Heartbroken -- I've lost a hen for the first time… no idea what happened to her

[The Coop Crew]

I’m so sorry for your loss

 

[dvsmith]

Sorry for your loss. If you can keep her body cold in a cooler on ice or refrigerated until morning, you can take her in to your state vet lab for a necropsy. That is the best way to get a diagnosis. Here is a list of contacts for your state vet lab:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html

Thankfully, North Carolina State University has an incredible diagnostic veterinary lab, and it’s only 30 minutes from my house. I just dropped off her body for necropsy and should have some answers in two days.

The rest of the flock is acting completely normally but we are keeping a close eye, especially on our remaining Marans.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

 

[Eggcessive]

Let us know when you get the results, temporary or final results. If you can post the report with your name and address blocked out, that can be helpful and educational.

 

[dvsmith]

The necropsy determined that cause of death was most likely coccidiosis. We’ve seen no signs of bloody, foamy, or yellow stools. I picked up a bottle of Corid this morning and have begun a five day treatment in their water.

 

[FrostRanger]

It's good you got a necropsy then. Diseases have a usual set of symptoms but sometimes you'll get a strain or individual bird that won't have the usual set of symptoms. I lost 2 birds to wet fowl pox last year. Typical signs are white stuff in the throat. Neither bird had that but a necropsy confirmed it was indeed wet fowl pox, the junk the disease caused was just further down where I couldn't see it

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Wow. Thank you, both for getting the necropsy and for sharing the results here. Again, I am so sorry for your loss.

 

[RiDaGeckoGuy]

View attachment 3894588

The necropsy determined that cause of death was most likely coccidiosis. We’ve seen no signs of bloody, foamy, or yellow stools. I picked up a bottle of Corid this morning and have begun a five day treatment in their water.

Same thing happened to my maran hei hei, he showed no symptoms of anything and dropped dead, then I found bloody poop and got corid but still lost 25% of my chickens the next day

 

[dvsmith]

Same thing happened to my maran hei hei, he showed no symptoms of anything and dropped dead, then I found bloody poop and got corid but still lost 25% of my chickens the next day

Argh. That’s awful.

 

[NewChickenmama06]

A short while ago, I discovered one of my 12 week old Cuckoo Marans, Fifi, laying motionless at a funny angle under the henhouse inside the run. I retrieved her body -- no apparent injuries; her legs and wings were stiff, her eyes closed and slightly sunken, but her head and neck just flops around.

View attachment 3890918

She and her sisters had been acting completely normal yesterday -- it's very hot (100°F / 38C) today, but their coop is in the shade and they have plenty of cool, clean water and have been eating normally. They are on a 20% start and grow feed, with occasional (chicken-safe) scraps, including some fresh basil yesterday evening. The coop perimeter is intact and no signs of predator intrusion. I have a camera in the run, but of course, her body was almost directly underneath of it, in the only real blind spot.

View attachment 3890917

Is it possible that she could have broken her neck? My partner and I are just heartbroken -- Fifi and her sister, Freda, were the youngest of the flock, because we really wanted to have some Marans in the mix.

I'm so sorry for your loss. I lost a sweet 8 week old chick yesterday and its heartbreaking .
A few years back, something similar happened to us. It was very hot outside and we found one of our healthy hens dead in the coop in front of the food dish. Even though we had cold water and was giving them frozen water with corn, it still happened. It was our first loss as well and it was heartbreaking. We chalked it up to the heat. The rest of the flock was fine. My husband installed a fan in the coop to help with ventilation and draw in some cooler air from outside. This helped alot. Unfortunately, it doesn't help in the run on those very hot days.