Hen Died in My Arms This Morning~No Idea Why~Help Please

[CTChickenMom]

I tried to search online but couldn't find anything substantial. People who have had this happen don't usual find out the answer. Someone did say that one of their local ag. groups would do a free autopsy. You may want to check that out or do the autopsy yourself.

This may help you do that:http://www.angelfire.com/ar2/rojo1/post.html

It's not a pleasant thought for our feathered family but it may give you peace of mind.

 

[Daidohead]

From what I have read, a lot of sudden deaths are a result of an organ failure or an ingested poison of some sort.

I hope I have such care when I pass, I am sorry for your loss.

 

[seminolewind]

I think your roo had a heart attack, some call it something like flip over.
Sorry about your hen. The only thing I can think of is botulism, but that's just one guess out of many. I'm sure she had a happy life .

 

[CarolsCritters]

I was wondering why I hadn't received any email notices with responses so I logged on and there you all were! I subscribed to this topic but no emails sent.

Well, you all are wonderful online buddies, thank you so much for the heartfelt notes. It's so nice to hear from those who relate to my love for chickens. I hatched all but two myself, obviously mama and daddy who I started with. I will research egg yolk peritionitis and heart failure to see if anything sounds familiar. I did think about doing an autopsy but we decided to go ahead and burry her. I first took her back out to the hen house and let her mama and two sisters see that she had passed, so they wouldn't go around wondering where she went. Her little sister buddy Oatie is the one with the crooked beak, and poor little Oatie kept looking at her sister right in her face, clucking like she was trying to figure out what was wrong with her. Hopefully they now know that she won't be coming back, but Oatie is kinda lost this morning, her and Precious had always paired up for their daily bug hunts.

Ya'll will get a kick out of this..... I let the hens free range from 8:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. Then I put them back in the hen house and I let the 3 roosters free range until 5:00 p.m. I do this because after hatching 32 chicks in my kitchen incubator I don't have the heart to eat fertilized eggs!

Thanks a bunch for your input and support

 

[Shadowhills Farm]

Aww hoping your chickens are doing Ok with out her; she sounded like a very nice hen to have!

I'm not sure what went wrong, just sending my thoughts.