Found dead hen last night

[hennotrooster]

I have been reading through your posts for some clues to what could have happened to my hen as well. I did not notice any illness symptoms but found her dead below the perch this morning.
We do have tons of black widows here- can spider bites kill a chicken? I felt her to see if an egg could have been stuck, but honestly I don't know what to feel for. There was nothing obviously there. I guess I will keep a close eye on the others and hope for the best.

Last year it appeared all of the chickens got fowl pox (black spots on thier combs)- I thought I read that once they get this (like humans and chickenpox) they will not have it again. I did notice that several have these small spots on their combs again. Was it misdiagnosed all along? What could this be?

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Our chickens eat black widows freaked me out the first time I seen them do this, waiting for them fall over dead from the poison but they are fine. There are some spiders they won't touch but they love black widows and actually look for them when they get in the greenhouse.