Guinea hen died...eggbound?

[SunnyBird]

I found one of our guinea hens dead this morning. It's one of the 1st 4 we've ever had so I'm really new to this. We raised them as keets and she was about 10 months old. Not sure why she died, but her symptoms were: laid eggs for the first time, 1 a day for 7 days, the shell on the 7th one was a bit soft; about 3 days ago she started "nesting" under the coop, away from her other eggs; we thought this might be normal so we just watched her; she remained listless, would turn around every now and then, but basically remained in the same spot; I thought I'd give her another day before I checked under her but this morning I found her dead, no blood, no missing feathers, no bites. Was she eggbound? Would that have killed her after 3 days? Please help with some advice...I feel terrible like I neglected her in my ignorance and I have (2 males and) 1 more guinea hen who has yet to start laying and I don't want this to happen again.

 

[A Chicken Owner]

It is a possibility that she was egg bound but I think she might've been sick. Was her poo green, watery or bloody?

 

[SunnyBird]

Thank you for your response! It's possible that her feces was green and watery since I did find some like that the day before she started getting lethargic. But we have 3 other guineas so it could have been theirs...however, I haven't noticed any since she died. I'm just heartsick over it since I didn't think there was anything wrong with her behavior. I just assumed she was nesting. I'm watching our other guineas closely, but they seem fine so far. What could green, watery, and/or bloody feces mean? What precautions should I take for the rest of my birds?

 

[shanahandra]

I had a hen die on me this winter that I thought might be egg bound. She seemed fine and was laying regularly for quite a while (even through this harsh Canadian winter) and then she stopped for about a week and would hop on and off her nest and one day she looked a little listless and slow and we thought she wasn't feeling well so I looked up some stuff to try to help her feel better but in the morning she was dead. no bites, no blood ... just stiff. The other two were and are still fine so I wasn't sure if she was egg bound or sick but I was so sad (being very new at this too) that I couldn't bear to check her insides out. we think she was egg bound but we can't be sure. sorry to hear of your loss.

 

[SunnyBird]

Thank you Shanahandra...I didn't have the heart to check her insides for an egg either...