my BO hen just died, please help me figure out why...

[speckledhen]

I'm really sorry. I have lost one suddenly myself, if you recall. My 24 week old Delaware pullet who hadnt begun laying yet. She was breathing really heavily because her heart was racing. I did notice it (I am obsessive sometimes about checking on them for the least little off thing) the night before, took her in. She was tired and subdued and it seemed her heart would beat out of her chest. Could find nothing wrong. Next day, she came out when DH let them out, though she did not eat any scratch. We went into town and a couple hours later, came home to find she had died; was still warm on the coop floor. She had some blood in her beak so we opened her up. One chamber of her heart had basically exploded and was collapsed, plus her chest was filled with dark, arterial blood. We believe she had a heart defect and coming into lay was just too much for it.
I say all this to say that often, there are defects we just dont see until something kicks them over the edge, some stressor, etc. It's not easy to lose one and even worse, to have no idea why. Some here will say, "Hey, they die, get over it, it just happens", but those with scientific minds just have to try to find a reason. Let us know if you find out anything, Caroline.

 

[newarkrooster]

Same thing for me I lost a big healthy 11+ month old Buff Rock hen on Tuesday, I went into the coop Tuesday evening to gather eggs count chickens after a day of free ranging and close up for the night, and there she was laying on her side on the floor, like she had died and fallen off the roost. No explanation at all???

 

[Mesa]

The same thing happened to me this week. My 10 month old B.O. was dead on the floor of the coop. She was perfectly fine the day before.

 

[ZooMummzy]

I'm so sorry for your loss

I lost my 11 month old BO last month the same way. In the morning she was fine; that afternoon she was dead. She was still warm when I found her too. She was always healthy and a good layer so it was a total shock. I took her to Oregon State for a necropsy and they found that her liver ruptured. I would have never guessed that or figured out why she died if I hadn't taken her in. Not suggesting that is what you do, but it made me realize sometimes there just isn't any outward explanations of why they die.

 

[basicliving]

I'm so very sorry for your loss

I had a pullet die a few months ago in a some what similar manner. She was fine at 4PM when I gave them some scratch - by 5PM she was sitting huddled in a corner of the run. I brought her inside and by 6PM she was dead. Other than suddenly sitting hunched in a corner, she had no symptoms. No marks on her body, no runny eyes/nose, her crop felt fine, and I could feel no eggs stuck inside her. It hasn't happened to any others in the flock.

I'm sorry you lost your baby.

Penny

 

[vermontgal]

This thread was very helpful to me.

I now remember that my 8-month EE who just died had some blood showing in her nostril when I found her. I did not do a necropsy, but I now think she had a heart attack.

Sorry to hear about everyone elses' sudden loss of your chickens.

While I am still sad, it does make me feel better to know that this just seems to happen sometimes.

In hindsight, I have realized that it was my EE who would always be the chicken talking back to me as I came into the barn. At night, the EE would softly peep and whistle. Now it is quiet when I go into the barn and say hi to the chickens.

I could not bring myself to do a necropsy, but my friend who raises chickens and is just about to start vet school gave me these tips:

"Their CNS just normally spasms
upon death, for pretty much any cause of death, so that you could
potentially find them in any contorted position. Really, your best bet is to
try to perform a necropsy immediately after death- or pay a local vet to do
one. If there's an impacted gut or gizzard
or and egg impaction, it will be immediately apparent, even to a novice.
Other things to look for in terms of disease are obvious lesions on or
inside of the major organs. A liver that's blotchy and has holes, the cecum
is another, the lining of the digestive tract and esophagus, the air sacs
should be clear and not cloudy. Any of these things indicated disease. "

 

[willkatdawson]

Thanks everyone for your kind words and I to am sorry for your losses. The only thing I can think of is a strange dropping on our front steps. I was looking on a post of droppings a while age and right there was an all white
dropping just like the one one on the steps. It's funny I never even put two and two together. The droppings chart stated it was a chicken who was having kidney problems. I did not think to have a vet look into her death and we ended up burying her that afternoon. The children picked flowers and said some kind words about her. We really miss her and, we have such a small flock every time we put the chickens up at night and count them we're reminded that we only need to count to seven.