HOW DID GINGER DIE?!?!

[chkn]

No, she wouldn't have starved in two days. She would find bugs and grass to nibble on. Usually if a hen is locked out, they'll buck and cluck and let you know something is wrong. I've even had them come up to the house and/or roost on my house or bushes around my house (it's fun finding them if you don't realize it until after dark). She may have been eggbound. Sometimes the eggbinding is more of an emergency situation. Sometimes a good layer can just die suddenly. If I hear chickens clucking right before dark, there's usually a problem with the hens getting into their house. Anyway, she would have let you know if she was stuck outside.

 

[blondiebee181]

I buried Ginger today where I found her the other day and covered her grave with stones. RIP Gingey...I'll miss you...may you find many worms and rays of sun to bathe in in chickey heaven

 

[snewpy]

We just had the same thing happen to our Buff Orpington named Lady. She was fine this morning when I gave them some leftover bread and corn muffins. A couple of hours later she's flopped over dead. The other four layers are fine.

She just layed yesterday, so she wasn't eggbound, I don't think. We had noticed that the past two days her eggs had gotten lighter in color from their normal beige to almost white. I don't know if that cold be a symptom of anything.

My son discovered her while the kids were hunting easter eggs, so it was very distressing, and not at all how I wanted today to end.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Hens that leave the nest two or three times a day don't hatch many eggs. A sitting hen typically leaves the nest every 3 or four days and just long enough to eat, drink, defecate and maybe enjoy a quick dust bath. Therefore I can safely say that your hen did not starve to death.

 

[Suzie]

Chickengeorgetoo

I have to disagree... a broody hen will normally leave the nest twice a day to eat and drink.. if you know that a hen is broody you will ensure she is off of the nest at least twice a day... it is an assumption to say that the chicken that will sit on eggs for three days has a better chance of the eggs hatching than one that will eat , drink and defacate every day... is is after all, up to us to ensure that our chickens have enough nutrients.. be it on a daily basis or sooner to help them...

I read ( maybe on BYC ) that a broody can leave her eggs for up to 40 minutes at any one time without any detrimental effect to the eggs being in a normal position to hatch...

 

[blondiebee181]

We just had the same thing happen to our Buff Orpington named Lady.  She was fine this morning when I gave them some leftover bread and corn muffins.  A couple of hours later she's flopped over dead.  The other four layers are fine.  

She just layed yesterday, so she wasn't eggbound, I don't think.  We had noticed that the past two days her eggs had gotten lighter in color from their normal beige to almost white.  I don't know if that cold be a symptom of anything.  

My son discovered her while the kids were hunting easter eggs, so it was very distressing, and not at all how I wanted today to end.  

Oh dear Snewpy I'm so sorry... That's what appeared to happen to Ginger. She had never been egg bound either and was laying every day pretty faithfully. Like someone said before we think that she either had an underlying condition that manifested itself or she at something...a day later I drug a magnet through the yard and found all this...