Dead chicken this morning :(

[4kidsandchicks]

I found one of my hens dead in the yard this morning. (I have a coop with a secure attached yard so I can leave the pop up door open without threat of predator. The coop has a heat lamp so it is warm enough, there was plenty of fid and water.) She looked like she had just lay down and died, with no apparent injury. She seemed fine yesterday. None of my other 10 chickens are showing any signs of injury or illness. Should I examine her body to see if it was egg binding or some other physical issue? This is my first year as a chicken owner -- just since last spring. All 6 of my brown egg layers laid an egg yesterday, so she was fine then. What should i be looking for?

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas and

! Happy you joined our flock but sorry it's under these circumstances.

Sad to say, sometimes it's just a mystery and a chicken up and dies. I have found birds that were heathy when I put them away the night before - dead on the floor of the coop the next a.m. Or a bird dead in the yard without a feather out of place. I mean, I am sure there is a reason but it may not have been preventable on your part. I'd exam her but don't be disheartened if you don't find the cause. I did a BYC search with the words 'dead chicken no sign' and a few old threads popped up - you might give them a look and see what others have come up with after a mystery death. https://www.backyardchickens.com/newsearch?search=chicken+dead+no+sign
Best wishes and thanks for joining BYC!

 

[CuzChickens]

Hello there, and welcome to Backyard Chickens! I am quite glad you decided to join the flock, and please make yourself at home here! Enjoy BYC!

~Cuz

 

[Teila]

G’Day from down under 4kidsandchicks

Welcome!

I am sorry to hear of your loss. As redsoxs has mentioned, sudden death in chickens sadly does happen. There could be multiple causes and unless you send her body for a necropsy, you will probably never know for sure what caused her demise.

Keep a close eye on the remainder of the flock, just in case they show signs of anything out of the ordinary.

I hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun. Unlike non chicken loving friends, family and colleagues, BYC’ers never tire of stories or pictures that feature our feathered and non feathered friends

 

[Pork Pie]

Hello and welcome to BYC. Sorry to hear of your loss. If you search for "sudden death syndrome" you may find threads on the topic, but basically it's just a name for "who knows?".

 

[NickyKnack]

There's a lot of great peeps here! Feel free to ask lots of questions. But most of all, make yourself at home. I'm so glad you decided to join the BYC family. I look forward to seeing you around the run. So sorry for your loss. It's never easy to lose a feathered friend. She seems to have passed peacefully.

 

[drumstick diva]

So sorry for your loss

please don't beat yourself up about it.

 

[N F C]

So sorry to hear you lost one of your girls, that can be difficult to deal with, especially without knowing the cause. I think that happens to most everyone at some point.

Glad to hear your others seem to be fine.