Found a dead chicken-some "under feathers" missing

[HillsideChicks]

I went out to collect eggs this morning and one of my Buff orpingtons was in a nesting box & when I went to sitting on eggs , I noticed her neck was stretched out & she was limp. I picked her up and she was dead.......we took her into the garage and checked her out to see if there was anything noticeably wrong (since we have 9 other chickens).....they are all 11 months old....she was missing feathers underneath.....something you would never notice unless you turned a chicken over......is this something anyone else has run into?....do these missing feathers mean anything??.....there was nothing noticeably wrong....they have a great living situation....large run...etc....so sad to lose her and worried about the rest of our flock

 

[JadziaDax]

They'll pluck belly feathers when they go broody. She may have gotten egg bound, but it's unlikely the bare belly has anything to do with her actual cause of death.

Sorry for your loss

 

[gillnpunky]

thats sad