Lindsay Jane
In the Brooder
I can home from work yesterday to bad news... my husband went out to the coop that morning to find one of our hens had died.
We had two chickens: Phoenix, a Rhode Island Red, and Pepper, a Plymouth Rock. Phoenix was found in the coop on her side, clearly dead, right under the pole where they sleep. She did not appear to have been attacked, was missing no feathers, did not have mites/fleas/skin issues. She had been acting totally normal, eating, drinking, clucking, scratching through the dirt. She hadn’t payed for a few days, but she also tended to lay a bit more intermittently than Pepper, a daily layer. No sign of being egg-bound or infection. My husband “disposed” of her before I can home, so no necropsy.
Could she have fallen from her roost while sleeping and broken her neck? Is that a thing? Or potentially was sick and we just didn’t know?
Pepper is now alone and we don’t know what to do. We are worried about an illness, though Pepper seems to be totally fine. But so did Phoenix. Pepper lays daily, is vocal and social, eats, drinks, healthy looking, etc.
Should we get another chicken, or should we wait? And should it be about the same age or younger?
Thanks in advance for your help and advice. We are a little lost.
We had two chickens: Phoenix, a Rhode Island Red, and Pepper, a Plymouth Rock. Phoenix was found in the coop on her side, clearly dead, right under the pole where they sleep. She did not appear to have been attacked, was missing no feathers, did not have mites/fleas/skin issues. She had been acting totally normal, eating, drinking, clucking, scratching through the dirt. She hadn’t payed for a few days, but she also tended to lay a bit more intermittently than Pepper, a daily layer. No sign of being egg-bound or infection. My husband “disposed” of her before I can home, so no necropsy.
Could she have fallen from her roost while sleeping and broken her neck? Is that a thing? Or potentially was sick and we just didn’t know?
Pepper is now alone and we don’t know what to do. We are worried about an illness, though Pepper seems to be totally fine. But so did Phoenix. Pepper lays daily, is vocal and social, eats, drinks, healthy looking, etc.
Should we get another chicken, or should we wait? And should it be about the same age or younger?
Thanks in advance for your help and advice. We are a little lost.
