Found dead chicken

[ctcasper]

We found our Barred Rock hen dead in the coop this morning.

She was fine last night. We had really low temps, -20 degrees and there water has been freezing so they haven't had a constant supply. Could it be just these conditions or should I be worried about my other chickens? She is about 7 or 8 months old. We don't spend an incredible amount of time with them, so she may have been behaving differently and we may have not noticed, but besides one of my buffs being over mated they all seem to be doing okay. No bleeding anymore, they did some right at the start of the cold weather from their combs and wattles, but it healed just fine. We have another barred hen, a barred roo, 4 buff hens, a buff roo, a gold sex link hen and a mystery hen all in a very confined space, but they stay warm that way so I don't what else to do????

Note: my roos get along incredibly well and don't fight much at all besides the alpha chasing away the younger one when he mates once in a while.

 

[EllyMae]

I had a mystery death like that in November...pullet was around the same age as yours...I guess it's just one of those things that go unexplained...

 

[NYREDS]

This happens once in awhile, a bird that appears perfectly healthy one day is found dead the next. In most cases this is the result of a heart attack. As long as the bird in question &/or any others in the same flock are not showing any symptoms of illness I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[ctcasper]

I was just told that drastic drops in temperature, like last night when it went from above zero to 20 below throughout the night, will cause this type of a death in some chickens. I think I am going to try and move them into the garage tonight and make sure they have clean bedding and sanitize the waterer and maybe put some DE in the bedding. Thanks for your responses.

 

[Chickenaddict]

I am soo sorry for your loss ctcasper, it was a cold one last night. I haven't lost one of my bantams so far and this is the second winter. I wrap their run in tarps and lay down at least 6 inches of straw and put a heat lamp in the coop sometimes 2 on those really bad -40 with the windchill or colder. Usually one heat lamp is good enough to keep the water from freezing too bad.

 

[Laskaland]

Quote:
Do you have any heat in the coop?
Christina

 

[Jenski]

Even going without water for a couple of hours is enough to stress a laying hen enough to stop laying in some cases. It is so important to have a steady supply of water; do you have a power supply so you can have a heated waterer in the coop in winter?

 

[CarlaRiggs]

If a hen is having trouble with her comb because of cold weather, and/or the water is freezing in the coop, I would do my best to warm up the area.
I know that many people write their chickens are 'doing okay', but if it's that cold, I just don't believe they are okay. I would think besides being so cold and uncomfortable with a painful comb, that the stress would make a chicken more susceptible to disease.
Our nights have gotten down to the low 30's, which is a far cry from your temps.

But I've covered the coop with a nice quilt, and over that a blue tarp. I've checked on them once or twice late in the evening, and have noticed that the birds don't always roost really close together for warmth.
Brrrrr!

I'm sorry the hen had problems, and hope it wasn't something contagious.

Carla