My buff Orpington suddenly died this morning.

[S97]

Today I went outside to let my chickens out of the coop as usual. Only that I looked into the coop to find one of my Buff Orpington is dead on the floor. She was on her side, eyes closed. When I picked her up she was barley warm underneath. So I knew she didn't die last night. Her legs were stiff, but her head was limp. We did have a thuder storm early this morning. Maybe she got scared to death from the thunder? This is my first loss of a chicken. Does anyone have any insight as to what happened? She was fine last night.

 

[BGcoop]

sorry you lost your bird. I cant tell you why she died. However I had a similar experience this winter: I had an EE that was fine in the morning, my DH spent the day snowblowing after a large storm and in the evening found her dead. We also wondered if the loud noise had anything to do with it. You can send the bird for necropsy if you really want to know. (we did not)

 

[Love my chickens 25]

I’m sorry I’ve had the same thing but 4 different birds spread out I’m so so sorry

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about the loss of your hen. How old was she? If you still have her body or can retrieve it, you can get a necropsy on her by your state vet to look for a cause of death. Keep the body cool in a plastic bag in a cooler on ice—don’t freeze the body. Hens can die suddenly from many different causes, and sometimes we may miss subtle symptoms. If you cannot get a necropsy, many of us do home necropsies to look for obvious signs of illness. Sometimes you can see intestinal, crop, gizzard, liver, or egg peritonitis problems with a simple necropsy. Here is a list of state vets in the US to contact:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

 

[DobieLover]

I'm sorry that all of the above posters have had sudden losses of their birds.
I can tell you that it is next to impossible that loud noises "scared them to death". Something else was wrong. The only way to know is to either do an informal necropsy yourself or send them to your state lab for a formal one. Oftentimes, inability or expense prevent ever really knowing what happened.

 

[Love my chickens 25]

I'm sorry that all of the above posters have had sudden losses of their birds.
I can tell you that it is next to impossible that loud noises "scared them to death". Something else was wrong. The only way to know is to either do an informal necropsy yourself or send them to your state lab for a formal one. Oftentimes, inability or expense prevent ever really knowing what happened.

I had 2 look egg bound and 2 that were flapped on the ground

 

[S97]

I’m sorry I’ve had the same thing but 4 different birds spread out I’m so so sorry

I dont understand why she would just die like that. My other 4 seem fine. I have 1 roosters and 3 hens now.

 

[Love my chickens 25]

I dont understand why she would just die like that. My other 4 seem fine. I have 1 roosters and 3 hens now.

Good luck with the rest I’m sorry about the one

 

[Eggcessive]

I dont understand why she would just die like that. My other 4 seem fine. I have 1 roosters and 3 hens now.

We have all lost chickens suddenly, if one has owned chickens for a number of years. Once, I had a bunch of my young one year old chickens roosting on low branches of the evergreen tree my girls spend time on daily in the afternoon. When I went to lock them inside their coop at dusk, one was still out there roosting. I picked her up, and she just started foing through the throes of death that many have as they are dying, and she was dead. I do necropsies now to look for something wrong.

 

[S97]

I do necropsies now to look for something wrong.

What is that?