Woke up this morning to find a dead hen in the coop. Most of the flock had very loose droppings recently, but all seemed to have recovered. One hen lost quite a few feathers and seemed thin (not yet sure if it was this hen -- need to take a closer look at the rest of the flock today). None of the hens was listless or showed any behavioral symptoms. Two nights ago, one hen was roosting in the nest boxes (but they do that every now and then). Last night, this hen was again roosting in the nest boxes, but had her beak open slightly and there was a terrible odor in the coop. Something clearly wrong. Checked this morning and found her dead. Apparently she had something going on internally that was not apparent externally: vent area of dead bird was covered with loose fecal matter and there were visible creepy-crawlies (parasites? maggots?). Any thoughts on what may have caused this? Should I chalk it up to one bird not having recovered from something that has already gone through the rest of the flock, or should I have a necropsy done? Thanks for your help.
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