Lost a pullet this morning but not sure why..

[MsBoPeep]

It's been a while since I have been on and unfortunately I am back today with sad news. This morning after letting our chickens out I went back inside and about an hour or so later we went outside to check on them and we found one of our girls dead on the side of the house. She was only about 9 months old and I hadn't noticed any signs of her being sick as she acted normal though I know this doesn't mean anything. Just wondering if anyone has any idea of what may have been the cause? I am not about to go cutting her open but figured I'd get some advice. Their coop is definitely not overcrowded, we only had four birds. Maybe I should chalk it up to it being just something that happens?

 

[FunClucks]

Had she started to lay? Any signs of injury or disease on her body now?

 

[MsBoPeep]

Yes, she was laying and there were no signs of injury on her when I looked nor did I see any sign of disease though I am a new chicken owner and so I may not aware of some of the signs.

 

[BlueBaby]

You just had that hurricane hit you over there. Could it have left something behind in your yard that she might have eaten or something?

 

[FunClucks]

Did you provide separate oyster shell or calcium source? Did you feed layer feed?

Possibly Sudden Chicken Death syndrome. Basically pullets new to laying can have a heart attack while trying to lay eggs. Even if you give free choice calcium (oystershell, egg shell, etc), if her body didn't metabolize it properly, she could have been pulling from her body instead of the provided calcium. Do that long enough, she gets depleted, and one day while trying to lay an egg has a heart attack.

Or could be internal issues that just now caused a problem.

To tell for sure you'd need to do an autopsy. Keep her body cold, not frozen, then contact your nearest state vet. If you search chicken autopsy vet or something on here it should show a link, you can check the site for nearest folks who do these.

I'm so sorry you lost your chicken!!!

 

[MsBoPeep]

You just had that hurricane hit you over there. Could it have left something behind in your yard that she might have eaten or something?

It's possible but I don't think so. We spent the past few days raking up all the debris that was left behind in our yard and it is pretty clean now but it could be we missed something or she found something in the bushes. The way I found her it seemed like she was just walking and dropped dead. The only thing I could think of was that she may have gotten overheated. Since the storm we lost our large oak tree that provided the majority of the shade in our yard which is where their coop was. Now the coop is in direct sunlight and we have been trying to decide what we should do since it is always incredibly hot here.

 

[MsBoPeep]

Did you provide separate oyster shell or calcium source? Did you feed layer feed?

Possibly Sudden Chicken Death syndrome. Basically pullets new to laying can have a heart attack while trying to lay eggs. Even if you give free choice calcium (oystershell, egg shell, etc), if her body didn't metabolize it properly, she could have been pulling from her body instead of the provided calcium. Do that long enough, she gets depleted, and one day while trying to lay an egg has a heart attack.

Or could be internal issues that just now caused a problem.

To tell for sure you'd need to do an autopsy. Keep her body cold, not frozen, then contact your nearest state vet. If you search chicken autopsy vet or something on here it should show a link, you can check the site for nearest folks who do these.

I'm so sorry you lost your chicken!!!

We have been giving them layer feed since they started laying and have just mixed oyster shells in with the feed so I knew they had access to it. The way I found her it seems like she was just walking along and then dropped dead.
Thanks for your reply and the info! I'll look into it now.

 

[KRack]

She wasn’t under weight? I had a hen die what seemed very rapidly from worms. I had no idea she was even sick, or thin, because their feathers cover so much. Acting normal, then one day acting a little sick, next day she was gone.

I’m sorry for your loss!!

 

[BlueBaby]

It's possible but I don't think so. We spent the past few days raking up all the debris that was left behind in our yard and it is pretty clean now but it could be we missed something or she found something in the bushes. The way I found her it seemed like she was just walking and dropped dead. The only thing I could think of was that she may have gotten overheated. Since the storm we lost our large oak tree that provided the majority of the shade in our yard which is where their coop was. Now the coop is in direct sunlight and we have been trying to decide what we should do since it is always incredibly hot here.

Ok, I was just trying to give you another angle to think about. I guess you won't know for sure unless like @FunClucks mentioned above that you get an autopsy done on her. I know what heat is as I live over here in the desert in Arizona.