My 11 week old Black Australorp hen just passed away on Monday night and I can't figure out why. 
I only had 6 chicks and raised them since a week old, so I'm pretty upset. She was my favorite out of the bunch and she was so sweet.
She didn't show any signs of being sick that I could tell, but I am a first time chicken owner, so maybe I missed something. She seemed to be eating and drinking well, and seemed playful and running around. I couldn't tell how her stool looked lately though since the 6 of them were always together, so I should have paid closer attention to that. We didn't notice any peck marks or any sign of a struggle. It was very strange because I was outside with them just 20 minutes before I found her and she was running around. Then at dark, about 20 minutes later, I came back outside to close the coop up for the night and she was laying there dead in the locked run.
She was always the smallest chick out of the mixed flock that I have and she usually hung around the others but often did her own thing. So it is possible that maybe she was sick with something from the very beginning that just didn't show any signs. Hopefully this doesn't happen to any of my other chicks. If anyone has any ideas as to what it could have been, please let me know. It's a mystery to me.
I only had 6 chicks and raised them since a week old, so I'm pretty upset. She was my favorite out of the bunch and she was so sweet.She didn't show any signs of being sick that I could tell, but I am a first time chicken owner, so maybe I missed something. She seemed to be eating and drinking well, and seemed playful and running around. I couldn't tell how her stool looked lately though since the 6 of them were always together, so I should have paid closer attention to that. We didn't notice any peck marks or any sign of a struggle. It was very strange because I was outside with them just 20 minutes before I found her and she was running around. Then at dark, about 20 minutes later, I came back outside to close the coop up for the night and she was laying there dead in the locked run.
She was always the smallest chick out of the mixed flock that I have and she usually hung around the others but often did her own thing. So it is possible that maybe she was sick with something from the very beginning that just didn't show any signs. Hopefully this doesn't happen to any of my other chicks. If anyone has any ideas as to what it could have been, please let me know. It's a mystery to me.
