Celcampbell23
Chirping
My flock: 2 laying hens and one who is mothering chicks (all 1 year)
2 pullets (16 weeks)
3 chicks (8 weeks)
- Free range
Today I found one of my hens dead outside of the coop. No visible injury or sign of a predator as far as I could tell.
Some background: Sunday I noticed that hen up by my front porch just hanging out. She was eating fine, scratching around and would occasionally rest but nothing about her appearance or actions alarmed me outside of the fact that she was alone. She was my air headed hen so I thought she must have gotten distracted by something and the flock left her behind. She eventually caught back up with them and then headed into the coop for the night.
Monday and Tuesday I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary but after looking back on my doorbell camera footage, they were definitely avoiding her somewhat those days too. She seemed perfectly fine though otherwise. Eating, drinking, laying, etc.
I watched the camera back from Tuesday night as they all headed to the coop, and that was the last I saw of her. I imagine she had to have died shortly after heading to the coop.
It was rainy yesterday so I wasn’t outside much. But this morning I noticed she wasn’t there and went and found her. She was on her stomach with her legs kicked out behind her. It looked like she had simply jumped up onto the wall of the run and fell straight forward (they have an open roof run, though they rarely use it since they free range).
I truly have no idea what could have happened. She laid an egg the day she died, she was eating and drinking, no signs of distress. The only sign I had was the chickens subtly avoiding her. I know they can sometimes tell if a hen is sick, but I was completely blindsided. How did I miss this? Does anyone know what could have happened?
2 pullets (16 weeks)
3 chicks (8 weeks)
- Free range
Today I found one of my hens dead outside of the coop. No visible injury or sign of a predator as far as I could tell.
Some background: Sunday I noticed that hen up by my front porch just hanging out. She was eating fine, scratching around and would occasionally rest but nothing about her appearance or actions alarmed me outside of the fact that she was alone. She was my air headed hen so I thought she must have gotten distracted by something and the flock left her behind. She eventually caught back up with them and then headed into the coop for the night.
Monday and Tuesday I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary but after looking back on my doorbell camera footage, they were definitely avoiding her somewhat those days too. She seemed perfectly fine though otherwise. Eating, drinking, laying, etc.
I watched the camera back from Tuesday night as they all headed to the coop, and that was the last I saw of her. I imagine she had to have died shortly after heading to the coop.
It was rainy yesterday so I wasn’t outside much. But this morning I noticed she wasn’t there and went and found her. She was on her stomach with her legs kicked out behind her. It looked like she had simply jumped up onto the wall of the run and fell straight forward (they have an open roof run, though they rarely use it since they free range).
I truly have no idea what could have happened. She laid an egg the day she died, she was eating and drinking, no signs of distress. The only sign I had was the chickens subtly avoiding her. I know they can sometimes tell if a hen is sick, but I was completely blindsided. How did I miss this? Does anyone know what could have happened?
