Lost a Rhodie

[Demarvell]

Dear Clucker chasers,
I lost a 7 month old Rhode Island red sometime last night it seems. I was away the day before and found her this noon. Laying straight out. She is only one of the 2 Reds I have/had. The other 9 are Golden Sex Links and seem to be having no problems.
Was wondering if I fed her the wrong scraps. it was the usual kitchen fare and some dried up pizza. Do you think I might have choked her on the dry crust? Also fed them fresh cilantro. Otherwise the usual layer feed. The others are still laying 14 to 16 every 2 days, no extra light. The coop is insulated but vented. I am attaching the eggs I gathered today. All my layers have brown eggs, and one is almost white. All the rest of the now 10 hens seem to be fine. I will check them again tomorrow.
I would appreciate any brainstorming you can come up with.

 

[AidKD]

I doubt she choked to death, but you could always open her up and check. She was laying regular, right?

 

[Demarvell]

I doubt she choked to death, but you could always open her up and check. She was laying regular, right?

I believe she was laying fine.

 

[AidKD]

I believe she was laying fine.

Are you comfortable with opening her up?

 

[Demarvell]

My buddy buried her already as she was 'his' chicken. She was very friendly to him. if it happens again, I will do an autopsy. and no, it doesn't bother me, as I was a mortician for 30 years!

 

[AidKD]

My buddy buried her already as she was 'his' chicken. She was very friendly to him. if it happens again, I will do an autopsy. and no, it doesn't bother me, as I was a mortician for 30 years!

Maybe she had some sort of organ failure or underlying health condition. If another dies I'd definitely check it out further.

My brother used to be a mortician! He had all sorts of stories

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Dear Clucker chasers,
I lost a 7 month old Rhode Island red sometime last night it seems. I was away the day before and found her this noon. Laying straight out. She is only one of the 2 Reds I have/had. The other 9 are Golden Sex Links and seem to be having no problems.
Was wondering if I fed her the wrong scraps. it was the usual kitchen fare and some dried up pizza. Do you think I might have choked her on the dry crust? Also fed them fresh cilantro. Otherwise the usual layer feed. The others are still laying 14 to 16 every 2 days, no extra light. The coop is insulated but vented. I am attaching the eggs I gathered today. All my layers have brown eggs, and one is almost white. All the rest of the now 10 hens seem to be fine. I will check them again tomorrow.
I would appreciate any brainstorming you can come up with.

My buddy buried her already as she was 'his' chicken. She was very friendly to him. if it happens again, I will do an autopsy. and no, it doesn't bother me, as I was a mortician for 30 years!

Welcome To BYC

Sorry to hear about your pullet. It stinks to lose one so young and quite suddenly.
As mentioned, it's hard to know why they died without necropsy.

I agree, likely she didn't choke.

The egg. You have all brown egg layers? I wonder if the large egg was hers.
I once had a pullet suddenly just pretty much drop dead right before my eyes. I was stunned and of course, it was upsetting.
I opened her up, she did have an egg in the oviduct, but her liver had split, she bled out quickly. You just never know what can take place or what you will find.

If you do lose another in a short period of time, I'd definitely investigate further, sounds like you are in the right line of work to make that happen.

 

[Demarvell]

Welcome To BYC

Sorry to hear about your pullet. It stinks to lose one so young and quite suddenly.
As mentioned, it's hard to know why they died without necropsy.

I agree, likely she didn't choke.

The egg. You have all brown egg layers? I wonder if the large egg was hers.
I once had a pullet suddenly just pretty much drop dead right before my eyes. I was stunned and of course, it was upsetting.
I opened her up, she did have an egg in the oviduct, but her liver had split, she bled out quickly. You just never know what can take place or what you will find.

If you do lose another in a short period of time, I'd definitely investigate further, sounds like you are in the right line of work to make that happen.

It was a bit of a surprise, so I will keep an eye out. and I will check them all tomorrow.