Dead breeder. No reason I can determine

[conditionfreak]

Went out this morning to take care of the birds. Started with the prisoner breeders. I found a dead breeder on the loft floor. No injuries. No signs of desease that I could determine. No predation nor bad weather. I am at a loss. Yesterday it was healthy and chasing his female. Always had fresh water, grit and food.

I have to keep a very close eye on the birds now, to check for any signs of problems.

Deceased: AU-04-AAC 25. Purchased from The Quest Loft approximately one year ago. Out of AU-02-GFL-622 and AU-01-GFL-725. The deceased bird was flown by Jake Beard of Spring Hill, Florida and placed in the top 30 in excess of 2000 birds, several times. He produced a first place winner in his first year as a breeder, and other diploma winners.

So sad.

He was buried in the back yard, under a Dogwood three.

Does this type of thing happen sometimes, with no cause found? It never has to me before.

[[MN]eXist^_^]

happen'd to me with my fienke5000 hen same crime scene nothing happen'd with my other birds. It was just dead one day. Could be anything.

[g0ldenb0y55]

Sorry to hear that you lost a good bird....

[conditionfreak]

I guess that pigeons, like other things including people, can just up and have a heart attack or clot.

I hate not knowing why.

[Trees Gray]

I'm so sorry to hear about your bird.

If there is absolutely no sign or symptom on the outside, maybe it is organ failure.

[Lovebirds]

Sorry to hear about your bird. I've heard of it happening. Has never happened to me (yet)..............
I've had two birds to "just die" in my loft, but I suspect it was due to something that I just didn't catch in both cases.
I guess they CAN have heart attacks or whatever............

[LUCKYT]

Sorry about your loss... From my experience any Animal can have Heart Condition that is a ticking clock, so to speak. I think any one that has kept living things in their care long enough sees this happen. How many, in shape Humans, runners, Bikers Ect. Have you heard about just up and die from heart problems? LOTS! Dave

[Charis]

I hope there isn't a next time but if there is, you might put the bird in the fridg and have a vet, that is accustomed to treating birds, examine the remains. Could save you heart ache in the long run.
I'm very sorry this happened.

[maine123]

It has happened to me before. Everything seemed fine, then a hen just died. I know how it feels. Im sorry.

[spirit wings]

Originally Posted by conditionfreak

Went out this morning to take care of the birds. Started with the prisoner breeders. I found a dead breeder on the loft floor. No injuries. No signs of desease that I could determine. No predation nor bad weather. I am at a loss. Yesterday it was healthy and chasing his female. Always had fresh water, grit and food.

I have to keep a very close eye on the birds now, to check for any signs of problems.

Deceased: AU-04-AAC 25. Purchased from The Quest Loft approximately one year ago. Out of AU-02-GFL-622 and AU-01-GFL-725. The deceased bird was flown by Jake Beard of Spring Hill, Florida and placed in the top 30 in excess of 2000 birds, several times. He produced a first place winner in his first year as a breeder, and other diploma winners.

So sad.

He was buried in the back yard, under a Dogwood three.

Does this type of thing happen sometimes, with no cause found? It never has to me before.

yes that must really worry you, It would drive me crazy, could just be a fluke, sorry this happend. keep and eye out for the rest....of course you know that already....hope all is well.

[Kal-El]

I've had that happen to me twice. The first one was a direct daughter of Sir Diego, and the second was a direct son of Mr. In the Money. I came to the conclusion that the causes were heart attacks.

[Alamo]

I don`t know what state you live in...But you might have to think about a animal bite,or spider bite,or something of that nature...Poison is another,but if the bird is a prisoner,it`s hard for poison to be the answer,unless the pigeon ate something that didn`t belong in the feed....The other answer could be the PMV that old birds could get,that one day they are OK,the next they are dead...This is the really bad strain of PMV,not the one that YB`s get,which normally is not deadly....Hope the rest of your birds are OK....Good Luck....Alamo

[conditionfreak]

My feed is mixed locally by a company called Buckley Brothers feed. I guess it is possible some rat poison of something similar, got into the mix. That could happen with any feed I guess. Heck, you see on the news every week that some human food is making people sick and killing some. Tomatoes, Peanuts, whatever. Ecoli and the like. Last year, Diamond Pet Foods has tainted dog food and dogs all over the country were getting sick, with some dying.

What ya gonna do? Life sucks and then you die. Might as well eat some pie.

[RodSD]

That happened to me once. Breeder hen was flown and found dead the next day without sign of sickness. It was probably salmonella or e.coli.

"Paratyphoid: Salmonella causes the disease paratyphoid in pigeons. It is a bacterial infection that causes a multitude of possible symptoms including sudden death of apparently healthy birds of any age, joint infections causing a dropped wing or lameness, infertility in cocks and hens, diarrhea, weight loss, etc, etc. This is a treatable disease and is best treated with Batril (250 mg/gallon) or Cipro (750 mg/gallon) for 10 14 days. Baytril (and I assume Cipro) has been shown to get rid of the carrier state of salmonella so you no longer must destroy infected birds. Remember these drugs should not be used while breeding and raising babies. Vaccination is available and is a good idea, especially if you have had a problem with the disease before. The vaccine contains an immune stimulant and seems to really give birds a boost of great health when used about 3 - 4 weeks before the race season. This disease is carried by rodents so you must keep them out of your loft to prevent possible infection in your birds. " http://www.ifpigeon.com/IF/articles/...y_pigeons.html

[pigeon_racer]

conditionfreak,

I had this happen to me several times, once I was in the breeding loft, and a cock was standing on his nest front door/perch. All of a sudden he stood stight up and became stiff as a board and fell off the perch, he was dead when he hit the floor. I autopsied the bird and found a burst blood vessel coming from the heart. After doing this with several suspicious deaths, most were circulatory problems of some type. Then I started looking at the birds backgrounds. The only thing I found in common was that they were all inbred to some degree and had been successful hard core racers. Maybe the two in conjuction ups the probability of this type of death, don't know. Sorry to hear about it happening to you too.

Ralph