Help! What killed my hen?

[PompomTheoAndMP]

I went out to my coop this morning and found one of my hens were just laying on her back dead and I'm worried for my other girls! She was acting normally yesterday, they all had plenty of food water and shade. When I found her she was on her back and her wattles and most of her comb were shrivelled and black, and some liquid came out of her mouth when she was picked up. All my other hens are fine, they aren't lethargic and are eating and drinking. Can anyone help me find out what killed my hen? I need to keep the others safe.

 

[MargaretYakoda]

I went out to my coop this morning and found one of my hens were just laying on her back dead and I'm worried for my other girls! She was acting normally yesterday, they all had plenty of food water and shade. When I found her she was on her back and her wattles and most of her comb were shrivelled and black, and some liquid came out of her mouth when she was picked up. All my other hens are fine, they aren't lethargic and are eating and drinking. Can anyone help me find out what killed my hen? I need to keep the others safe.

Unfortunately I don't think you have enough information even begin to make a guess. Can you send your hen to a veterinarian for a necropsy? Or maybe try doing a necropsy yourself?

In any case keep a very close eye on your other birds for the next couple of weeks.

 

[PompomTheoAndMP]

sadly no, I'm unable to do a necropsy there aren't any vets nearby able to preform one and I wouldn't know where to start. I'll just have to keep an eye on them but I don't know what to watch for, she seemed healthy

 

[MargaretYakoda]

If everyone else seems healthy, then this could well be the only death, and you'll never know what happened.

We lost a beautiful cockerel when we first began keeping chickens. Never knew what happened. One day healthy and beautiful, the next morning dead on the floor of the coop. That's one of the hard lessons. There will be illnesses, injuries, deaths and if you don't have an avian vet nearby the learning curve can be steep.

You say you're not prepared for a necropsy. I understand that. But you may have to do one someday. There are threads here that can help when/if that time comes. And, if you have another death, if I were you I would seriously consider contacting your county extension office and asking them who does necropsies in your state. Sometimes it costs $50 or so, but they can get right down to the nitty gritty for you.

 

[PompomTheoAndMP]

Thank you for your help, I'll have to check out those threads. I'm sorry to hear about your rooster