What killed my chicken?

[Bradleyfab7]

We are new to chickens, started with 8 hybrid hens that were 7 weeks old. We've had them for 14 weeks now and they've grown into pretty, full sized hens. Laying has not started, but we eagerly await. Our hens are let out of their pen each afternoon to explore our residential sized yard. To our surprise, we awoke this morning to find our Golden Specklrd Hamburg dead at the bottom of the ladder in the pen. There was no sign of predator attack, or blood. She showed no signs of being unwell yesterday whatsoever. We are really disappointed and kids are upset. We'd really like to understand what may have been the cause, mostly because we'd like to avoid similar for our other hens.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I am sorry we meet under these circumstances. Have you looked into sending the body for a necropsy? I did not send mine in but wish I had.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/799747/how-to-send-a-bird-for-a-necropsy-pictures
In case you are interested in doing so this thread is helpful.

If she was in the pen and the pen was closed so nothing could get in then here are my suspicions.

1. Bad genetic issue resulting in early death from heart failure.
2. Accidental poisoning..... although I would think there would be signs something was wrong first.
3. Hardware disease.. meaning having consumed a piece of metal that caused an issue. Again I would think there would be signs something was wrong first.

Those are the things I would think would cause sudden death in a young chicken. I have also lost a couple young ones with no real reason why.
I lost 2 that seemed healthy and were doing well to what I suspect were heart issues. Fine one minute and gone very suddenly.
The ones I know what happened to are here....
I lost one to her having eaten some of what I later found out was a highly poisonous ground cover plant. I lost one to being egg bound at 8 months old.

I am sure there are many things that can cause a sudden death. I hope never to experience another.

Hopefully some other folks will post their experiences to help figure out the mystery.

 

[napahunter]

Fox?

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC. I do hope you identify what caused the death of one of your flock members and are able to prevent it happening again.

Good luck
CT

 

[NickyKnack]

Hello!

Welcome to BYC and the coop! There's a lot of great peeps here! Feel free to ask lots of questions. But most of all, make yourself at home. I'm so glad you decided to join the BYC family. I look forward to seeing you around BYC. 21hens-incharge, gave some good pointers.