7 mo old pullet died suddenly; what should I be looking for?

[Jgrzyosbo]

Yesterday my 7 month old SLW looked fine in the morning, and laid a normal egg mid-morning. Early afternoon she looked lethargic and sleepy, then died within an hour or so. I did take her to UCONN for a necropsy, but might not get the preliminary report until Monday. Meanwhile I am overly worried about the rest of my little flock. All 7 look great, but so did Roo until the last hour.

We called her Roo because she was such a big chick, and grew so fast, that we thought she was probably a rooster. But no, at 19 weeks she started laying. She had a big, fat, red rose comb you could see a mile away; when she died it had faded to almost white. Is that normal when they die? The rest of her looked perfect, clean glossy feathers. She was a big girl near the top of the pecking order, no one picked on her. No injuries, no symptoms.

I am heartbroken. But should I be looking out for anything for my other hens?

Thank you for your help and support.

UPDATE: The necropsy report says she had fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome. My vet is going to call me to review the report, I will follow his recommendations for feeding.

 

[Allthefloofs]

UPDATE: The necropsy report says she had fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome. My vet is going to call me to review the report, I will follow his recommendations for feeding.

Oh boy. So sorry. Your story sounded so similar to mine, the sleepiness seemed really telling. Most of the steps we took didn't really make any more work for us. Glad you got results back so quickly, ours took 5 weeks.

 

[Jgrzyosbo]

Oh boy. So sorry. Your story sounded so similar to mine, the sleepiness seemed really telling. Most of the steps we took didn't really make any more work for us. Glad you got results back so quickly, ours took 5 weeks.

Thank you for sharing your story. After reading you post and doing some research, I was pretty sure what the necropsy would say. For me, the clincher was the pale comb, hers was always so big and red until the end.

 

[Jgrzyosbo]

Bummer - so sorry to hear. I lost one last week, one of my best layers - after soft shells, internal laying...and apparent oviduct rupture. Clearly a different cause.

Will look in later to learn what happened to your girl. Meantime, maybe check the run for any kind of mystery/poisonous plant she might have gotten at?

Thanks again for responding. I am so sorry for your loss.