Hen literally dropped dead

[oopsadazy27]

I had a Black Cochin. She was 1 1/5 years old. She was healthy and moving normally yesterday. She sat on her roost up off the ground for night. This morning, my son went to open the coop. She was still on her roost, but wouldn't get down. He lifted her down and gave her some feed. She wasn't interested. He took her out of the coop and set her down. She made a long, soft squawk, laid her head down and died.

Has anyone had this happen before? Do I need to worry about the rest of our flock? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thank you!

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. Many chickens die suddenly when they look perfectly healthy. She may have had heart, liver, or kidney problems, and egg binding can be common. You can do a necropsy on her yourself to look for worms inside her intestines, egg binding inside her vent, a crop or digestive blockage, and egg peritonitis. Or you could refrigerate her body, and send it for a necropsy by your state vet here:
http://www.usaha.org/Portals/6/StateAnimalHealthOfficials.pdf

 

[Zerlog]

Sorry for your loss

. Like the person above said, they can die from egg binding, intestinal blockage, or worms.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Seemingly healthy chickens do die suddenly from time to time. They are masters at hiding illness.
There's a long list of things that can kill a chicken suddenly, some rare, some common.
Among the more common are gout, Marek's, lymphoid leucosis, fatty liver, colibacillosis, campylobacteriosis, botulism, pesticide poisoning, etc..

Whether to be worried about your other birds, no one knows unless you know what killed the first.

A necropsy is always a good idea. However, essential if you lose more than one in short order.
The home necropsy is a good idea in this case, just looking for anything unusual, excess fat, discolored liver, heart and kidney issues.

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is a good link to read about some of the common diseases with symptoms: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[oopsadazy27]

Thank you for your help. I wish I had the stomach to do a necropsy. I envy those who can. I'm not sure how my kids would take it if I sliced up their pet! She was a sweet girl.

I will not panic on this one since she's the only one. We have been on guard for bird flu since the nearest case was 30 miles away. But that was a while ago.

Thanks again for your input!