Longevity?

[juliebd]

I had 6 girls for the past 2.5 years. In the last month 2 have died for no apparent reason. Is this normal? They were both the bottom hens in the pecking order. Any ideas?

 

[PerfectPlumage]

Sorry you lost some girls. Did they have any symptoms before they died? It is also likely that a couple birds of prey flew down and tried to carry the hens away, but chickens are to heavy for them and they ended up just killing them. Hawks do that here quite a lot.

 

[juliebd]

They seemed fine until they dropped dead. They were both inside the run with no predators around. Thank you for thinking of possibilities.

 

[PerfectPlumage]

Check to see if there was any trauma to there bodies, it could of been caused by other hens..

 

[allpeepedout]

That's a shame. What breed? People report that some of the really heavy layers like sex-links tend to have reproductive problems or cancers and die relatively young, but sounds like yours seemed healthy?

 

[juliebd]

The two that passed were both varieties of Plymouth Rocks. No physical damage that we could see. How long have others had Plymouth Rock chickens live?

 

[aart]

Had you added other new birds?

Sometimes birds do just drop dead with no apparent symptoms, but if you've had 2 do it, then there may be an illness in your flock.

 

[Folly's place]

There's no telling without post mortem exams being done. If more die or are ill, have things checked out by an avian veterinarian, or your state veterinary path lab. Mary

 

[juliebd]

Thank you for all of the suggestions, I had not added any birds to my flock. I think the birds just prematurely expired. If I lose any more birds, as the previous poster mentioned, I will need to have my birds looked at.
Best,

 

[aldarita]

Were your two birds from a hatchery? even if you got them as Plymouth Rocks they could have been production birds and were not pure breed like what you get from a reputable breeder. My first flock consisted of 9 hens bought from a hatchery and they started dying at around 2 and a half years. They had reproductive issues like egg peritonitis and ovarian cancer, however they did not die suddenly so it might not be your case. Did you notice them slowing down and stopping laying?