- Jun 19, 2012
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I raised my first 5 pullets, born this past June, from day old chicks and have grown very attached to them. Yesterday, we had an unexpected first dumping of snow in Minnesota and went from green grass to a winter wonderland covering everything with about 5 inches of snow overnight. I usually let my 5 girls out free ranging during the daylight hours unless the weather is rainy. They have access to the coop through the door all day as well. Today, I opened the coop and they all seemed surprised to see the world all white. I propped the door open as usual and they basically stayed put rather than running out. I walked away to get their feed and one bird tried to fly and land on my shoulder but instead landed in the snow. She wouldn't walk in the stuff so I picked her up and held her then put her in the coop. She seemed fine. I went back for the feed and when I returned two minutes later she came to the door, looked out, shrieked at what she saw, threw herself against the wall, threw herself into the corner, got up and threw herself down a third time and died. This tantrum like behavior was accompanied by weird shrieking noises like she was being attacked. I picked her up thinking she had fainted but she had in fact died! My husband said she had a heart attack. Is that possible? My other chickens are fine. She had no signs of any illness. The coop temperature never dropped below 25 degrees and although the snow was new we had gradually been getting cold weather for many weeks. She was an Americana and had been laying an egg almost every day. Did the snow freak her out to the point of death? How can I help my other chicken adjust? Thank you.
