Leghorn Chicken Died today... we think we know why but what to do???

[MadamePoulette]

We lost a Leghorn today, we think its because she was leaking an egg from her oviduct. I went to check on the girls and to my surprise , found one still i
n the nest! Less than an hour later, we checked on her again and she was gone... there was egg yoke next to her and her backside seemed dirty... something clearly happened there... We check on our chicken like hawks, when we're home we are at the coops minimum every 2 hours so we feel like there's something we could have done, we knew she wasn't ok,but too late. But what could we have done? were still pretty new at this but it seems everything is happening all at once, were learnign about all sorts of chicken problems.... just looking to find out what could be done.

 

[Judy]

I'm sorry.

Unfortunately, chickens can die of disorders of the egg laying organs, and there usually isn't much if anything you can do about it. It sounds like an egg broke inside her, which could have cut her, causing internal bleeding and / or infection. The egg could even have broken because of an underlying problem. Internal laying and cancers of the ovaries are other problems that happen which we can't really help them with. Sometimes even the expense and trials of vet care can't save them -- if you happen to have an avian vet in your area. We do have a list of them in Emergencies: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=200108

Sometimes if it's just one broken egg, you can get them to relax by soaking them in warm water a while, then putting them in a warm, darkened, quiet spot, and they will pass the rest of the material and recover. There are some threads linked on the FAQ page about this. And many threads on the forum about internal laying and eggbound hens.

Good luck!