1 yr old hen dead, no signs of attack

[caosesvida]

Found one of my laying hens dead under a bush, I let them free range. No blood no signs of anything wrong. I remember a few days ago several hens were acting very strange, laying on their side and stretching their one wing and leg out, then after a while the got up and all was well. No sing of any other chickens acting different since then. Should I stop selling eggs just for a precaution? And any ideas of what this could be? thanks.

 

[chickensioux]

You know it's weird, I had a hen just die for no apparent reason and I took her to the vet and had a necropsy done. She had died from a ruptured tumor of the spleen. She was 1yr. old. So ya just never know. If you have a vet or a facility that will do that, I suggest it. It will put your mind at ease knowing exacting what happened. If you can't do that then you might have to settle for the fact that it could be 100's of different reason out of your control. Sorry for your loss.

 

[ruth]

I'm sorry for your loss. They do have sudden death sometimes. I recently had a not yet year old BC Marans, fine one minute, been laying lots of eggs, dead the next.

As far as the stretched out thing - that's sun bathing - they love it. They'll lay on the ground, on their side, stretch theirs wings and legs and soak up the sun.

 

[Ridgerunner]

This link is to Rimshoes medical page. Go to the bottom of external symptoms for some possibilities.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=15239

Sorry you need this.

 

[jprice2ndlt]

I had a hen act the same way. She died on monday. The guy i buy them from said it sounded like worms. I bought some pig swig worming meds and now have all my chickens on it for the next 4 days. Hope that helps

 

[CarriBrown]

Sometimes they just die and there is no way of knowing what happened without a necropsy. I wouldn't be concerned unless you have another one die. I'm sorry for your loss. I know it's hard, especially when you don't know why it happened.

 

[caosesvida]

Thanks for the replies. I could see no signs at all on the hen, the stretching was a long shot. I had seen the do that before but not to that extent and with the death I thought "well maybe". I am keeping a close watch on the rest. If another one dies I will take it somewhere. thanks again for all the help, kevin