chicken just dropped dead

[angieryall]

My big fat mixed Australorp hen showed no signs of being unhealthy. She has been eating fine and growing like a weed. When I went out to the coop this morning, she was dead on the floor. The only thing different is let them out in the yard for the first time yesterday. I had to catch some of them with a big net to get them back in the coop. She was one of those. I hope I didn't hurt her. She didnt seem to be hurt and was sitting on egg that evening. Now I'm afraid she had a disease and my others will get sick. Im new to this......help!!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

How old? You said big fat hen, what have they been eating?

 

[CMV]

Few diseases kill a seemingly healthy bird without warning. Usually birds show signs of illness before they die. A bird that suddenly drops dead is generally related to one of two things- an unseen health issue (bad heart, aneurism) or a sudden, startled flight into an unforgiving surface (head injury, broken neck, lacerated liver).

Keep an eye on the rest of the flock for the next week or two. Hopefully, you will have nothing come of it except a more intimate knowledge of your birds, but if there is something brewing, you will see it before it becomes fatal for any other birds. Other than that- there is not much else to do in the absence of any overt problem other than this one fatality. Try not to worry in the meantime.

I am sorry for your loss.

 

[angieryall]

Thank you! She had been growing very fast. I was starting to think she was a Jersey Giant! Everybody else seems fine....fingers crossed.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I still haven't heard how old or what they were eating.

I once killed a great hen from too much scratch. Fine one day, dead the next. A necropsy showed she was packed with fat.