6 month pullet found dead no injuries

[HeathenHavenHomestead]

Somehow every chicken my husband loves dies.

does he have the kiss of death??

tonight at lock up of our free range chickens we found our California tan laying near the coop dead.

She had no injuries.

She was the only one who interacted with us and literally made herself at home anytime our door was open.

She not only walked in the house today but also jumped up in our truck in our toddlers car seat while our toddler was in it!

My toddler had a small piece of dark chocolate that I believe we might have thrown out of the
It was peppermint with dark chocolate Ghirardelli squares. Maybe 1/4 was thrown out of the truck. Could this have killed her??

we’ve wracked our brains and that’s all we can think of could be possibly thrown out of the truck.

otherwise she was completely healthy and laying and eating/drinking.

 

[azygous]

Your husband's love for chickens is not pathogenic. Love is actually healthy for chickens.

But chocolate is deadly. Dark chocolate especially has high cocoa content and also caffeine. It can kill a chicken in less than 24 hours after it eats it.

You are not alone in having a toddler accidentally drop something a chicken eats and dies from. Toddlers can be quite hazardous to chickens.

 

[HeathenHavenHomestead]

Your husband's love for chickens is not pathogenic. Love is actually healthy for chickens.

But chocolate is deadly. Dark chocolate especially has high cocoa content and also caffeine. It can kill a chicken in less than 24 hours after it eats it.

You are not alone in having a toddler accidentally drop something a chicken eats and dies from. Toddlers can be quite hazardous to chickens.

this is what I feared.

Ghirardelli even added on the package how pure the cocoa was.

I can’t imagine that such a small amount would do that.

This really sucks since she was the only one that would try and fly up into our arms and wanted love and affection. The other 12 run away from us ): ughhh… thank you for your input

 

[azygous]

Many of us know exactly how you're feeling. Personally, I have killed so many of my chickens with stupidity, it's a wonder I still have any left. It's called a learning curve, and it sure does hurt sometimes.

 

[HeathenHavenHomestead]

Many of us know exactly how you're feeling. Personally, I have killed so many of my chickens with stupidity, it's a wonder I still have any left. It's called a learning curve, and it sure does hurt sometimes.

That is exactly what my husband said. He said it’s all a learning experience and we learned to never throw chocolate out of the truck again

 

[azygous]

Baby chicks are the remedy to chicken grief.

 

[HeathenHavenHomestead]

Baby chicks are the remedy to chicken grief.

lol except we free range and in fall they are the perfect snacks to our Cooper’s hawks.

so we’ve had a new development.

it turns out the chicken who died was not our Lady so now we are even more confused then before on what could have killed her. /:

 

[azygous]

Do you mean it was not you chicken? I'm happy to hear the favorite chicken is still alive, if I understand correctly.

 

[HeathenHavenHomestead]

Do you mean it was not you chicken? I'm happy to hear the favorite chicken is still alive, if I understand correctly.

Still one of our Pullets but not the one we thought.

The pullet who died did not interact with us and was one of 2 favorites of our main rooster. We’re confused on what happened to her since my husband said the only chicken around the chocolate was Ladybird.

We’re just heavily confused and my husband doesn’t want to send off for necropsy since it’s “just a chicken”

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. Most state vets including yours can perform a necropsy (autopsy) to find a cause of death. It helps because it can help you know if something might affect your other chickens. The body must be kept cold and wrapped in clean plastic bags before you take it to the state vet or ship it overnight. Here is a list of most state vets which you can contact for prices and info:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html