Hen suddenly died

[Messybare]

One of my chickens just died. She was acting a little strange on Friday and was hanging about by herself. She was eating and drinking also. On Saturday she did the same thing, she would go out by herself and kept moving around our property to different spots. Yesterday she was inside the coop all day, she didn't come out at all. She was laying on 3 eggs from our other hens, so I thought she might be getting ready to lay herself. Today my daughter went to check on her and she was laying on the ground by the water dish, her comb was a dull red color. My daughter took her out of the coop and she started having convulsions and then she just died. My other hens all seem fine, they are all together roaming around the yard and are just being their usual selves. Any ideas on what could have happened? We are new to chicken raising. Did we do something wrong?

 

[chicksonline]

I doubt that you've done anything wrong with her when I got my first chicks they both died unexpectedly but the others are doing well - do you know her breed age? And how realiable was the person you got them off? Do you know what food she was on before and kept on with that? She could of most likely suffered from stress recently mine just died from that she had a runny nose and slept all day but moving sometimes or she could have suffered a heart attack which can happen if sudden change in diet something else

 

[Lazy Farmer]

Sorry for your loss..
I can't speculate, but I am sure an expert we come across your thread soon..
Glad your other are doing good

Just edited for grammar correction.

 

[Kiki]

I'm sorry for your loss.
What breed was she and what was her age?
Had she never laid an egg before?


Can you refrigerate her body and send it for a necropsy?

 

[Ana Parsons]

Could she have been impacted? I've heard sometimes their eggs get stuck.

 

[Kiki]

Could she have been impacted? I've heard sometimes their eggs get stuck.

I think you are meaning egg bound.
Egg Binding: Symptoms, Treatment and Prevention

 

[Ana Parsons]

I think you are meaning egg bound.
Egg Binding: Symptoms, Treatment and Prevention

Yes, thank you. I'm a serious newby, whose brain is not functioning today.

 

[Messybare]

She was a leghorn and about 23 weeks. She hadn't laid yet. We got her and our others from a family friend. They are all on the same food, we haven't changed anything. I did check her and she didn't feel egg bound. She wasn't skinny or malnourished. She was acting totally fine until Friday.

 

[Eggcessive]

Did you feel inside her bent with a finger for a stuck egg? At her age, egg binding could have been a possibility. A lot of things can happen when a pullet reaches maturity, and it can be common to lose a chicken at that age. Heart failure, liver problems, crop impaction, a parasite problem, all could be possible causes. If you should lose another chicken some day, you can contact your state vet for a necropsy to look for a cause of death. Whenever a chicken shows signs of not looking right, or not coming out of the coop, I will do a thorough check of their whole body.