Help, my wyandotte just died

[Eggcessive]

I would definitely keep the chickens away from the compost pile. Many people let chickens dig around them, and botulism can be a problem if chickens eat vegetation or part of an animal carcass that has been underground, under water without oxygen in an anaerobic environment.

Your hen may have not had botulism at all, unless she seemed paralyzed. Symptoms include paralysis that starts in the feet rapidly progressing up the spinal nerves to the wings, neck, and eyes, causing death from paralysis of the breathing muscles. But it might be good to keep the others from eating that. So sorry for your loss.

 

[Hen Pen Jem]

Greetings Hedwig Chicken, I am so sorry for your loss.

 

[Hedwig Chicken]

@Hen Pen Jem Thank you for the time and effort you took to create this wonderful sympathy card. You made me cry (some more).

@Eggcessive @casportpony

I will definitely clean away the compost pile. I hope it isn't botulism though. But the symptoms seem about right:

She first laid down and stopped moving, then she wasn't able to hold her head straight up... and died.

It took 30 minutes from the time I first saw her laid down to the time she died. I was outside with them all morning building them bigger coop.

But my flock was it's natural joyous self today. Pecking at my behind while I was building their future coop.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I had a friend in Florida who's entire flock of chicks died. She assumed it was coccidiosis.
The necropsy showed that they all died from botulism (bad feed).