My hen died after we cleaned around her vent... how could I have prevented this?

[ellangdon22]

With chickens it is often very hard to tell anything is amiss, as they hide it so well.

Reproductive disorders (salpingitis, cancer etc.) leading to death are very common with chickens and often referred to as "occupational disease". Sadly, in most cases there is not much one can do to save the bird when they start to show illness/decline.

That seems to be the consensus. It’s so hard on your heart losing birds for any reason but I definitely feel a little better with everyone’s words, so thank y’all for that!