Best Guess as to Breed?

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Its very normal for broody hens to loose breast feathers. In fact, they don't loose them at all. They pluck them out and use the as cozy nesting material. The featherless patch allows them to put that bare chest right up against the eggs to keep them toasty warm I love me some broody hens.
As far as that egg goes, I don't see anything abnormal about it. I get eggs with spots like that or that are half darker and half lighter all the time. My girls that lay them are still alive an well What I do suspect is this. Hatchery birds are bred for egg production. Being bred to lay an egg everyday puts them at risk for production issues (as you said). She was probably egg bound or an internal layer, leading to her demise. I had a similar situation to yours, except mine involved two hatchery white Leghorns (my beloved Cottons #1 and #2). I though Cotton #1 had went broody (she was the sweeter of the two, only way I could tell them apart). I was flabbergasted bc Leghorns are not known for being mommas, especially hatchery bred Leghorns. Stupidly I gave her some eggs and let her get to work. Or so I thought. The day after I gave her those eggs, I came home from work to find her dead in the same nest box I'd left her in. My suspicions were confirmed when I autopsied her and found quite a few developed and undeveloped eggs all lined up waiting for their chance to escape. She was an internal layer- poor, dear, sweet Cotton #1. Still miss that girl
And yes, I'd say Baby looks like a perfectly healthy fellow. I'd be proud to have him look after my flock. You should be too
Nikki

 

[ClareScifi]

Her feathers kept disappearing after she had stopped being broody. When I finally caught her when she came out from under the house, it took her about a week or so to give up her broodiness. but more and more feathers kept disappearing, and she hadn't put them in a nest. Feather picking especially of the breast area is a symptom of hepatic fatty liver disease in both hens and roosters. She died on a very hot day, the day I left for vacation, when it got to 98 F. She had been panting a lot in the summer heat but going into the woodpile and eating a lot of watermelon had seemed to ease that condition. Had I been home to lead her to deep shade, she might have survived. My neighbor found her dead in the run, we think, at about 5 p.m. that evening. I suspect she may have had a heart attack.

When her sister went broody, the sister did not lose any breast feathers the whole time she hatched the eggs.

The girl who died had had orange legs during her broody stage. Could an internal layer or an eggbound hen get orange legs? She tried to fly the coop a few times after I put her in it. Her energy seemed good, but the panting in the heat was a red flag.

 

[ClareScifi]

This is what the poultry phD had to say about the unusual egg:


Thank you for your question and pics.

These pictures are of an egg that has abnormally passed through the shell gland where the eggshell is deposited. Ocassionally eggs will remain too long or not long enough and get an abnormally pigmented or chalky shell, such as these pictures show. Hens either coming into production or going out of production are more prone to this, but it can occur any time -- one of those quirks of Mother Nature. . . .

Usually the egg is still good to eat unless the yolk appears discolored or "boiled-like," or the albumen is not normal.
If you continue to get this type of eggshell from the same hen, it is an indication that the oviduct (part of the composite reproductive sytem where eggs are formed) has been damaged by disease or trauma.

 

[ClareScifi]

The hemorrhagic fatty liver disease is associated with hot weather, so I do wonder whether that is what got her, since she died on a very hot day. She made it all through the hot summer only to succumb on August 25, leaving her sister all alone to grieve. That is when we brought in the fertilized eggs for her sister to hatch, and that is how we got the rooster:

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publi...poultry/219/fatty-liver-haemorrhagic-syndrome

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Its possible the heat killed her. Since you said you had been feeding her starches and sugars that caused her to be over weight, the heat might have been the straw that broke the camels back. Usually when liver or heart diseases are occurring pale combs and wattles are also noted since blood isn't flowing, waste isn't processed as it should be. I haven't looked at that article since I'm busy cooking dinner, but I'll look at it as soon as I get a chance.
I suppose the orange legs could've also been a symptom caused by the heat. Maybe she suffered from heat stroke. I'm guessing you didn't autopsie her? That probably would've given some clue as to what happened. I always open them up when cause isn't readily seen on the corose. Without that, you, I and the Ph.D can guess all day long. But none of us will ever know for certain
Nikki

 

[ClareScifi]

I didn't get home from vacation until two weeks after she died, and she had been long buried, and my neighbor never did show me where he buried her.

The orange legs turned up in the early spring, when it was cool out.

Her comb was very bright red.

I have a picture of it. It had black streaks on it which freaked me out, but it turned out she had rubbed her comb on some tires or stuff under a car. It came off after a few days. I'll post a picture of her very red comb. But I think her face looks strange. After she came out from under the house when she was broody her eyes appeared almost red, instead of orange, and the area around her eyes seemed redder and darker than before?

 

[ClareScifi]

And he didn't tell me she had died until I got home, so I had no way to get her autopsied.

 

[ClareScifi]

Because he said he didn't want to ruin my vacation by telling me she died the day I left. He thinks she died the day I left so I wouldn't have to deal with her dead body and the grief and burying her, and all that awful stuff. He buried her for me, near my kitten out back somewhere. I wanted him to show me where he buried her, but he never did. I wonder whether he would still remember?

 

[ClareScifi]

This is my sweet girl who died. She was my free spirit, the runaway rebel who liked sweets. Her sister was always a perfect hen, never causing a moment of trouble, a good eater, etc., and she is still alive. She'll be 3 on St. Patrick's Day, God willing. Don't you think this girl's face looks sickly (disregard the dirty comb). The comb and wattles were bright red.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Could you post a picture of her looking normal? Other than whatever that black/crusty looking stuff is near her eye, I can't tell that she's sickly. But, I don't know what she looked like before either
Nikki