Hen died suddenly and mysteriously - why?

[MrsClucky]

I found one of my hens dead this morning with no signs of "fowl play." She was perfectly healthy yesterday - no sign of illness and she has no access to anything but what I feed her and the flock. She's completely intact, no blood on her and the others are fine.

She was in a large enclosure with two other hens and a rooster. It's possible a predator got it and... scared her to death? Could she have run into the fence so hard she broke her neck? Could the rooster have crushed her? Or is there some Sudden Chicken Death Syndrome I'm not aware of?

Any theories would be greatly appreciated!

 

[hdgddd]

This same thing happened to 2 of our litttle bantams over the past year. (Not at the same time) They were fine one day and the next day they were dead. Haven't had it happen to any more. They never showed any signs of being sick and were not old. I don't know what happened.

 

[Serama]

poop happens its sad but its a life cycle, and its for a good reason....
maybe she would have killed all the otherones with her diesies you never know... sad i know but you cant let it get to you

 

[Sillystunt]

So sorry for your loss

Maybe she was egg bound?

and for it not getting to you...doink! it will, they are our pets and it hurts to see one die

You have every right to be sad

 

[birdlover]

Most likely she had a heart attack. It happens a lot with chickens, especially when they're just beginning to lay. I had one that died like that and I had her necropsied to be sure she didn't have a contagious illness that she could pass on to my other chickens. Turns out her liver ruptured, possibly caused by being overweight. I'm sorry about your girl.

 

[silkiechicken]

If you open her up maybe you can see if anything is off (providing you know what healthy insides look like), but often they just die. It can happen, don't worry as long as the rest are acting normal.

 

[MrsClucky]

thank you all for your kind words and information. all the others look perfectly healthy so I'll try not to worry.

 

[Glenda L Heywood]

my first thought was a liver problem
as this makes the birds gut not function
the two largest organs are the liver and the heart
disfunctioning liver brings on a heart attack

here is what I would do for all the birds she was with

I would get some whole horse oats and put a feeder of the whole oats in the coo[ and also the commercial protein crumbles
and a feeder of granite grit

this will help the chickens to have less fat in the body and keep their health much better

and I would put them all on this
also I am a firm believer in this

wet mash probiotics
for this individual chicken do this
3 tbsp of dry crumble feed
4 tbsp of milk any kind
1 tbsp of yoguart
and then the most important facor Vit's
add to the mix each time
1-1000 mg of vit E cut tip of capsule off and put liquid in the mix
1- Vit B complex pill crushed and put in the mix
1- selenium tablet crushed and put in mix

now mix good and add
1 tbsp of apple sauce on top of the mix so the chicken will eat it
they like the taste and smell of applesauce

do this once a day for two weeks
then give the wet mash probiotic with out vitamins once a week for life of chickens

you can multiply this by the amt of birds you feed it to

any questions email me

 

[Olekushka123]

I found my 6m old Leg horn dead. She was fine when I let them out of the coop, but 20 min later I got back to feed them and she was laying dead. What could it be? It was really cold outside and windy. Could it be weather related? I never had chickens, this is my first experience. Could any body have some kind of answer? Thanks.

 

[Qais]

Hi
Today my 7 month old chicken died after I give her a few drops of enroflaxacine I feel very bad and I am very sad I raised her my self has anyone else experienced something like this