Dead Leghorn: found with bloody rear end.

[MDliving]

while collecting eggs this afternoon, I noticed a chicken in a corner of the pen; she was dead. from the color of her comb, it looks as if she has been dead for a few days (I'm not always the one collecting eggs, so one of the children could have not noticed it). there were no symptoms of this death, all of the chickens are laying very well, and all look really healthy. after removing her from the pen, I noticed that her vent area was bloody and also looks still fresh. I'm not sure what happened to her and want to be prepared if this were to come up again. has this ever happened to you, do you know what it is, and should I treat the rest of my flock?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

She seems to be a victim of cannibalism. This is very common among chickens. Her face and comb is healthy looking, at least it is healthy looking for a dead hen. Also I am not seeing any fat reserves around her vent.

How old do you estimate that she is?

 

[MDliving]

she is around a year old if I were to guess. I have a bunch of leghorns in the same coop varying from 2 1/2 years old to about 10 months.