Yesterday afternoon I went out to the run to let out the girls for their daily free ranging time. After opening the run, I shut the pop door so that the hens will return to the coop when dusk sets in. Laying under the ramp to the pop door I found my 1 1/2 year old Speckled Sussex hen, dead. She had been fine when free ranging the previous day, went outside in the morning with the rest of the girls when I scattered scratch and BOSS...No signs of any animal getting to her. She looked like she had been sitting under the ramp then just died. I looked at her vent area, no signs of discharge or swelling. Anyone have any ideas what would cause a seemingly healthy bird to just die? This is just my second summer of having chickens, so this is the first non-predatory death I've had to deal with.
How sad! I had a similar thing happen about a month ago & am still broken up about it. Ours was a year old Buff Cochin & she was fine and normal up to the morning I opened the coop & found her slumped dead under the perch area. My best guess is that her foot got caught in a mesh screen I had over the poop tray, she panicked and hit her head....just a guess though. I promptly threw the screen out! Your situation doesn't sound like there was anything like that at play, but I've been told a seemingly inconsequential bonk on the head can be fatal and you wouldn't know what happened unless you witnessed the event. This is only my second summer having chickens so I'm learning as I go. I'm reading a book right now, Birdology by Sy Montgomery, that says "...inexplicable deaths in birds is heartbreakingly common". This info doesn't help much, but know that you're not alone.
