How delacate are they known to be?

[thesheepwhisperer]

Are chickens known to get scared to death? I had a 1 year old silkie hen drop dead either last night or early this morning. No signs of illness or anything. I feel like it could have been a fear induced heart attack because we recently moved her and her pen mate to my grandmother's and she has a pitbull. But I want to know if that's something they do. I would do a necropsy but I'm too squeamish and and the local vet and animal shelter won't perform one because "it's just a chicken"

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. Chickens can hide their illness well, and yes, some can just drop dead. If you can save the body in a plastic bag and keep it cold, not frozen, you could call in the morning and send it to your state vet for a necropsy. Here is a list of state vets:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

 

[quackersandfern]

I am quite sure your state vet lab would be happy to do a necropsy for you. It would also be much cheaper. They want to know whats going on with the chickens in their state. Here is an infographic about how to submit the body - http://www.poultrydvm.com/featured-infographic/how-to-submit-a-necropsy-backyard-fowl

And here is a directory of vet state labs - http://www.poultrydvm.com/labs.php