Lost a Little Pullet

[RS16017]

Odd occurence this morning. Been raising 2 barred plymouth rocks and a white leghorn. All the birds are about 4 months old. All were doing fine yesterday and last night when I put them up all looked at me with bright eyes. This morning to my bewilderment one of the plymouth rocks was dead. What would kill a otherwise healthy bird overnight. Do birds die from a SIDS like occurence? The other birds are doing fine, for now at least. Anybody had this happen before?

 

[RS16017]

Could it have been an accident? The white leghorn is a young rooster. I've heard and seen the chickens get excited and fuss at each other. Is it possible there was an altercation in the coop that led to the untimely death of my little pullet. It is time to put the youngsters in with the adult chickens so they can have more room.

 

[RS16017]

One other frightening thought was West Nile. I know there's been West Nile Virus in the area before. I've read where chickens don't show signs of the disease till it's too late.

 

[Eggcessive]

Without a necropsy by your state vet, you may never know. I think we all have suddenly lost a healthy chicken for no apparent reason. Many times it happens just at about the point of lay, and sometimes it happens at about a year of age. Heart attacks are a fairly common cause of death if you have never noticed other symptoms. Sometimes by doing your own home necropsy, you can look for blockage in the gizzard, proventriculus, or crop. Worms can be seen inside the intestines, and coccidiosis will cause swelling and hemorrhage of the intestines. An enlarged or discolored liver can be noticed fairly easily. When we have a sudden unexpected death, it makes us want to pick up the other chickens, feel of it's beast bone for weight loss, look them over for mites and lice, feel of the crop, look at the vent, and give a little checkup just to make sure we don't miss symptoms. Sorry for your loss.