Death at my coop too

I sometimes don't check only my birds in the early mornings because i give them enough food in the evening to last for the next morning and today housework and laundry kept me busy so i went down about 3:30 to feed.

I opened the door to my mille fleur pen and noticed only 2 hens and i have 3 and a roo in that pen.
So i checked the roost and their she was flat of her back no injuries dead of a heart attack...........I was at a loss for words i had been trying to decide which 2 hens to leave with the roo and i guess the powers that be decided for me.
I had never heard of a heart attack in chickens until a breeder told me about it and it's real i've lost about 5 chickens to this in 7 years.
The reason these birds can have heart attacks is over breeding of these chickens and it weakens the genetics and causes defects and heart attacks is one of them.
My sister had 2 Chihuahuas and the vet told her the same thing about those dogs when hers was haveing problems that the intense breeding of them to get them smaller created genetic defects and alot of them die of heart attacks.
Her older dog was 10 years old and walked in the door and just like the vet said it would happen stopped and just fell dead.

***She's the one at the feeder i will miss her***

Why do you think it was a heart attack and not something else? I've always thought that the heart attacks were generally preceded by a major trauma (chased by a perceived predator, fighting, etc.)

I am so sorry for your loss :(
Suze

Because a breeder explained they can suffer a heart attack due to genetic weakness caused by the intense breeding of this specific type of chicken.

Old English Bantams are some of the most popular show birds and people are constantly inbreeding and attempting to create new breeds threw intense breeding and also the quest to have the smallest birds so they breed runt's to achieve that. I've seen these birds smaller than seramas and you should see the experiments. All this causes genetic problems and that can lead to heart defects which in turn can cause heart attacks. My conclusion of heart attack was that she had no injuries, no bleeding , no leaking body fluids or any sign of any movement of even a feather out of place.
It was as if she was sitting on her roost and fell backwards onto her back and never moved i have encountered this before and knew immediatly what it was.............. Hope i answered your question

I forgot to add i had a roo who died of a heart attack i had his son spitting image of his dad and he died of a heart attack when he was about a year old.

This message was edited Sep 29, 2008 6:20 PM

Oh Harmony, I am so terribly saddened to hear of your loss of your millie. She was a beautiful bird. I am glad that she spent her life with you, since you are such a caring chicken keeper, and you are someone who gave her the life and love that she deserved to have. What a blessing to be a chicken who spends its life with you.

I hope that perhaps some new baby millies will come along from the roo and existing hens, and surely one of them will carry her spirit.

Claire

Thank you claire for the kind words it means alot to me.

Harmony,
Sorry for your loss. It was just last week that I was ooo'ing and aaaa'ing over your gorgeous Mille Fleure's. My thoughts are with you.
Kristin

I'm sorry for your loss, Harmony.


{{hugs to you}}
Sue

Inbreeding causes problems with all kinds of animals. We had a Katahdin (hair sheep) Ram and the man we bought him from said that many of them don't live past five due to heart attacks. I'm not sure if the breed in whole have this problem or if it was from a selected flock. He would travel to Vermont to replenish his herd so it was probably a genetic problem from the flock he was buying from.

Oh Harmony! I'm so sorry to hear that.... At least it was a natural cause.. I mean even though it was due to breeding, it was a natural death. I'm sure you gave her the best life she could ask for..

It is painful, I know. My thoughts are with you.

oh harmony, how awful. i am so sorry