Are my other chickens going to be okay? Cause of death- Unknown- *graphic pix*

[theminimizer]

My 6 month old cream legbar with beautiful feathers and a gorgeous red comb laid me a soft shelled egg yesterday. Then that night she was dead.
I palpated and felt nothing like a stuck egg, but I did find this bleeding on her vent.
Devastating to lose ANY birds, but is this a "one bird problem" or is this something the rest of my flock might catch? OR something I can do to prevent?
Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. Her vent looks swollen which could have been a stuck egg or a prolapsed vent. The blood could be from vent pecking by others, or it could be from inside. Does it appear that her vent was pecked or injured? When chickens get egg bound, that can be from too large of an egg, a soft or shell-less egg, a lack of calcium in the diet, among other possible causes. Once a hen gets egg bound, there can be another egg right behind it.

I doubt that this was anything contagious, but more of a reproductive problem. A prolapsed vent is red, and that can attract pecking by inquisitive chickens. Vent pecking can lead to cannibalism. I would make sure that your chickens have either a layer type feed or crushed oyster shell available, and are not overcrowded or fighting because they are bored.