Dead Pullet in Run, No injury?

[micstrachan]

You can also send her body to your state lab for necropsy.

 

[azygous]

By all means cut her open if you have the emotional strength. I had a less than one-year old Blue Andelusian die very suddenly with no warning of anything being amiss. I cut her open and found she had been internally laying. What does that look like? Hard boiled eggs without shells in the abdominal cavity.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I agree, if you are up to it, then take a look and post photos.

I usually look in the abdomen first, at the heart/liver and reproductive system. I had a pullet die a few years ago, she had an egg in the oviduct, but she had bled out from what looked like a rupture of the liver. She died very quickly, I had finished filling a water station and I had even just talked to her, went into the house, looked out the window and she had basically just dropped dead. I sort of wish I had investigated the internals a bit more, but at the time I didn't...now I have more questions in my mind.

Here's a professional video that has the internals labeled, it's interesting.

 

[CoopBoots]

Just wanted to say a really huge "thank you" to everyone who's replied. I didn't have anywhere else to turn and your input helped me try and be logical in a really trying moment.

It's been a little tougher than I thought, even though it was my main thought when I committed to getting chicks last year, "things will go sideways sometimes and chickens already don't have a super long lifespan." My husband has never seemed incredibly interested in them but somehow he went and got attached, and it's hard for him to watch me trying to handle this practically like a farmer might. He's sees her as a pet, part of the family, and so it's weird to have me dissecting her. I seem really cold to him, I guess, and I understand it might look that way. I'm really devastated, but while I'm more worried about not understanding what might have gone wrong, he's just focused on honoring her in some way and I feel bound to respect that right now.

So while I won't be doing any dissection this time, I'll be watching the video and prepping myself for any future situation where I might need to do an examination. Fingers crossed this was a one-off thing. It's hard in general, but she was in her prime and had a much longer life ahead of her. Poor thing.

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

Just wanted to say a really huge "thank you" to everyone who's replied. I didn't have anywhere else to turn and your input helped me try and be logical in a really trying moment.

It's been a little tougher than I thought, even though it was my main thought when I committed to getting chicks last year, "things will go sideways sometimes and chickens already don't have a super long lifespan." My husband has never seemed incredibly interested in them but somehow he went and got attached, and it's hard for him to watch me trying to handle this practically like a farmer might. He's sees her as a pet, part of the family, and so it's weird to have me dissecting her. I seem really cold to him, I guess, and I understand it might look that way. I'm really devastated, but while I'm more worried about not understanding what might have gone wrong, he's just focused on honoring her in some way and I feel bound to respect that right now.

So while I won't be doing any dissection this time, I'll be watching the video and prepping myself for any future situation where I might need to do an examination. Fingers crossed this was a one-off thing. It's hard in general, but she was in her prime and had a much longer life ahead of her. Poor thing.

it's very sad to lose a chicken. I'm so sorry about your gal
you can send her off for necropsy if you keep her in the fridge,maybe that will ease your mind.

 

[ChickenHeartedHen]

This happened to me a while back- we had this really sweet buff orphinton who we found dead in the roost one morning. We didn’t know exactly what had happened. Now that I think of it, we had sprayed bug poison around our yard because of a roach problem.

I’m not sure if a few poisoned bugs could have taken down a chicken, but that’s the best guess I have. I’m sorry for your loss!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Just wanted to say a really huge "thank you" to everyone who's replied. I didn't have anywhere else to turn and your input helped me try and be logical in a really trying moment.

It's been a little tougher than I thought, even though it was my main thought when I committed to getting chicks last year, "things will go sideways sometimes and chickens already don't have a super long lifespan." My husband has never seemed incredibly interested in them but somehow he went and got attached, and it's hard for him to watch me trying to handle this practically like a farmer might. He's sees her as a pet, part of the family, and so it's weird to have me dissecting her. I seem really cold to him, I guess, and I understand it might look that way. I'm really devastated, but while I'm more worried about not understanding what might have gone wrong, he's just focused on honoring her in some way and I feel bound to respect that right now.

So while I won't be doing any dissection this time, I'll be watching the video and prepping myself for any future situation where I might need to do an examination. Fingers crossed this was a one-off thing. It's hard in general, but she was in her prime and had a much longer life ahead of her. Poor thing.