Mystery death of our sweet chicken

[jsnook3021]

This morning, our little boy opened the door to let the chickens out (as he does every morning after he holds them) and he found his favorite hen dead under the roost. She had thrush about 5 weeks ago and we treated it with apple cider vinegar. She cleared up in a few days and seemed fine, however she was 26 weeks old and still had not layed an egg. I'm wondering if an egg broke inside of her. She was fine yesterday except she did go into the coop before everyone else and this morning was dead. Any thoughts?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The only way to know is to cut her open to see if an egg broke.
I don't know what you've been feeding or for how long but if she was 26 weeks and had been on layer feed a long time without laying, it could have been a complication from too much calcium.
Commercial operations lose lots of pullets if they start layer too soon.

 

[Wyandottes7]

Sorry for your loss!

Sometimes chickens just die, for no apparent reason. In hens, trouble laying an egg is one common problem (like egg bound, too large of an egg, etc). Chickens can also have heart attacks.

 

[BantamLover21]

I'm sorry for your loss!

I would suspect that she was egg bound/egg broke inside of her, or that she had a heart attack. The only way you could know for sure, or try to know for sure, is to perform a necropsy on her body.

 

[jsnook3021]

Thank you so much for the quick responses. We are really at a loss. I had all our spring chicks on chick starter until they were 16-18 weeks old. Then I started them on layer feed. The problem is that we have another hen that is the same age who also has not yet layed an egg yet. She does not appear to be ill, but neither did Charlie. Can a person tell if a hen is egg bound while the hen is alive?

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. It is not dangerous to feed an 18-20 week old hen layer feed. It is dangerous in younger pullets because of too much calcium. Egg binding and egg yolk peritonitis are confusing things to new chicken owners. Here are a few links that I have read and learned from:
http://www.chickenvet.co.uk/health-and-common-diseases/egg-laying-issues/index.aspx
http://simplelifeainteasy.blogspot.com/2012/03/egg-yolk-peritonitis-diagnosing-sick.html
http://www.avianweb.com/eggbinding.html

 

[A Bit Scrambled]

So sorry for your loss. We recently lost a lovely hen over night, no symptoms. I took her for a necropsy and the vet said she bled to death internally (her comb was pale when we found her). Her liver fractured from Fatty Liver Hemorrhagic Syndrome. He said it is very common for pet hens. Apparently she was obese. I didn't have a clue, she was the smallest of our chickens. I have cut way back on treats for the rest of the flock.

 

[BantamLover21]

Thank you so much for the quick responses. We are really at a loss. I had all our spring chicks on chick starter until they were 16-18 weeks old. Then I started them on layer feed. The problem is that we have another hen that is the same age who also has not yet layed an egg yet. She does not appear to be ill, but neither did Charlie. Can a person tell if a hen is egg bound while the hen is alive?

Yes, you can often tell that a hen is egg bound. Common symptoms include lethargy, tail down, stiff or penguin like (upright) walking, frequenting the nest box, and straining. But unfortunately, the symptoms are not always present, and hens can die without you knowing what went wrong.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Thank you so much for the quick responses. We are really at a loss. I had all our spring chicks on chick starter until they were 16-18 weeks old. Then I started them on layer feed. The problem is that we have another hen that is the same age who also has not yet layed an egg yet. She does not appear to be ill, but neither did Charlie. Can a person tell if a hen is egg bound while the hen is alive?

It isn't unusual for a pullet to not have laid an egg at 26 weeks, especially this time of year.

Sorry for your loss. It is not dangerous to feed an 18-20 week old hen layer feed. It is dangerous in younger pullets because of too much calcium. Egg binding and egg yolk peritonitis are confusing things to new chicken owners. Here are a few links that I have read and learned from:
http://www.chickenvet.co.uk/health-and-common-diseases/egg-laying-issues/index.aspx
http://simplelifeainteasy.blogspot.com/2012/03/egg-yolk-peritonitis-diagnosing-sick.html
http://www.avianweb.com/eggbinding.html

Not just chickens but all living things need an appropriate balance of calcium, phosphorous and vitamin D. Ideally the diet should have a 2:1 calcium/phosphorous ratio. If the ratio is wrong, bones can become brittle or thicken. Adequate vitamin D is also essential to the utilization of Calcium.

Here is a good report on shell quality with a major section on calcium, phosphorous and vitamin D in the diet and the importance of the proper balance.
http://www.nutrecocanada.com/docs/s...-formation-and-eggshell-quality-in-layers.pdf

I know people often start layer feed at 18 to 20 weeks and feed it to roosters too. IMO that doesn't mean damage isn't being done to birds not actively laying.

Excessive calcium can cause kidney stones, renal failure, gout, decreased semen health in roosters and worse. The level of calcium that does damage to a non-laying bird is quite small. Birds that have renal disease may be poor layers or not lay at all. Putting 2 & 2 together, I always wait till onset of lay to switch them to layer feed or keep them on a grower while providing oyster shell on the side for those that are actively laying.

http://www.roudybush.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=birdBrain.articlesRead&article_id=10

http://ps.fass.org/content/64/12/2300.abstract

So sorry for your loss. We recently lost a lovely hen over night, no symptoms. I took her for a necropsy and the vet said she bled to death internally (her comb was pale when we found her). Her liver fractured from Fatty Liver Hemorrhagic Syndrome. He said it is very common for pet hens. Apparently she was obese. I didn't have a clue, she was the smallest of our chickens. I have cut way back on treats for the rest of the flock.

I lost a good hen overnight once to the same thing. The rest of that flock was immediately put on a diet.