My first death

[sammi_lynn12]

I walked out to the coop this morning to find one of my barred rocks dead. It looked like she was asleep on the roosting bar and just fell right off and died.

She was totally fine yesterday. I sat out with them for about two hours when they were free ranging and she was acting completely normal. I didn't notice any sort of sluggishness or anything like that with any of the girls. I gave them some kitchen scraps and she was running all over getting pieces I was tossing out, acting just fine. So, I am at a loss as to what happened and I am worried about my other hens. Any idea? Should I treat the whole flock with anything as a prevention in case she was sick? I just couldn't believe it when I walked out there, I had no reason to believe she was sick in any way so it was a shock.

 

[DottieGirl]

Oh I am so sorry for your loss. I don't know what might have happened.

 

[Shabby Chic-Hens]

How old was she?

 

[Kearaaaa23]

I walked out to the coop this morning to find one of my barred rocks dead. It looked like she was asleep on the roosting bar and just fell right off and died.

She was totally fine yesterday. I sat out with them for about two hours when they were free ranging and she was acting completely normal. I didn't notice any sort of sluggishness or anything like that with any of the girls. I gave them some kitchen scraps and she was running all over getting pieces I was tossing out, acting just fine. So, I am at a loss as to what happened and I am worried about my other hens. Any idea? Should I treat the whole flock with anything as a prevention in case she was sick? I just couldn't believe it when I walked out there, I had no reason to believe she was sick in any way so it was a shock.

Sorry for you loss unfortunately chickens are very fragile crestures and are basically always on the edge of death, any infections/diseases can kill them easily. Most infections like MG etc.. can go unoticed. You wouldn't even know they had it. She could've died for many reasons. Just monitor them to see if any of the others are having problems.

 

[sammi_lynn12]

How old was she?

10 months old. I got them in Sept of last year as babies.

 

[sammi_lynn12]

Sorry for you loss unfortunately chickens are very fragile crestures and are basically always on the edge of death, any infections/diseases can kill them easily. Most infections like MG etc.. can go unoticed. You wouldn't even know they had it. She could've died for many reasons. Just monitor them to see if any of the others are having problems.

I know a majority of the time if they are sick, they don't show any signs until they are on the brink of death but she was just so normal yesterday. Not an ounce of me thought there was anything wrong with her or the rest. To come out to that was quite sad. She got lots of treats yesterday though, and they spent the whole day free ranging. So she had a good last day. I think the unexpectedness of it all is the hard part.

 

[sammi_lynn12]

Oh I am so sorry for your loss. I don't know what might have happened.

Thank you!

 

[TillyPeeps]

It could be heart attack, if she acted normal and just had a sudden death. Is she overweight? Overweight can cause sudden death when there's a heat stroke. Read this:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/chickens-obesity-silent-killer-how-to/

 

[sammi_lynn12]

It could be heart attack, if she acted normal and just had a sudden death. Is she overweight? Overweight can cause sudden death when there's a heat stroke. Read this:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/chickens-obesity-silent-killer-how-to/

I wouldn't say she was over weight because she flew and ran around just fine. It also was not hot yesterday. We got rain the day before, it was in the high 70s yesterday compared to 90s at the beginning of the week and last night was relatively cool. She was cold and stiff this morning when I moved her so I don't believe it was heat related. I do wonder if it was a heart attack for some reason given she just fell dead off the roosting bar. It is just so strange and sad.

 

[TillyPeeps]

I wouldn't say she was over weight because she flew and ran around just fine. It also was not hot yesterday. We got rain the day before, it was in the high 70s yesterday compared to 90s at the beginning of the week and last night was relatively cool. She was cold and stiff this morning when I moved her so I don't believe it was heat related. I do wonder if it was a heart attack for some reason given she just fell dead off the roosting bar. It is just so strange and sad.

It's quite possible. There are many similar cases that were heart attack. The only way to find out for sure is necropsy.