Dead Barred Rock??

[Mom4ever]

Today we found one of our 5 month old Barred rock hens laying dead in the coop. No signs of anything. Our 11 hens are beginning to lay eggs as it is about that time. The one we found dead was a hen that could somehow get out of the 6 ft enclosed run when all the other couldn't and she didn't always seem to be happy about going in the coop at night. Going in was not alarming to me as for some odd reasons we have several hens and roosters who choose to perch up either out somewhere in the woods or in their run instead of going in the coop. All of our other hens(breeds) always all went in.
I did check her feathers and underlying to make sure there was no injuries and well. Very odd and sad. Has anyone else dealt with anything similar? Our flock resides in NH

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry to hear about your pullet.

The only way to know why she died would be to investigate further through necropsy. If you still have the body, refrigerate it and make arrangements with your state lab. https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html

 

[Mom4ever]

I'm sorry to hear about your pullet.

The only way to know why she died would be to investigate further through necropsy. If you still have the body, refrigerate it and make arrangements with your state lab. https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html

Well he buried it last night but that is great to know for future issues. We check the feather, skin and even cut up to look under the skin. Look from what we saw a healthy hen.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Well he buried it last night but that is great to know for future issues. We check the feather, skin and even cut up to look under the skin. Look from what we saw a healthy hen.

Did you happen to look at any of her organs?

Possibly just heart failure. I had a cockerel suddenly go down several years back, he seemed to fit and fine, then suddenly he wasn't, in a matter of minutes he died. I thought maybe he had choked or ?? So I did an informal exam on him. His heart was not quite right, so I figured he'd just had heart failure.
You just never know. Chickens like anything else can have defects, abnormalities, etc. and just suddenly be gone.

 

[Mom4ever]

Did you happen to look at any of her organs?

Possibly just heart failure. I had a cockerel suddenly go down several years back, he seemed to fit and fine, then suddenly he wasn't, in a matter of minutes he died. I thought maybe he had choked or ?? So I did an informal exam on him. His heart was not quite right, so I figured he'd just had heart failure.
You just never know. Chickens like anything else can have defects, abnormalities, etc. and just suddenly be gone.

No unfortunately we did not check her insides. I did noticed today when checking for eggs I found a soft shell egg broken in the shavings. Not sure if that was from her or not. The barred rocks are an interesting breed.

 

[Steventhechickenman]

Today we found one of our 5 month old Barred rock hens laying dead in the coop. No signs of anything. Our 11 hens are beginning to lay eggs as it is about that time. The one we found dead was a hen that could somehow get out of the 6 ft enclosed run when all the other couldn't and she didn't always seem to be happy about going in the coop at night. Going in was not alarming to me as for some odd reasons we have several hens and roosters who choose to perch up either out somewhere in the woods or in their run instead of going in the coop. All of our other hens(breeds) always all went in.
I did check her feathers and underlying to make sure there was no injuries and well. Very odd and sad. Has anyone else dealt with anything similar? Our flock resides in NH

I live in New ipswich