First dead chicken- please advise

[Husker Chick]

My chicks are just beginning to lay- all about 22 weeks. I just found a dead buff orpington in the run, with blood all over it's bottom. When I went in the coop, I found blood on the poop board. They free range every night, and I was out with them yesterday, and all seemed well, though last night, she didn't want to go into the coop, which was odd. Could she have been pecked to death? I'm so upset, I can't go look close yet. If it was from sickness, wouldn't I have seen signs if she was close to death?

 

[Pyxis]

Blood on the vent and blood on the poop board sounds like she had a lot of trouble laying an egg, not uncommon for pullets coming into lay, and she died, either by bleeding out (if you found a lot of blood) or maybe due to egg binding after not being able to pass the egg that made her bleed.