Mysterious Dead Chicken 😭

[chickens802]

When I walked into the coop yesterday morning my beloved Silver Grey Dorking hen was dead. She was only 9 months old and showed absolutely no symptoms of being ill. I live in Northern Vermont and we have basically every chicken predator there is. I have 27 chickens and they have access to an electrified wooden fence with 1/2" hardwire mesh pen all day long. They also have an 8x10 coop and an 8x6 run placed in the center of the fenced-in area. The hardwire mesh is skirted out at the bottom to prevent any digging predators. The coop also has an electric door which I have programmed to close and open 45 minutes before and after sunrise and sunset. The only area that it is theoretically possible for a predator to breach is the fenced-in area because it is not covered. I do have 2 fake owls out and I have never had a problem with airborne predators.

The main predators I have experienced are weasels, bears, and a skunk. I thoroughly check her body for any signs of blood or bite marks, there were none. I checked her vent for any signs of blockage or infection and it look perfectly healthy. Her comb was still bright red.

Ok so that was what happened yesterday...
Today when I entered the coop there was what looks like blood markings on the feeder. I will attach a picture below. In panic I counted all the hens multiple times and they are all accounted for. Where we live it does get very cold at times. In the beginning of Febuary we had a 1 and a half week stretch where is pretty much stayed below 0 degrees. Right now it is staying around 32 degrees in the daytime but is get into the low teens at night. Some of my hens do have white tips and a few with larger combs even have small black spots. My only guess as to what this came from is that there combs were bloody and it rubbed on the wood. Next I checked all of there combs for blood or scabs but there was no signs anything. There was only one hen, my Blue Andalusian that had a small scab on one of the tips of there comb. I just don't think that is what this from. I would really like to know what is going on so that I can take steps to help the health of the rest of my flock.

If anyone has seen anything like this or has any information they would be willing to share I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

As far as the random blood, I see this a lot during the cold months. It's usually due to the combs somewhere.

As far as the dead hen... Did she by any chance show more signs of frostbite than the others? Where was she found? Was her neck stiff like the rest of her body? Did she ever have any health issues in the past? What was her laying like? Did she appear bloated?

 

[KaseySnow]

We've had chickens keel over from heart attacks before without having any prior signs of issues. Once one hen frightened herself to death; another had a heart attack brought on by her obsessive overeating and resulting poor health. Sometimes internal things are going on that we can't see or that they are hiding.

I doubt it was a predator that got your bird. If it was, it probably would have taken many more of them and you'd see feathers everywhere from the panic.

In the future, it's always a good idea to send a dead bird in for a necropsy if you discover it soon after passing.

 

[chickens802]

As far as the dead hen... Did she by any chance show more signs of frostbite than the others? Where was she found? Was her neck stiff like the rest of her body? Did she ever have any health issues in the past? What was her laying like? Did she appear bloated?

No, she only had a very very small amount of frostbite. The door on my coop is on the right side of the coop. When you walk in there are nesting boxes right in front of you on the opposite wall. Then to the left of the nests are the roosting bars going across the corner of the coop diagonal to the door. Then on the same wall as the door on the left side is the food and water. I found her right behind the door. I am not completely sure as to how her neck was but I think it may have been less stiff than her body. She has not had any other health issues however she does tend to like to stay in the coop more with my Polish hen (they were best friends) rather than going out during the day like the others do. I am not sure about her laying though I had recently seen her in the nest box about 5 or 6 days before this happened. No, she did not seem bloated to me.

Thanks a lot for the advice... makes me feel a little better.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

She was only 9 months old and showed absolutely no symptoms of being ill.

In the beginning of Febuary we had a 1 and a half week stretch where is pretty much stayed below 0 degrees. Right now it is staying around 32 degrees in the daytime but is get into the low teens at night.

First, Sorry for your loss!

I agree that blood on the feeder may be from one of the birds comb or wattles.. I get it when I have battles (young cockerels).

Sudden death with no prior symptom.. possible fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome.. at that age.. are you feeding extra corn to "keep warm", as many keepers mistakenly claim should be done? Excess low nutrient calories (like scratch or corn) coupled with genetic predisposition can have real impact..

Many will blame sudden death on heart attack.. which is possible but without getting a necropsy or doing one it can be hard to say.

Did you already dispose of the body?

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. Had this pullet ever laid eggs? If you still have her body, I would keep it cold, but not frozen, and contact your state vet on Monday morning to get a necropsy. You can drive the body in to them or ship it overnight. Some state labs will email a prepaid shipping label to make it easier. have lost a couple of young birds without any symptoms before. Here is a list of state vets:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html

 

[chickens802]

Sudden death with no prior symptom.. possible fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome.. at that age.. are you feeding extra corn to "keep warm", as many keepers mistakenly claim should be done? Excess low nutrient calories (like scratch or corn) coupled with genetic predisposition can have real impact..

Did you already dispose of the body?

Had this pullet ever laid eggs? If you still have her body, I would keep it cold, but not frozen, and contact your state vet on Monday morning to get a necropsy. You can drive the body in to them or ship it overnight. Some state labs will email a prepaid shipping label to make it easier. have lost a couple of young birds without any symptoms before.

I feed a 16% protein pellet feed from my local farm store. My chickens also get lots of table straps and occasionally dried mealworms, fermented feed, sprouts, and other scratch grains. They are very spoiled. Yes, she has been laying for about a month.

I do still have the body but it has been frozen. Do you know approximately how much a necropsy is?

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge!

 

[chickens802]

I just realized that never attached the photos of the blood on the feeder. Here they are if anyone wants to take a look.

 

[Eggcessive]

That looks like a comb has been bloodied and hit the feeder. It can happen with only pecking or if there has been some frostbite on combs. Necropsy costs vary by state to state. Backyard chickens are less expensive sometimes. Taking them in yourself is less. Most labs will discuss this on the phone if you call them. Yours is located in Waterberry, and they should give you fees. If the body was frozen, that might not make it possible to do one.