Chicken was fine in the morning and dead at the end of the day. Why?

[nealkaiser]

Hi, one of my easter eggers mysteriously died yesterday. She was fine in the morning, showing no signs of illness (that I could see). When we saw she wasn't in the coop at night we found her by herself in a corner of the yard. She was lying down and not moving. No noticeable injury or signs of an attack. Her feathers were quite fluffed up, however. She was breathing slowly. We put her in the garage where it was warm (the weather went from very warm to very cold here in new england) and she wouldn't move. She lost some fluids (clear liquid from her bottom, i guess). Then she stopped breathing after 20 min or so. My other hens seem fine. She was not even 2 years old. I know it's probably hard to tell from this, but any clues? I did de-worm them 2 months ago or so. Thanks.

 

[peopleRanimals2]

I'm sorry for your loss. I'm not a professional, but she could be egg bound, or have a disease that only shows up right before the chicken passes away. I would watch your other hens closely to look for signs of illness.

 

[MrsBachbach]

Hi, one of my easter eggers mysteriously died yesterday. She was fine in the morning, showing no signs of illness (that I could see). When we saw she wasn't in the coop at night we found her by herself in a corner of the yard. She was lying down and not moving. No noticeable injury or signs of an attack. Her feathers were quite fluffed up, however. She was breathing slowly. We put her in the garage where it was warm (the weather went from very warm to very cold here in new england) and she wouldn't move. She lost some fluids (clear liquid from her bottom, i guess). Then she stopped breathing after 20 min or so. My other hens seem fine. She was not even 2 years old. I know it's probably hard to tell from this, but any clues? I did de-worm them 2 months ago or so. Thanks.

It could be anything to tell the truth. From some disease she was carrying (chickens are good at hiding illness), something toxic she ate, to maybe a broken egg inside of her. Mysterious deaths happen and short of having a necropsy done, it's just guessing. Clear liquid from her vent either diarrhea(which means an illness) or egg white? Idk, but that sounds suspicious.