Dead chickens... Any answers?

[dancechick915]

I'm not sure if this is the right forum but I'm hoping some of you out there could help me figure out what happened. This past weekend my two (and only) chickens passed away. We left around 5pm Saturday and were going to be out for the night and so they were locked up then. The next morning both of my beautiful ladies were dead (the morning before my wedding, mind you). It appears that they passed sometime between when they were locked up and dusk since they were going up the ladder (I didn't see it but my husband said one was dead on the ladder rung and the other on the ground). There is no reason that I can understand why this happened- both girls had laid eggs that morning and were full of energy. Their poops were normal, both were eating and drinking and had plenty of fresh food and water, and were the complete pictures of health. It's just strange that they both went at the same time. There was nothing out of place, no holes or tears in the coop, no ruffled bedding, no mess, no wounds, no blood, nothing. It's like they fell asleep and never woke up.
We sent them in for a necropsy but something happened along the way and ups threw them out into the dumpster when they were probably 5 miles away from their destination

. I would've driven them up up myself except for the fact that I was getting married...
A little history- Henrietta has been sick 3 times in her short life. She almost died twice and made a full recovery each time. She's a major fighter and I can tell when she is starting to get sick and she was not even the tiniest bit sick. Penny, my other girl has never been sick in her life... Not even a little bit. They were both about 1 year 3 months old.
My best guess is that maybe black widows got to them or that my neighbors poisoned them (their coop backed up to our property line).
Has anyone experienced anything like this or have any ideas? I thought I would have closure but ups screwed that one up. My chickens were my babies and I saved them (from being eaten), raised them, loved them, and took great care of them. I'm so crushed right now :/

 

[Ravynscroft]

So sorry for your losses...

Was it hot that day? Could it have gotten too warm inside the coop for them?

 

[ChickNanny13]

I have no answers however want to say how sorry I am to hear of your losses.

 

[dancechick915]

So sorry for your losses...

Was it hot that day? Could it have gotten too warm inside the coop for them?

It was maybe in the low 80s... We had misters for when it went over 90 and they've been through many days in the low 100s and were always just fine. They weren't panting at all that day and showed no signs of stress.

 

[mahermic]

To me it sounds like heat exhaustion. Chickens can overheat very easily and drop dead. If they were locked up in a confined space with no fan on them in this very hot weather they will overheat and die. Is the coop in full sun, shade with a fan? A mister helps keep chickens cool or even a fan to keep the air moving. If it is hot out they will tend to not eat or drink water if the water is warm or hot. They dehydrate, overheat and just die. I am so sorry for your loss.

 

[SunflowerTheBun]

That is so sad! I originally didn't have a clue what happened to your chickens but after reading the other posts, I agree with heat exhaustion.
Even if they had survived over 100 degree days, maybe it was too humid or stuffy in the coop?
I will definitely be keeping an eye on my chickens this summer. (I'm in Aus so it's winter here now)
Sorry for your loss, how terribly awful. Thoughts are with you!

 

[dancechick915]

To me it sounds like heat exhaustion. Chickens can overheat very easily and drop dead. If they were locked up in a confined space with no fan on them in this very hot weather they will overheat and die. Is the coop in full sun, shade with a fan? A mister helps keep chickens cool or even a fan to keep the air moving. If it is hot out they will tend to not eat or drink water if the water is warm or hot. They dehydrate, overheat and just die. I am so sorry for your loss.

Their coop is in a spot that has shade... At any given time of the day there is shade in at least pet of their coop. It has lots of ventilation in it too. It was past the hottest part of the day (and living in L.A. it doesn't get too hot in general). It's a possibility, but they had lots of water and showed no signs of panting, lifted wings, or anything that day. I'm just not sure and it's hard knowing that I will never know.

 

[SunflowerTheBun]

Their coop is in a spot that has shade... At any given time of the day there is shade in at least pet of their coop. It has lots of ventilation in it too. It was past the hottest part of the day (and living in L.A. it doesn't get too hot in general). It's a possibility, but they had lots of water and showed no signs of panting, lifted wings, or anything that day. I'm just not sure and it's hard knowing that I will never know.

If it has lots of ventilation, it shouldn't have been too stuffy...
I'm sorry, and I don't know what happened. :/

 

[wigglesme]

Sorry for your loss

 

[mahermic]

If you feel heat exhaustion is ruled out it could have been an insect bite/sting. Do you have killer bees there or poisonous spiders? It would be highly unlikely that a poisonous spider would have stung them both but is they both ate a poisonous insect like chickens do share food it would make sense. Some caterpillars are deadly when eaten. I know it doesnt help the loss but know that perhaps there was probably nothing you could have done anyways.