Found chicken dead in coop

[OminousOctagon]

I couldn't find anything wrong with her. Do I need to worry about my other chickens?

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

I have found dead ones in my coop off and on. What I do is check them for bugs, check the vent area and look inside the mouth. If it all looks ok then they could have just had a sudden heart attack or other internal issues I wouldn't worry unless others started dying off on you.

 

[KayTee]

A bit more information would help.

How old was the chicken that died, and did you see any symptoms in her before she died (diarrhea, lethargic, not eating etc)? Had she been immunised (for Marek's etc?)

Has anything changed recently in your setup - added new chickens, changed feed or bedding, given them something different as a treat, put them somewhere new to free-range....?

How many other chickens have you got, and have you seen any changes in any of the others recently?

The more information you can give us (even if it seems unimportant to you) the better we can help you.

As Hanging wit my peeps says, it could be a one-off, unexplained incident, or it could be the start of something more serious. It depends what is happening with the rest of your flock.

 

[OminousOctagon]

She was 3.5 months.The only things that stand out are she was my only girl with a very mild scissor beak. She struggled a bit at first and I hand fed her, but then she was doing just fine and eating with the rest of them with no issues. The other thing was that two days ago I caught the roo mounting her and it seemed awkward. He had her pinned down by her wings and was standing on them. I shooed him off and she held them funny for a few seconds but then shook it off and ran back to the rest of them like it never happened. We did introduce a rescue chicken about a month and a half ago, but she was quarantined for two weeks to make sure she wasn't sick, and then the intro went slowly since they didn't like her and she got injured. Diet changed a month ago as well, switched from dry feed to fodder. Poop, eating, drinking, all were normal as of yesterday. There was no blood, I couldn't see anything wrong with her vent, nothing in or around her beak or eyes, she was just laying on the ground dead. They aren't vaccinated, the place I ordered from said it didn't recommend it for small flocks. I'm scared I did something wrong and caused her death somehow.

 

[OminousOctagon]

Oh and nothings seemed off about any of them lately. The mounting incident with the roo is the only thing out of the ordinary I've witnessed, but now I"m going to keep a really close eye on everyone else

 

[KayTee]

The only infectious thing that springs to mind is coccidiosis. It is easily transferrable between flocks - simply visiting another flock and then coming back to your own flock wearing the same shoes that picked up oocysts from the infected flock can cause a problem. I am not saying that it is what caused your girl to die, just that it could be a possibility.

I lost a chicken to coocidiosis a few months ago - she had no blood in her poop (although a few of her poops were thick and sticky, not hard as usual), and none of my other girls were infected. The chicken that I lost was the weakest of the flock, and had other health problems a few months before she died. The fact that she was already weak probably made her more susceptible to the disease whilst the other, stronger, girls fought it off.

As a precaution I would suggest that you treat your flock for coccidiosis - the medication is not aggressive, and it is a case of 'better safe than sorry'.