4-week chick died. What do I do?

[BarnyardChaos]

I found a dead chick this morning in the Nursery Coop. No previous signs of illness that I had noticed, no signs of injury, nothing abnormal about the body. There are 8 other chicks in this brooder house, at 4 weeks old today. I hatched them in an incubator. They have supplemental heat, if desired, with a mama heating tent (which they don't use). Medicated chick starter, plain water. Pine shavings on the coop floor (introduced at 2 weeks).

I found it in the middle of the brooder floor, laying on its side. It didn't appear to have been dead for very long, but I'm not sure. Body only slightly stiff, head and neck floppy but within normal range. It had some food in its crop, felt normal. They were checked at nightfall last night, no issues. No exposure to other chickens. MIGHT be some exposure to wild birds, as they tend to build nests in the eaves. Mice, wasps, spiders are a possibility.

(... at this point I went outside to take photos... and got STUNG by a wasp as I stepped into the brooder house!)
Alright. So I suspect it was stung by a wasp. I'll be pulling out those bird nests and treating for wasps today.
And I'm putting Corid in their water, just in case.

Is there anything else I should check for, or do?
@azygous @Wyorp Rock @casportpony

 

[BarnyardChaos]

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. How are the chicks acting? Are they eating and drinking?What do their droppings look like? Do you see any hunched or puffed up? Corid is safe to use. Make sure they are drinking it. If you have the body, you can take it or ship it overnight to your state vet for a necropsy to look for a cause of death.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Sorry for your loss. How are the chicks acting? Are they eating and drinking?What do their droppings look like? Do you see any hunched or puffed up? Corid is safe to use. Make sure they are drinking it. If you have the body, you can take it or ship it overnight to your state vet for a necropsy to look for a cause of death.

The other chicks are acting fine, but more fearful than usual. I *think* they are eating and drinking. None are hunched or puffed up, all are running around fine.
I took a closer look at the dead chick, there was only soft chick feed in its crop, a little sour smelling (it HAS been dead awhile) - however - its beak was full of what looked like a paste of feed/wood chips, and the throat seemed swollen shut - with a little bit of blood at the back of the throat.
I'm guessing it tried to eat a wasp. Poor thing.
Nah, I'll dispense with the necropsy. Unless more start dropping dead, then I'll do it. Thank you for your advice!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Sorry about your chick.

The head and feathers didn't look wet or slimy, did they?

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Sorry about your chick.

The head and feathers didn't look wet or slimy, did they?

No, not at all. Why do you ask?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I was wondering if you had any snakes about.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

I was wondering if you had any snakes about.

Oh yes, I *did* have a couple of months ago, and don't think I got rid of them all. There was one snagging chicks from this exact brooder coop. I found the hole, plugged it, and found the snake (or one of them) and fixed him up good, too. Roofuss, one of my new cockerels, found another - it escaped. My son found one last week - and while I begged him to let me at it, he said something about how they were sooooo good to kill mice, and tossed the damn thing into a brush pile.

Thank you for the explanation - I hadn't thought to look for that sign. Come to think of it, I did lose a chick early in the spring in the Playhouse Coop, about the same age. It WAS wet and kinda slimy, but I thought it was because it died beneath the roof vent and got rained on. Might have. It did rain that night. Now I wonder.....

Black rat snakes.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Damn wasp, anyway! I hope the chick died quickly. The sting on my arm SUCKS! I've been doing ice packs, ibuprofen, and a steroid cream to stop the pain. There's a 4-inch red-hot circle around the sting, and that's surrounded by a slight purple ring (bruise?).

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Oh wow!
That sounds so painful!
Hope you feel better soon.