My first dead hen

[NTBugtraq]

This morning I found a hen dead on the floor of the coop, under the laying boxes...not a typical place they stand. It appeared to have fallen on one side, and its neck was in an S shape?? No mites or obvious infestations, no irregular poo, lots of fresh water and food. She was 1 of 15 I got at the same time, and they are now 25 weeks old.

1. Two days ago I turned off my heat lamps (IR lamps). Temperatures have, for weeks now, been around 5F, but people keep insisting the heat lamps are unnecessary as long as they have water and food, so I turned mine off. Could this be a reason for one hen to all of a sudden die?

2. She is in full rigor at the moment, can she be dressed for me to eat? If not me, can I feed her to my dogs? If not, should I be concerned about the carcass? (e.g. disease?)

Cheers,
Russ

 

[HighStreetCoop]

1) No, she didn't freeze to death.

2) If you don't know what killed her, I wouldn't consider her safe for consumption by me or my pets (though odds are if the rest of the flock is healthy that it was a heart issue).