Dead Chicken Found in Coop

[chick lovers]

I went to shut my chickens up this evening and found a dead hen in one of my coops. It looks as though she just fell off the roost dead. She hasn't been acting strange or anything, I don't think she was sick. The night before last the temperature was in the 40's and last night it hit 16, could she have frozen to death or something? Any suggestions are appreciated.


Thanks, Dan.

 

[Bigwig]

How old was she?

 

[chick lovers]

Not quite a year, it was really wei rd she had no signs of any sickness she was eating and drinking fine, the only thing was, I had her penned up for a few weeks with my Buff Orpingtons for a few weeks to breed but other than that everything was normal. She was a decent sized EE.

 

[Bigwig]

How high are your roosts? I have had two of mine fall off my ladder roost (which is about four feet high at the top) and break their necks. If she is not fully feathered she might have frozen to death (Like you suggested).

 

[chick lovers]

She was about a foot and a half off the floor of the coop, if that. Her feathers were missing a little on her back, but she still had the down feathers, that's what puzzled me.

 

[JCE123]

Can you get a necropsy done or do it yourself?

 

[chick lovers]

I have thought about it.

 

[Bigwig]

She was about a foot and a half off the floor of the coop, if that. Her feathers were missing a little on her back, but she still had the down feathers, that's what puzzled me.

Sometimes when a rooster is mating with a hen, he snaps her feathers in half and leaves the downy bottom half.

 

[chick lovers]

Ohh.... That makes sense. But that shouldn't have caused her to freeze to death right?

 

[Bigwig]

Ohh.... That makes sense. But that shouldn't have caused her to freeze to death right?

Yes I agree. I have some hens that have no feathers on their backs and they survived -30 degree weather. Your hen probably died of either a broken neck, choking, or a head injury from being attacked by other chickens.