[bantam novice]

One of my light sussex bantams, Bianca, looked a little down this afternoon and when I picked her up her breath smelled and smelly fluid came from her beak when I massaged her crop.  I left her in a small ark coop with some water and yoghurt but when I came back about an hour later she was dead.  I feel I should have picked this up earler but she seemed fine when she came out of the coop this morning.   

[jhub]

Oh so sorry for your loss

[j00les]

how sad sorry 

[sneezer]

So sorry for your loss of Bianca, they can hide their illness really well, so please don't think you did anything wrong 

[ANHBUC]

So sorry to hear about Bianca bantam novice she looked a beautiful hen.

[bantam novice]

Many thanks to you all for your kind messages.  It was a bit of a shock.  My sister, who is a vet though not a bird specialist, was staying so she did a post mortem this morning.  It turns out that although there was definitely sour crop that is not what killed her.  She had a large growth and lots of lesions on her liver and heart.  She also had an abdomen full of fluid.  My sister thinks it might be avian leucosis but I took some pictures and will take them to my local chicken specialist vet to see what she says. 

[rosie14]

Oh no, that is so sad. She was a beauty too. How interesting re what your sister found, it just goes to show sometimes some ailments are covering up more sinister things, and sometimes we just don't know 

[bantam novice]

very true and also how hens are so good at hiding when they are feeling unwell