Barred Rock Chicken fell over and died right in front of me... WHY?

[Cark]

I was tending to my chickens today (they were all walking around the lawn scratching and eating) when one of my barred rock chickens (in my avatar), about 3 years old, suddenly fell over on its side and then started twitching badly... its head started twisting around and it made a few squawking noises and then it died. The whole process was about 30 seconds and it was all over. The other chickens gathered around it right when it went on its side, like they knew something was wrong. When it fell over, they all started nudging it with their heads and making noises as well like they knew it was dying.

Any ideas what this was? I'm kind of thinking it was a heart attack, stroke or organ failure..

I have 7 chickens left now and they free range all day and I feed them cracked corn mixed with layer pellets. They all seem happy and run to me when I go out there because I usually bring them scrap food that they are allowed to eat.

 

[CMV]

Sounds like a heart attack. I am sorry for your loss. At least it was quick.

 

[Cark]

Thanks... I don't know if I will ever know. It was just crazy to see.

 

[CMV]

Not too many people witness the actual occurrence of flipover or flip. It's called that because a bird is walking along without a care in the world, and suddenly it flips over and dies. The few people who have witnessed it say that there is something that looks like seizure activity just before death. As you can see from the description, it fits almost perfectly with what happened to your bird.

Again, I am sorry.