??? Dead Chicken found today + visiting flock of small speckled black birds

[ellyn]

Just want some feedback on circumstances of today.

One of our chickens died last night. This chicken has been a faithful layer in the summer and fall; she has had a peculiar deficiency of feathers for an extended period of her life, but she was finally growing them back in; this happened in full force after we chose to cull out 3 birds the first part of January. They were the suspected egg eaters and bullies in the coop.

We have had a very cold winter here in NW Colorado and this girl seemed to have to work the hardest to keep warm, she also had some bleeding in egg laying at one point, was brought in to recover from one incident; improved and even laid fine eggs while in our "hen hospital". She has always been a bit of a "runt" and nervous Nelly from the get go.

We have also recently had a visiting flock of small speckled black birds...getting in the coop even. I think they have the name "jay" in their description from what I looked up last year...trying to remember.

All the other girls look healthy and fine, but I'm wondering if the BB's have brought something in to be concerned about.

We are not eating this chicken that has died...is there a protocol about that?
Should we thoroughly clean the coop after a chicken has unexpectedly died in it?

Thanks for the feed back!

 

[Den in Penn]

You didn't say how old the hen that died was ,but it sounds as if she was at least a year old. It does sound as if she had issues from the get go. Chickens can drop dead at any time, even if they have lead a perfect life. Chances the speckled birds didn't cause her death. Wild birds can carry somethings like fowl pox and mites. It is something anyone who has chickens outside has to be aware of. But you can only fight the symptoms you see.
It is better to never eat anything that dies suddenly of an unknown cause.