Mysterious Orpington Overnight Death

[freedom35]

I had a Buff Orpington die in her sleep last night. She was in the coop with the others (I have 5 others, all different breeds). There were no signs of disease on her and the others seem fine. The low here was 26 degrees, but it has been as low as 14 degrees. I do not use a heat lamp. The coop is enclosed and it is well ventilated. This is my first winter with them and I want to make sure the others are OK! Any thoughts?

 

[Judy]

I am so sorry. If you are thinking it got too cold for her, that is highly unlikely. Even our Canadian members often do not heat their coops. Sometimes they just die unexpectedly, without our ever knowing why. It's happened to me. Sometimes they had been sick a while and we do not realize it; chickens are very good at hiding illness. There are all sorts of possible causes -- cancer, heart, eggbound, etc. If you don't see symptoms of anything in your other birds (cough, runny nose, not eating, etc.) there is probably no cause for concern for the rest of the flock.

You might consider looking into having you state vet or ag college do a necropsy if this happens again. Usually it is available for a small fee or even free, but you need to know ahead what their requirements are for the condition of the body, etc. Some of our members do their own; sometimes even an amateur can see something.

 

[Wyandottes7]

I agree with Flockwatcher. Chickens sometimes just die for no apparent reason. If the rest of your birds are acting healthy, it was probably something that isn't contagious. Has she been laying? Egg binding is one possiblity for sudden death, but there are other causes.

 

[freedom35]

She wasn't showing any signs/symptoms of illness and had been laying (I think). It's hard to tell sometimes as I'm not home during the day. I kind of tried to look at her after she died for any signs of being egg bound, but I didn't see anything obvious. The other chickens have been fine, laying and running around. So, I guess it was a fluke. Thanks for the input.

 

[One Chick Two]

So sorry for your loss.

 

[realsis]

I'm so very sorry for your loss.i also had this happen to me awhile back. Its always hard to loose a beloved pet especially when your unsure what had happened to her. I wish you the best and again I'm so sorry you lost her.