Healthy hen dead this morning!

[tiapinkston]

My husband and I are new flocksters with (now) 16 young chickens that are about 12 weeks old and free ranging during the days that we are home to keep an eye on them. All are healthy and happy - being handled every day and fed soy-free organic grower feed along with fruits and veggies from our gardens. This morning when my husband went to let them out to range, one of our young hens stayed on the perch and didn't want to come out. He picked her up and loved on her a bit then sat her down with the others that were happily eating their morning clover/bugs, but she just stood there. Even setting her in the garden (her favorite place) did not interest her in moving around. We decided to put her back in the coop for the day to keep her safe and under observation and noticed an area of watery looking blood below the perch she had been roosted on when he found her this morning. It was an area about the size of my palm. I checked her all over for wounds and checked under her tail feathers for signs of discharge but saw nothing unusual. We left her in the coop to rest and 30 minutes later when my husband checked on her she was dead in a nesting box! Does anyone have any idea what could have happend to our precious hen? We are so sad and worried about the rest of our flock now.

 

[Judy]

Welcome to our forum! And I'm so sorry. Of course, there are any number of things that can cause sudden death. But one thing you might want to consider is cocci.. Here is a couple of links:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/792579/just-found-a-dead-chick/20_20#post_11436103

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/775739/blood-in-older-chicks-stool/0_20#post_11087272

 

[realsis]

Welcome to or forum! I'm so so sorry for your loss.did she seem healthy other wise or was she lethargic and kind of puffed up and sleepy? Did you notice anything like that before she died? She could have ruptured something inside maybe. I wish I could be of more help. Were her poos normal that you could tell?

 

[tiapinkston]

She did seem lethargic and sleepy this morning which is what alerted us initially. Yesterday and last night before bed she seemed just fine. I'm wondering if something in her female development went wrong?

 

[Judy]

It's certainly a possibility. Unfortunately, ovarian cancer and internal laying are both fairly common. I recently read -- now my memory may not be entirely accurate here -- that about 1/4 of hatchery hens will die by 4 years old of one of the two problems. My little flock is all hatchery birds, or their chicks who hatched here. I had one hen die suddenly with no sign or symptom at all; she was fine one day and the next day I found her dead. She was around a year old, an EE.