Hen found dead in coop

[AshHallahan]

Found one of our hens dead in their coop yesterday, within hours after they got put up. We do have several young roosters, one seems to be trying to assert his dominance over the other two. Nothing could have gotten into their coop, we checked the other birds and they were fine. The hen was laying in her side, I believe her neck was broken but she wasn’t in an area that she could have fallen from anything. Is it possible the aggressive rooster could have done this? A few of the other hens were hiding in the roost and wouldn’t come out. There was no feathers plucked, blood, cuts, nothing on the dead bird either.

 

[DobieLover]

Was she located near a wall and facing it?
If the cockerels are being overly persistent about getting pullets to mate with them, the pullet can slam into a wall in her zeal to escape and break her neck.
I doubt that the boys actually physically killed her but you clearly have a major issue with these excess cockerels that needs to be addressed immediately. Pen them up together and either rehome them all or keep the best one for your flock. They will continue to terrorize your pullets if you don't and they will suffer for it.

 

[3KillerBs]

How many birds do you have and how much space is there in the coop and the run?

How old are the birds?

If you need quick-and-dirty housing to get the rambunctious boys out of the main coop here are a couple builds that are not fully predator-proof but that doesn't matter so much when dealing with cull cockerels.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/camp-cockerel.77789/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/mini-coop-or-integration-pen-from-a-large-dog-crate.76593/

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome! Sorry for your loss, and good ideas already mentioned.
Are these all youngsters? Then a broken neck is real possible. if she's an adult, hens do get sick and die sometimes after one year of age, and seem to act okay until they just can't.
Doing even a fast and dirty post mortem exam can give you some rule -outs.
Mary

 

[DobieLover]

Are these all youngsters?

One of the OPs 4 messages references a 6 month old 'hen'.

 

[Folly's place]

So babies...

 

[Mrs. K]

Sometimes birds just die. Fine one moment, dead the next. I would think it was 'sudden death' and not worry about it. And if it is going to happen, it often happens as birds reach full size. It is considered a genetic organ failure (such as the heart), that was able to keep up, until the bird reaches full size.

I think you need to deal with your cockerels, but I don't think they had anything to do with this. Unless you have skinned the bird, and looked at the neck, it can be hard to assess.

However, it would be better to see your whole operation, number of birds, kinds of birds and coop/run. One always gives advice thinking of their own set up otherwise, and often times misses the mark.

Mrs K

 

[Mom4ever]

I have now found 2 dead about 6 1/2 months barred rocks def on their coop. One 2 weeks ago, nothing looked odd or off about her and then the other just today found in a nesting box. Nothing looks off about this one either. All new layers. We had 11 and now 9 and we are getting 8 eggs a day.
We have 3 roosters still one is marked and ready to be culled the other 2 we are watching to see who is going to be a good pick. Could hens die because of mean roosters? Trying to lay eggs? Not sure what is going on. Any help is appreciated.

 

[Mrs. K]

I just call it sudden death syndrome. Look right as rain one minute, and darn dead the next. I think it is like a heart attack.

I have had it happen right about the age you say, they get full size, and their organ cannot keep up. That is how an old timer explained it to me.

Mrs K

 

[Mom4ever]

I just call it sudden death syndrome. Look right as rain one minute, and darn dead the next. I think it is like a heart attack.

I have had it happen right about the age you say, they get full size, and their organ cannot keep up. That is how an old timer explained it to me.

Mrs K