4 dead birds in 1 day

[Oliveoil12]

HopeI can find some answers here I just found 4 of my hens dead.
I havd 10 ladies in my backyard flock I went out to give them zucchini and saw one dead under the coop house. I ran in to tell the hubby about it and told him I though more were dead since they usually come out of the coop when they hear me giving them snacks. Sure enough when he opened the doors to the nesting boxes there were 3 more. They were all in the same nesting box on top of each other with their heads all toward the inside of the coop. This is the first time I’ve had one die and I’m pretty upset I lost 4. Hubby said they were intact and didn’t look like it was an animal attack.

 

[JudysMuscovy]

Could it had been a snake they will strangle the hen if it's trying to get the eggs ? The hen shows no sign of a predator- just a thought

 

[sylviethecochin]

All of them dying at once means that the cause is probably environmental. If it were an illness, you should have seen symptoms, and the deaths would be more strung-out.

I strongly suspect poison. Have you put any out recently? (Antifreeze, anything toxic...) Do any of your neighbours dislike your chickens?

Where are you regionally? I met a kid who had a dog die after a scorpion hit it, and if a bunch of hens were attacking one...

I would lock up your girls and figure out what it was that killed them before letting them loose again.

EDT: Just a thought--I've heard of parrots dying after they ate some lead. Are there any places in your coop with exposed toxic stuff? Some sort of paint, maybe?

 

[Redhead Rae]

HopeI can find some answers here I just found 4 of my hens dead.
I havd 10 ladies in my backyard flock I went out to give them zucchini and saw one dead under the coop house. I ran in to tell the hubby about it and told him I though more were dead since they usually come out of the coop when they hear me giving them snacks. Sure enough when he opened the doors to the nesting boxes there were 3 more. They were all in the same nesting box on top of each other with their heads all toward the inside of the coop. This is the first time I’ve had one die and I’m pretty upset I lost 4. Hubby said they were intact and didn’t look like it was an animal attack.

How hot is it where you are? It could be heat stroke.

 

[Oliveoil12]

Could it had been a snake they will strangle the hen if it's trying to get the eggs ? The hen shows no sign of a predator- just a thought

My husband said that the necks looks normal just stiff. We haven’t seen snake before and haven’t had eggs missing

 

[Oliveoil12]

All of them dying at once means that the cause is probably environmental. If it were an illness, you should have seen symptoms, and the deaths would be more strung-out.

I strongly suspect poison. Have you put any out recently? (Antifreeze, anything toxic...) Do any of your neighbours dislike your chickens?

Where are you regionally? I met a kid who had a dog die after a scorpion hit it, and if a bunch of hens were attacking one...

I would lock up your girls and figure out what it was that killed them before letting them loose again.

EDT: Just a thought--I've heard of parrots dying after they ate some lead. Are there any places in your coop with exposed toxic stuff? Some sort of paint, maybe?

All of our neighbors are okay with them ...the pest guy did come out the day before and spray the house. We weren’t home when he came by. Oh man I hope he didn’t spray the coop !

 

[JudysMuscovy]

My husband said that the necks looks normal just stiff. We haven’t seen snake before and haven’t had eggs missing

Well that's good- so nope probably not snake but it's possible heat related or poisoning of some sort like some others have mentioned.
I do know how hard it is when something like this happens

 

[Oliveoil12]

How hot is it where you are? It could be heat stroke.

It’s hot 100 degrees. One of my girlfriends who has chickens said it was prob. The hot weather. Just seams wierd that 3 we’re in the same box

 

[cwren]

All of our neighbors are okay with them ...the pest guy did come out the day before and spray the house. We weren’t home when he came by. Oh man I hope he didn’t spray the coop !

my neighbor lost 4 horses when the neighbor had his lawn sprayed. She had autopsy on one and it had liver damage. I would get the remaining hens away from the sprayed yard for awhile and ask the company where it was sprayed--and never have it sprayed again. A few dandelions and clover etc.. just think of it as an 'herbal lawn' keep it cut w/ mower or if you can't reach that way use a weed whacker.

 

[rebrascora]

I'm so very sorry for your loss. That must have been really distressing!

The only way to find out is to send a bird for a necropsy. If you refrigerate the carcasses and then get in touch with your state Agricultural or Veterinary Diagnostics lab to enquire about what it costs and how you go about it. These services are often subsidised by the state to protect the food chain.
It seems to me that the 3 birds in the nest box were hiding if they were all in there together facing the corner. I would examine the one outside closely for any puncture wounds. It is possible the 3 in the nest box died of heat stoke because they were all packed in together and too frightened to come out. The dead one outside might hold the clue.