Dead Chicken need to ask if anyone knows what could have happened

[rudolph10]

We have 3 Road Island Reds . We have had them for abt 3-4 yrs. They are always kept in a cage and i usually let them out to roam the yard every day for abt an hour each day.
They have hardly ever gotten sick. One of the chickens is the runt and she always gets picked on by one of the other chickens which at first was a lot but then they kinda been leaving her alone. Then lately i noticed that she was getting picked on again. Then for about a mo i noticed her comb was not standing up it was going to the side. then i noticed the other day that she could not hardly walk she would fall down it wasn't like her. Then last night i went out to check on her and it seemed like she had been just laying down a lot and i tried to get her up and she stood up then like fell down again and i tried to feed her but it seemed like she could not really see correctly she usually is very jumpy never lets me pet her but last night she just stood there and hardly moved she tried to go up to the nesting box on the ramp and couldn't get up so she laid in the run by the ramp to the nesting box then this morning i went out to check on her and she was dead. i just want to make sure whatever she had the other ones don't get it
Thanks a lot

 

[Suzi18]

Can you explain what you mean by "cage". Certainly you don't keep your chickens in a cage???

 

[rudolph10]

Can you explain what you mean by "cage". Certainly you don't keep your chickens in a cage???

 

[rudolph10]

I am sorry i meant a chicken coop and they have a run

 

[Suzi18]

whew! Ok.....that makes me feel better. I'm sorry about the loss of your chicken. Hopefully someone can help you with an answer

 

[chickengeorgeto]

It is worth repeating that chickens don't respect weak and or sick birds. Chickens see more kinds or different wavelengths of lite than we humans see. This is thought to allow hens to gauge the health and reproductive potential of other flock members.

I believe that this is why chickens don't respect weak members of the flock, their health deficiency is out there for everyone to see..

That said, 3 or 4 years is a long life for most hens.