Found dead hen in coop

[lilbirdee]

I found my 9 month old Light Brahma dead on the floor of the coop this evening. I had noticed that she was not quite herself the last few days.
Any guesses?

 

[SilverPhoenix]

It might help if you provide more details. How was she behaving? What symptoms did you notice? Did you notice anything about her dead body? Was she thin? Things like that. Basically any details you can provide will help diagnose what she might have had. Sorry for your loss, and I hope someone on here can help you figure out what killed her.

 

[lilbirdee]

She had just been sorta sitting around by herself. Kinda sad like. It's been cold so I just thought that was the problem.
She didn't seem thin at all. I can't see any other obvious signs. She was just curled up in a ball by the nesting boxes.
Everyone else seems okay. Except that I think they are upset about her dying. I normally get 5-7 eggs a day and today there were only 2.

 

[BarkerChickens]

I am so sorry to hear about your hen. Had she been laying recently? How old was she?

 

[skyedobb]

I had a 1-yr-old drop dead one night last summer. Was laying fine, eating fine, acting fine...went out to close up the coop and she was dead. I did a mini-autopsy and found what I think was an impacted crop. This wasn't long after I started my flock (started w/adults) so I was very new to chickens and didn't know what to think. That's all I found when I cut her open, though.

 

[lilbirdee]

There have been less eggs lately so she may have stopped laying. She's about 9 months old.
One of my prettiest girls. Her name was Lotus. Sniff.

 

[BarkerChickens]

Quote:
Given that she was young and you aren't sure if she laid lately, could it be that she was egg bound or an internal layer?

 

[lilbirdee]

Can being egg bound kill them?

 

[BarkerChickens]

Yes, eventually...if left untreated or if the egg breaks inside and causes an infection.

 

[lilbirdee]

Oh my poor girl. I feel awful that I might have been able to make her better. This was my first sick looking hen and I really didn't know that it was serious. So when I noticed that she was acting different, how could I have know that she was egg bound?