, one of mine did recently
did you check for ticks when you did the mite dusting as a tick oveload can "drain" a hen (literally) that may explain the paleness. or possibly heart conditions will slow them down and they will go blue/grey ish abouth the comb and just slip away not sure how long ex batts live for im afraid

[clare]

Thanks what does a tick look like??What do you treat ticks on a bird with??

[jampot]

Ticks are small bloodsucking insects that attatch to the hen (or any other animal) as they suck blood they swell up ( these are reallybig uns but may look smaller

http://entomology.unl.edu/images/ticks/ ... _ticks.jpg

to remove them you need to pinch the base of the tick and twist off BUT you need to make sure the head and mouth parts are not left in as this can lead to infection if in doubt take you hen to the vet as they may be able to give you some advice on tick treatments ( never used any myself)
hope i helped