Had a barred rock hen, no signs of illness. Found dead in the run this morning, meaning she got up, walked around, then died. Her comb has been a little pale for months, and last night she was holding her wing out a little bit like it hurt - just the one, not like she was hot. I checked her leg and wing to make sure she was ok, she looked fine, didn't seem to hurt her when i moved her around. Her crop was emptied when i checked after she died. She was eating, drinking, walking around being her usual obnoxious self last night. No sneezing, no abnormal poo, no laziness, no gasping, no runny nose, this morning it was a really nice 75 outside, so she didn't die from heat exhaustion. She wasn't egg bound because she never started laying and showed no signs of starting. She was about 5 months old.
At about 5 months old she should have been coming into laying, or getting close. It's possible that she started laying internally. There are many things that can go wrong, and the only way to know for sure is necropsy. It can bring a lot of peace of mind knowing for sure, and knowing whether or not it's something isolated or something contagious. I'm sorry for your loss.
