Hen with snapped neck?

[Thedogsbark]

Hi. Not really sure where to put this, so if this is not the appropriate area then I apologize. One of our sweet little serama hens was found dead yesterday morning. They were all locked inside their coop all night and all morning until we went out to let them out. Their coop is also inside of another pen, and there are no holes or signs whatsoever of predators breaking in. So that either leaves her dying of some disease or one of the other chickens killed her. Currently we have four roosters. Luckily we found someone willing to take two off our hands on Monday. I suspect that one particular rooster may have killed her when trying to mate her. The day before she died I had noticed him trying to mate her. He had yet and still has yet to crow, but after seeing that I knew he was a rooster. Plus he always picks fight with a specific other rooster. I didn't think much of it at the time. I certainly didn't think he would kill her, or even that it would be possible, for that matter. I looked over her body and there was nothing noticeably wrong until I saw her head. I was moving her body around to look for wounds and such and her neck and head just flopped around aimlessly. I was unsure if their heads tended to do this when they died anyway regardless of what they died of, as I have luckily never had an older chicken die before. The rest of her body had already grown stiff except for her neck and head. I buried the poor thing and said my goodbyes. She was such a sweet thing and I was growing very attached to her. The rooster that I saw trying to mate her was a Polish and bigger than her, but he was still a bantam. The roosters we have are one serama, two bantam Polish, and one bantam D'anver. We have two other serama hens and I'm worried that the same thing may happen to them. Should I move the three bigger roosters someplace else until they are rehomed? Thankfully we only have one left to rehome. Is it even possible for a rooster to break a hens neck when mating? I thought the most they typically did was pull feathers, cause limps, small wounds, ect.

 

[HuskerHens18]

I would separate the seramas JUST to be safe. That is what I personally would do in your situation.
When my Cochin hen died, her head was still limp after her body stiffened and she did NOT have a broken neck, but that doesn't mean yours didn't.

 

[EggWalrus]

Hi. Not really sure where to put this, so if this is not the appropriate area then I apologize. One of our sweet little serama hens was found dead yesterday morning. They were all locked inside their coop all night and all morning until we went out to let them out. Their coop is also inside of another pen, and there are no holes or signs whatsoever of predators breaking in. So that either leaves her dying of some disease or one of the other chickens killed her. Currently we have four roosters. Luckily we found someone willing to take two off our hands on Monday. I suspect that one particular rooster may have killed her when trying to mate her. The day before she died I had noticed him trying to mate her. He had yet and still has yet to crow, but after seeing that I knew he was a rooster. Plus he always picks fight with a specific other rooster. I didn't think much of it at the time. I certainly didn't think he would kill her, or even that it would be possible, for that matter. I looked over her body and there was nothing noticeably wrong until I saw her head. I was moving her body around to look for wounds and such and her neck and head just flopped around aimlessly. I was unsure if their heads tended to do this when they died anyway regardless of what they died of, as I have luckily never had an older chicken die before. The rest of her body had already grown stiff except for her neck and head. I buried the poor thing and said my goodbyes. She was such a sweet thing and I was growing very attached to her. The rooster that I saw trying to mate her was a Polish and bigger than her, but he was still a bantam. The roosters we have are one serama, two bantam Polish, and one bantam D'anver. We have two other serama hens and I'm worried that the same thing may happen to them. Should I move the three bigger roosters someplace else until they are rehomed? Thankfully we only have one left to rehome. Is it even possible for a rooster to break a hens neck when mating? I thought the most they typically did was pull feathers, cause limps, small wounds, ect.

I've picked up several recently deceased birds over the years that their body's had rigamortis yet their necks were floppy. I don't know if a larger peice of flesh (body) holding temp higher would cause rigamortis quicker, but it's something to investigate. It could be that the neck muscles lack the mass to sufficiently support the head even if rigamortis has occurred.
But there ain't no damn telling!
Sorry that I lack the knowledge to answer your question. Hopefully one of our wiser and more edumacated members has the answer.

 

[Thedogsbark]

I appreciate both of your inputs! I'm not sure if one that was already dead would have a floppy neck forever or if it would eventually stiffen as well. If it helps with anything, I sort of got busy yesterday and didn't get the chance to bury her until today. So 24, or possibly more depending on when exactly she died, hours later her neck was still floppy.

 

[Mrs. K]

I think she might have just died. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they have something wrong inside, and their body can keep up until they get close to full grown and then it can't any more. Sometimes if they are startled in the night, they can fly into something and break a neck that way.

I don't think it was a rooster. I don't think it was a predator as there would be other signs. But sometimes they just die. Over the years, I have had it happen occasionally several times. Once I went through a spell where I lost three that way in three months, when I found the 3rd one, I got pretty nervous and started asking on here, but then did not have one again for several years.

It happens, she had a good life, and that is all you can give her.

Mrs K

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

I’m so sorry for your loss!