Chicken Died

[bmb1881]

Hi Everybody~
I'm new to this site. New to the whole chicken thing. My husband & I got 1 rooster & 5 chickens from my brother-in-law. I think we've had them for about a month now.
We have 2 smaller chickens (a brown & white). The hens are supposed to start laying eggs in november.
Lets see... the rooster & 3 bigger chickens would always pretty much pick on the 2 smaller chickens. The 4 bigger ones at night would sleep in a dog house my brother-in-law made for my husband & I. I had a separate box with cedar chips. I would put the smaller ones in at night. With the box I would always put a board at an angle to keep them warm at night.

in the mornings I would check on the chickens let the 2 smaller ones out. The 2 smaller chickens would always hop out on their own.
I thought everything was alright. Everybody looked FINE.
Yesterday morning I didn't check on the chickens. Usually they are out on their own. My husband & i were going out for the afternoon. I looked in the dog run (that's what we have so far). I noticed 5 of the chickens. I looked around, then went inside; & was surprised to find the little white chicken dead.

I have no idea at all why the chicken died. I feel so horrible.
All the chickens were fine, no sign of sickness. Next month the females are supposed to be laying eggs.
With the white chicken there was no blood, it just layed there; in the box. (I'm thankful the chicken was in the box
& the other chickens weren't trying to eat her).
with the food & water the chickens are able to get to food.

I'm pretty puzzled about what happened.
If anybody has anything that would help I would appreciate it.
Thank you,
Bonnie

 

[TinyBirds]

It is possible for chickens to drop dead from something as simple as choking on a piece of food or eating a poisonous plant. I am guessing it wasn't a disease or you would've noticed some symptoms first. If any of the other chickens die, then at that point I would wonder about disease. With just 1 though, it could be a freak accident.

 

[PtldChick]

I noticed you wrote that you put the 2 smaller chickens in a box with cedar chips - cedar is very bad for birds and small animals (why stores and companies continue to market it for them, I don't know). I would replace the cedar with plain pine shavings right away.