Died from flying into run wall?

[dandelionheart]

I went out to water and visit my girls and found one (a BO named Annie Oakley) cold, flat, dead, next to the run's wall... a little under the bottom of the ramp to the roost. She wasn't pecked, looked great, other than being dead of course. I'm thinking she broke her neck or something... she is 4 years old and has been very healthy, no other issues for the last 1 1/2 years that we have had her. Anybody else have that happen? My other hens were making a little weird noise, but stopped as soon as I removed Annie - and then seemed like they were back to normal, even with their friend gone. I was more upset than they were!

Hubby is coming home from work early for her service & burial. And I think I heard a dog barking last night really close, that may have scared her off the roost and into the wall??? They are completely penned in.

 

[terryg]

Yes, I've had that happen. I call it "SCD" or "sudden chicken death." Chickens can die from so many things - and we're often left guessing. They can get scared and run into walls. They can die of heart attacks. They can have cancer and you don't know it. Their livers can fail. Chickens rarely show illness - they're prey animals and don't show weakness. So, you'll see obvious respiratory diseases, but often don't see the other things. I've had a backyard flock for over 15 years and I've seen that sort of death 3 times, so don't worry that the rest of your flock is at risk.