Found hen dead...

[AshleyBelle]

I went and checked on my hens and roo today and one of our RIRs was laying outside in the run dead. She had no signs of being attacked (no blood or markings of any kind) then when I picked her up she was bloody on her lady parts. Our chickens are about 19 weeks old and just started laying last week. We are not sure which ones are laying, though.

Could she have been trying to lay an egg and died from it? Could the roo have been too rough with her? Has this happened to anyone else?

 

[Whittni]

It could have been anything really. What gets a lot of birds are the elements. How's the temperature been lately?

 

[mightymax]

First of all I'd like to say how sorry I am about your loss. And sure, it could be the result of a lot of things, but IMO, the weather isn't one of them

. You said that there was blood on "her lady parts". Could you see anything else around there? Was there anything abnormal anatomically? Like was something that belonged on the inside of the chicken now displaying itself on the outside of the chicken? As in a prolapse. Just started laying? Can you tell if she was perhaps egg bound. Do you see or feel an egg inside her? I know that these questions can appear hard or insensitive, but that's not my intention. I'm just asking them to help me understand more thoroughly what could have happened to your chicken. That's all...

 

[AshleyBelle]

Quote:
The temperature has been actually below normal for this time of year. Very pleasant...not too hot at all. I don't think the weather was the culprit.

 

[AshleyBelle]

First of all I'd like to say how sorry I am about your loss. And sure, it could be the result of a lot of things, but IMO, the weather isn't one of them

. You said that there was blood on "her lady parts". Could you see anything else around there? Was there anything abnormal anatomically? Like was something that belonged on the inside of the chicken now displaying itself on the outside of the chicken? As in a prolapse. Just started laying? Can you tell if she was perhaps egg bound. Do you see or feel an egg inside her? I know that these questions can appear hard or insensitive, but that's not my intention. I'm just asking them to help me understand more thoroughly what could have happened to your chicken. That's all...

Thank you for your sympathy. First off, I do not take anything you've stated hard or insensitive by any means! I welcome anything!

I did not see any prolapse. I felt around for an egg and didn't feel anything hard in the area. I did however find some blood along with some diarrhea on the perch. All of our hens are the same age and at least one out of 6 has started laying last week. We are getting 1 egg a day right now and I have found a couple more eggs since her death so I don't think she was laying. She may have started to lay her first egg and maybe it broke inside and caused blockage and what not.

I have concluded in the last few days that it was a freak accident. I did some research after posting my question on here and found that Rhode Island Reds have had problems with this same sort of issue. Not that other hens don't, but I specifically searched my breed. I check on my hens and roo at least 3 or 4 times a day so it surprised me that I found her. This may be too much info but when I found her, it had to have just happened because she was still warm and not stiff at all. I just hope she didn't suffer. Poor thing.

But, we have 5 hens and 1 rooster so we will be hatching chicks when their eggs get average size and will hopefully have more hens than roos!

Thanks again for your sympathy as well as your response!

Good day