Chicken found dead ... causes?

[Ecsnyder]

I have a chicken who has been laying eggs & acting normal. She has been losing feathers & I would catch her eating them. Thought maybe it was a lack of protein. Began supplementing with eggs, mealworms, & tuna. Found her dead in the coop this afternoon. All other chickens are fine. No mites or lice in coop.... any thoughts as to what could have caused her death? This is my first chicken death.. I want to make sure I protect my other chickens... any thoughts would be great.

 

[dennisma1]

How old was she?

 

[MeowthLover_ThatsRight]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

[Mtnboomer]

Take her in for necropsy. Its the only way to know for sure. There are literally thousands of potential causes.

 

[Eggcessive]

Keep her body cold on ice in a cooler or refrigerated, but do not freeze it. Then contact your state vet in early morning to get a necropsy to look for a cause of death. Sorry for your loss.

 

[Swbertrand1]

From our research in the last 12-24 hours with a 10 week old Silkie chick tells us that food poison (botulism) could be a cause of the loss of feathers, but there likely would have been other symptoms...

 

[Ecsnyder]

Moo moo

How old was she?

1 year

 

[LaFleche]

In two of your pictures her crop seems extremely extended, so a crop issue might have been the likely cause.

 

[Aapomp831]

From our research in the last 12-24 hours with a 10 week old Silkie chick tells us that food poison (botulism) could be a cause of the loss of feathers, but there likely would have been other symptoms...

This is most likely not the cause - I would suspect a crop issue since the picture shows a balding - bulging crop. Did the rest of her body feel super skinny? Or the opposite - was the area above the vent swollen like a water balloon?

 

[Swbertrand1]

One other thing: chickens, like all birds, are pretty delicate creatures and can "go" as quickly as they come into the world and grow to adulthood. With that said, if they get into something toxic, like pesticides or herbicides, it can kill them pretty quickly...