Dead Buff Orpington

[DelilahJones]

I came home from work to find one of our 1 year old Buffs (Buffy) dead in the run. We have 9 chickens. They were all fine and normal when I came home for lunch. I don't see any signs of a struggle or intruder and I don't see any injuries on her body. The other 8 all seem fine.
I sat with them last night for about 15 minutes and they all were acting completely normal. Buffy was our biggest bird and I watched her launch herself from the top of the nesting boxes to the roosting pole which is funny to watch because the pole really wobbles when she lands and anyone else on the pole really has to hold on tight.

Any ideas on what may have happened? Heart attack? Disease? How would I know if she was egg bound

 

[gina4animals]

We had a year old rooster die right in front of me, if I had not seen it I would never have known how he died. Some kids were in our pen trying to pick up a hen, they were all running around in a circle (including the roo) and then all of a sudden he fell over, convulsed and died. I think the stress of being chased caused a heart attack. I will never let kids do that again! Possibly, something made your hens stressed out - a predator nearby or a sudden loud noise, and she had a heart attack. Luckily for us, it was quick, and like I said before, I was actually glad I was there or else I would have always wondered. Good luck with this - I know how attached you can get.