Came home and found my 18 month old black sex link hen dead in her nesting box.

[WMolinaroli]

HI,

My hens have been doing well, running around, playing, eating, laying. Tonight, I came home and one of my barred rock females was dead in the nesting box. She was fine this morning. Does anyone have any ideas what could have happened? This was not the hottest day. We have had hot days here with heat indexes up to 117. We have them in shade with a fan running. I put electrolytes in one water container, and water with a bit of cider vinegar in the other. I collect grass and edible weeds for them to eat. Everyone else looks okay. We had some rain, so the run is fragrant. I intended to get some lime this weekend. Does anyone have any ideas as to what happened? Are my other hens in danger?

 

[Tookie]

So sorry for your loss.

In my opinion, I think it was the heat. It's much worse for them when in the nesting box, as it can get quite hot in there.

Sounds to me you're doing well with your flock and the heat.
How I help my flock out with the heat, is wetting down an area they like to hang around at with water, water dishes for them to stand in, cold water for them to drink, ice packs scattered around, and some cold treats.

 

[WMolinaroli]

So sorry for your loss.

In my opinion, I think it was the heat. It's much worse for them when in the nesting box, as it can get quite hot in there.

Sounds to me you're doing well with your flock and the heat.
How I help my flock out with the heat, is wetting down an area they like to hang around at with water, water dishes for them to stand in, cold water for them to drink, ice packs scattered around, and some cold treats.

Thank you. Dizzy Lizzy was a sweetie. I agree. I think it was the heat. To be safe, I deep cleaned the coop, the nesting boxes and raked the run. My remaining six look happy and healthy.