My hen died unexpectedly. What should I look at to figure out why?

[Laura0]

So there was some squawking an hour or so ago, and then we found her under a bush in the pen. No obvious injury. Her butt is pecked free of pinfeathers, we have a bullying problem that I've been trying to deal with, but apart from that,no injury, no infected wounds or anything.

Her comb has been more pink than red for weeks, I added electrolytes to their water which seemed to perk her up a bit, but no other signs of illness. The whole flock had fowl pox a few months ago but we got them through it okay, no lesions on any of the flock right now.

Any ideas what happened? What should I look for? I just want to make sure the rest of the flock is okay. Thanks for any advice you can give me.

 

[MysteryChicken]

So there was some squawking an hour or so ago, and then we found her under a bush in the pen. No obvious injury. Her butt is pecked free of pinfeathers, we have a bullying problem that I've been trying to deal with, but apart from that,no injury, no infected wounds or anything.

Her comb has been more pink than red for weeks, I added electrolytes to their water which seemed to perk her up a bit, but no other signs of illness. The whole flock had fowl pox a few months ago but we got them through it okay, no lesions on any of the flock right now.

Any ideas what happened? What should I look for? I just want to make sure the rest of the flock is okay. Thanks for any advice you can give me.

You can do an at home necropsy, & take pictures of each organ, so we can help spot anything unusual.

Make sure to label each organ too.

 

[Laura0]

You can do an at home necropsy, & take pictures of each organ, so we can help spot anything unusual.

Make sure to label each organ too.

Is there a home necropsy guide somewhere?

Edited to add: never mind, I googled it. I'm just undone by this and not thinking straight.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Is there a home necropsy guide somewhere?

There's videos on YouTube available to show how a necropsy is done.

 

[Mrs. K]

A pale pink or bluish comb often indicates a heart problem. Truthfully, I would let it go. Chickens often times have a genetic ailment, that once a bird becomes full size, the organ cannot keep up with the bigger body.

But if you were feeding good basic feed, provided shelter and clean water, that is really all you can expect to do for a flock. I really don't think it is something you can prevent. Often times it is called sudden death, in that they look fine one moment, and dead the next.

If you were deeply attached, it can be hard to open a bird, and without very often there will not be anything to see. Chickens really don't have a real long life span. Many of them die well before 3 years of age. Personally I have had chicks die, in the first day or two - failure to thrive, fairly common, especially if shipped, but even if hatched on the place. Then I have had unexpected deaths at around 5 months, and then again at a year.

Not often, but over 15 years, those have been a noticeable tendency. It happens, sometimes you go years without a loss, and once I had three in three months, and never another one.

Mrs K