Hen dying suddenly - Found lying on her back

[Papaye]

Hi!

Here is a thread concerning an one-year-old hen that died suddenly...

She was a Golden Cuckoo English Marans named Pierrette.
A very beautiful girl, with a very "Marans-ish" personality... but maybe a hybrid, since she had only laid cream-coloured eggs...?
But whatever...

So, this Pierrette...

For several nights : she had been sleeping together with a rooster in an anti-predator coop connected to an anti-predator run.
So no predator could enter in the run or in the coop, and thus threaten her life or the rooster's life when they were sleeping...

Now...:
...One evening, Pierrette was sitting in her coop; and the next morning, she was found dead - laying on her back IN THE RUN, feet in the air...
Taking note of the fact : this same morning, there were ONLY the rooster's droppings in the coop...
So : Pierrette clearly did NOT sleep in the coop during the night, in spite on the fact she was inside - ready to sleep - the previous evening...
Knowing, also : the other chickens AND the ducks, not far away from her, were very vocals, seeming alarmed, during this same night...!

Thus, my question : could Pierrette have been scared by something during the night, so have got out of her coop in the dark AND have tried to get out of her RUN, and... I don't know... die from fright?
Would a hen that died from fright FALL ON HER BACK?

...She was a very, VERY healthy girl!
No lices, no mites, no worms, no diseases, no lethargy, etc...
She was only isolated in a small run for the time being because she accidentaly tore off a claw : since it was better to keep her from free-ranging for a few days in order to prevent her from re-opening her wound, it was decided to keep her in a very small run in which a paralysing rooster was already using... (Paralysing NOT due to Marek - probably just the aftermath of a stroke)...
But her wound was not infected : the bleeding was stopped, and the foot was cleaned everyday, then carefully rubbed with Cade Oil. (And with Cade Oil, there was absolutely NO risk for her wound nor for her health...)

...What I suspect is :
1 - a fox, or a hawk, or a marten, or something... came in the garden during the night, and tried to get in the runs to attack the birds - it would explain at least why the chickens and the ducks sounded so alarmed;
2 - the predator scared Pierrette, so she got out of her coop (during the night), and tried to get out of the run;
3 - since Pierrette was not able to get out of the run, she panicked and just... died from fright?

...But why would she fall on her back...?!!

(NOTE :
The rooster in the same coop than Pierrette could not have been in the run in the morning even if he wanted to, since - because of his condition - he can NOT even get out of the coop without human help. And he is not particularly looking traumatized, so it is hard to tell if he was also scared during the night or NOT...)

...What to think?
Has Pierrette really died from fright?

(I actually think Pierrette could have died from fright not because she died suddenly and the birds sounded coincidentally alarmed during the night, but because she died suddenly during this night, in the run and NOT in the coop.)

(Also : I can't tell for sure, really, but Pierrette looked to have a broken neck - what would be impossible for her to do so by herself in the run...
But don't take my word for that : it could just have looked like a broken neck because of the fact her body was already cold and rigid in the morning...)

 

[The Welch Chickens]

I'm so sorry about your Pierrette

One quick question (I don't have enough experience to answer your post, though)

Taking note of the fact : this same morning, there were ONLY the rooster's droppings in the coop...
So : Pierrette clearly did NOT sleep in the coop during the night, in spite on the fact she was inside - ready to sleep - the previous evening...

How do you know it was only the rooster's droppings inside the coop? How can you tell?

 

[Papaye]

Thank you.
She was a wonderful hen...!

In fact, the rooster was simply sitting on his droppings.
He has had walking problems since some weeks ago, and has much too difficulty to move forward to get out of the coop without my help...
So, I had to help him to get out of the coop, and when I did, I noticed where his droppings were exactly.
When I did clean the coop next, I saw there were only these droppings in the straw... (So, of course, none from Pierrette; and so, I had to remove only half of the droppings that should have been in the coop.)

 

[Kiki]

What exactly do you feed your birds?
Are you willing to open her up and look at her insides?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I'm sorry for your loss. Normally chickens don't move about of their own volition at night, as they don't see well in the dark. Is it possible a snake could have gotten in, attacked her, dragged her off the roost, and they ended up out in the run as she put up a fight? She was too big for the snake to eat so it left her there? Snakes can get into some pretty tiny cracks or openings.

From the fact that there was a ruckus it certainly sounds like a predator of some sort was involved. Do you leave the coop door open at night?

 

[Papaye]

@Kiki :

What exactly do you feed your birds?

For now, my chickens and my ducks have unlimited access to :
- 1 metal feeder with : Wheat + Duck/Goose Pellets
- 1 metal feeder with : Layer Pellets + Broken Corn
- 1 metal feeder with : Premium Mix for Poultry (Layer and Ornemental)
- 2 plastic feeders with : Wheat + Duck/Goose Pellets + Food grade Diatomaceous Earth
- 3 plastic feeders with : Premium Mix for Poultry (Layer and Ornemental) + Food grade Diatomaceous Earth
- 2 platic feeders with : Oystershell Grit.

(They also always have some oystershell grit directly on the ground, since the ones in the feeders are more for the ducks than for the chickens...)

I generally let them manage what they eat.

Sometimes, I :
- add Apple Cider Vinegar in their plastic waterers,
- treat them in prevention against coccidiosis with GranuCox,
- give them GranuPlume (before or during their molt),
- give them vitamins - including B,
- give them some Olive Oil (in water OR in food),
- feed them cooked eggs,
- feed them some plants, herbs, spices, honey (ALWAYS with curcumin), yogurt, egg yolk... (to help boost their immune system, and avoid or heal diseases),
(If needed and I don't have any yogurt and canned fish in the house, I give them wet cat food to mix the lot of herbs, spices, etc..)

Of course, I am being careful with dosage : I don't use any chemical to heal my chickens, so I am doing what I can with what I have.

All of that works fine, and I thanksfully don't have any bird that is fat!
(But on the other hand, I don't feed them table scraps.)

(I don't think I forgot anything...?)

Are you willing to open her up and look at her insides?

No.

I actually have a terrible, terrible phobia of corpses. Not even graveyards or death itself, but (only) CORPSES...

So, I am ashamed, but I did not even have the courage to touch Pierrette's corpse.
Thus, I could not open her up even if I wanted to...
And God knows I would want to, because I know doing so could make me understand what exactly happened to her, and maybe help me to prevent the same to happen to another of my birds...

@BigBlueHen53 :

Thank you.

All of my coops are from Omlet, and yes : I let the doors open at night.

I... did not think a snake could be the predator... because they are supposed to hibernate!
(Also because chickens kill snakes.)
But snakes could easily get in the runs, and so, in the coops... yes.

Nevertheless : I don't think a snake could have been able to kill my hen, then drag her out of her coop. Because I have snakes in my area, but even if they were active in the colder months, they really don't look strong enough to support a hen's weight.
...Or would snakes, such as viper or coronnella, for example, actually be strong enough? ARE snakes stronger they look?

 

[PanosGR]

Have you even thought of a smaller mammal like a weasel? It's small enough to dig or pass through small holes. They are smart and always get what they want. They kill their prey and drink their blood. Also known as ferret or stoat or mink.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

You're right, chickens can kill some small snakes if the snake is not venomous, during the day when the chicken can see the snake. A large snake hunting at night would be at a definite advantage, particularly if it is venomous. I can't say for certain this is what happened to your bird, but to me it would be a consideration. I would not suspect a member of the weasel family due to the lack of bloody carnage as evidrnce and the fact that your rooster survived.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

How cold was it that night?

 

[Papaye]

Have you even thought of a smaller mammal like a weasel?

Thank you for your answer!

I actually did, but there was no blood.
So no physical attack. Just an attempt... maybe...?

I know weasels are small, but are they are so small they could pass through the panels of the run...?
That is a run I made with some side panels of a Walk In Chicken Run (Omlet), and panels from a Zippi Rabbit Run I had lying around...

(And there is no hole in the ground by which a weasel could have got in the run...)

I can't say for certain this is what happened to your bird, but to me it would be a consideration.

I don't know, but I am no expert about snakes.
You could be right!

I don't think there is any large snake in my department, but... what do I know? Sometimes, some weird things happen... nothing surprises me anymore, ah, ha!

How cold was it that night?

Actually, not so cold : there was some frost, but temperature was just around -1°C (30,2°F), maybe -2°C (28,4°F)...?
We have had much colder nights in these last weeks...!

But just in case, I put a Extreme Temperature Blanket on the coop, to keep the chickens the warmest possible.
(Chickens don't actually need these blankets, but I put them on their coops to keep the eggs warm in the colder seasons, in case I can not collect them during the days for whatever reason...)
I did put this blanket specifically for the rooster (and not because I particularly worry about the cold) : since he has walking problems, I wanted him to at least be the more comfortable and warmest possible at night. Just to relieve him in the case he would be suffering and I would not know it... you know?