My hen just died after seeing her with tail feathers at an angle

[Dgrundy14]

I just lost a hen. When I let them out this morning, she came out of the coop but hardly ate any treats and her tail feathers were at an angle not straight back. She was fine yesterday. Just curious about what could have caused her to die and making sure it can’t affect my other chickens. Thanks!

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. Hard to know what she may have died from those symptoms. It could have been anything. The best way to find out is to get a necropsy done by the state poultry vet. Keep her body wrapped in plastic baggs and on ice in a cooler. Call the state vet for info and either tske her in or ship her body overnight by Fedex or UPS. If you cannot do that, sometimes a home necropsy can be done to show obvious problems. Take picturea of the organs and post them here for opinions. Seeing the liver, intestines, and abdominal organs are mist important, as well as examining crop and gizzard contents. Here is a list of state vets:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

This video has how to do a necropsy and has the organs labeled:

 

[Dgrundy14]

Too late, she’s been in the garbage a while. I couldn‘t do that though anyway. Don’t have the stomach for that.

 

[Eggcessive]

I felt the same way when new to chickens, especially since I don’t butcher any. But after losing a few hens over the years, I now do a necropsy on each hen I lose. I have seen ascites, salpingitis and lash eggs, cancer, and a gizzard impaction. It gives you some closure to discover what the cause was. Not for everyone, never pleasant, but it can ease your mind sometimes to know that they didn’t have some weird contagious disease.