lost a hen. no injuries/low temps/diseases. just dropped dead last night?

[Kel60]

She was only a year and change old! Nothing wrong with her. No low temps last night and coop is heated anyways! Showed no signs of sickness was perky and running around yesterday!

Found her under her perch. Like she just fell off dead.

 

[Kel60]

-add, mom is saying someone laid a soft egg yesterday. But they've been otherwise been laying good eggs everyday. If she had a deficiency she wouldnt just lay one bad egg and die would she?

 

[RosemaryDuck]

She was only a year and change old! Nothing wrong with her. No low temps last night and coop is heated anyways! Showed no signs of sickness was perky and running around yesterday!

Found her under her perch. Like she just fell off dead.

So sorry for your loss. If you aren't squeamish, you can do an autopsy and check to see if she was eggbound or anything. You can also send her in to a vet to get one done.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. Most hens can tolerate low temperatures close to and below zero if they are inside a coop. It can be common to lose a hen, even off the roost during the night around the age of maturity or onset of laying. A shell-less egg is not unusual at the beginning of laying eggs, but it also can be a sign of a reproductive disorder. Where are you located? To find out what might have caused her death would be to have your state poultry vet do a necropsy. Keep the body cold in a cooler with ice, but don’t freeze it. You can sometimes tell without a home autopsy if something is obvious. Here is a list of most state vets where you can contact them early on Monday (or today if not too late
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

 

[Kel60]

Sorry for your loss. Most hens can tolerate low temperatures close to and below zero if they are inside a coop. It can be common to lose a hen, even off the roost during the night around the age of maturity or onset of laying. A shell-less egg is not unusual at the beginning of laying eggs, but it also can be a sign of a reproductive disorder. Where are you located? To find out what might have caused her death would be to have your state poultry vet do a necropsy. Keep the body cold in a cooler with ice, but don’t freeze it. You can sometimes tell without a home autopsy if something is obvious. Here is a list of most state vets where you can contact them early on Monday (or today if not too late
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

shes been laying well for around 5 months. her first few eggs were shell less but since then shes done great. im near chicago, so it does get fairly cold but the coup is heated and its been a bizarrely mild winter to begin with. its part of why it was so weird. there was just no explainible reason for the death,she was running around causing trouble just yesterday with no sign of issues.
ill check to see if theres somewhere nearby that could take a look at her. mom will probably laugh at me if i do, but so it goes.

 

[Kel60]

looked at the list of vets there, all of them are WAY south of me. like 6+hour drive south. iv looked locally before and there isnt really anything around. ill check again.

 

[Eggcessive]

Unfortunately when deaths happen on Friday, most people have to wait till Monday to tale or ship the body. Necropsies are always best when done sooner than later after death. If the body sets around for days, it may not always be the best necropsy. I would recommend that shipping overnight via Fedex or UPS can be easier than driving 6 hours. But that is not always abailable on weekends, and is best done when those companies can email a prepaid mailer. So it may just be too complicated this time. If possible do a necropsy yourself, or ask a relative familiar with butchering a chicken, to help you. Take pictures of the organs if possible, and post them here for any opinions. If it doesn’t work out this time, it is good to know how to go about this in the future. I have had chickens for 10 years, and lose a bird now and then. I have been able to find a cause of death in most chickens. The video below shows a basic neceopsy for vets, and it identifies the organs. I do a very brief necropsy on major organs concentrating on the abdominal organs.