Chicken found dead in the run today...

[SuburbanSue]

My poor ChickiePoo, will I ever know what happened? I was in the coop with them last night and they were all fine. Didn't notice anything different. Would it be from any disease and how do I know what to do for the other 6? I'm in shock. I have no clue what happened but if something is wrong I need to know. Any suggestions?

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Sometimes it just happens for no reason.

I've had it happen before.

Could be a heart attack, could be she ate something bad.... all kinds of reasons.

If she wasn't sick there probably wasn't anything you could do for her.

Sorry for your loss.

ETA: Make sure you are picking them up at least once a week and checking for things like runny eyes, noses, mites, weight, etc...

 

[CheerioLounge]

Oh Sue, so sorry to hear this...

 

[Junaleefarm]

Depending on where you live you could call your extension service and possibly have them refer you somewhere you could have a necropsy performed. As stated sometimes things just happen but generally you would have noticed if your chicken was suffering from some disease.

 

[donnavee]

That happened to me a couple of years ago - my beautiful Australorp "Big Mama" was fine the night before and I even saw her in the run the next morning. Then, a couple of hrs later, she was laying dead exactly where I had seen her last. She was one of my original chickens and I cried for at least 2 days over her loss. I'm even tearing up now as I think about it. It's tough but sometimes it just happens.

 

[aoxa]

It's happened to me as well.

so sorry for your loss

 

[LT]

It is a terrible loss, and I am sorry you have to got through it. This happened to us this summer; our girl seemed perfectly fine the night before, but my husband found her dead the next morning. All of our other girls were fine. I guess sometimes it truly is survival of the fittest.

 

[tuckertori]

I lost one of my "girly girls" about a month ago and have no idea what happened. No signs of respiratory illness, no signs of worms, she had been eating, drinking and behaving normally. I was relieved that no one else got sick, but sure was nervous for about 10 days. Sorry to hear you lost your girls. Silly as it sounds, it was sad for us.

 

[nuttyredhead]

Im so sorry. Just keep a close eye on the others, and as another poster said pick them up at least once a week to check them over.

 

[bloom chicks]

I'm so sorry for your loss.