Not an emergency.

[NicoLee1991]

I went out to collect eggs this morning and found one of my chickens dead in my coop. She was fine yesterday (isn't that mostly the case) and her body seemed very freshly dead, like I had to check for a heart beat. She was a wellsummer and was maybe 4 years old, still laying. She was always a little bit of an underdog and we had to separate her for a while due to being picked on ( this was like 3 years ago). Her body was a good weight, she was not starved.

So the weird part was she had bloody toes, like 4 of them at least-three on one foot one on another. I did not take a picture, I liked her too much. I found no other wounds on her. But like the blood was so fresh it was still wet and bright red. Never had a chicken die like that.

I was thinking some sort of seizure or dehydration (she didn't look dehydrated- the water was empty this morning, however its also not hot here at all). Grasping at straws with that I feel like they've run out on a hot day and been okay until I've gotten home. Like one of the waters got knocked over or something.

 

[azygous]

Did you check her vent for a possible source of the blood? Was the blood on the feet associated with fresh injuries to the feet? Any sign of a ripped off toe nail?

Sudden death can be associated with egg binding or internal laying. A quick look inside her abdominal cavity could answer whether her death was from either of those causes. Another cause is heart attack associated with low blood calcium, but those cases often involve the hen dying in the nest during the process of laying an egg.

I understand you may feel reluctant to abuse the body of a pet chicken, but it would be the best way to quickly and easily answer some questions and find a cause for this tragedy.

 

[NicoLee1991]

Did you check her vent for a possible source of the blood? Was the blood on the feet associated with fresh injuries to the feet? Any sign of a ripped off toe nail?

Sudden death can be associated with egg binding or internal laying. A quick look inside her abdominal cavity could answer whether her death was from either of those causes. Another cause is heart attack associated with low blood calcium, but those cases often involve the hen dying in the nest during the process of laying an egg.

I understand you may feel reluctant to abuse the body of a pet chicken, but it would be the best way to quickly and easily answer some questions and find a cause for this tragedy.

There was no blood coming from the vent, it looked more like an injury around the nails. Like a horrible scratching or clawing at something. No nails were detached.it wasn't a lot of blood so I'm quite sure it originated from her toes. I did palpitate her abdomen when I was doing a quick once over on her and felt no eggs or anything abnormal on her what so ever. No other injuries or sources of blood. I'm moderately new to chicken keeping (about 5 years), but we've had about 100 or so chickens and had our fair share of problems. This one was just so different and so random. I know farm store chicks are not the most healthy. Oh and she laid an egg this morning it was in an upper nesting box so she must have been mobile and fine at somepoint this morning

They have calcium in their food and eggshells/oystershell most of the time as well. I'm going to go take a look in the coop and see if I find anything. I was kind if rushed this morning. We also can't dig in our ground yet so if the body is still around I can take another look. Offerings to the fox in hopes of a peaceful season.. not near our property of course.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Sorry for your loss.

Could the blood on the toes be curiosity peck or scratches from other flock members, after the fact?


You could also send her in for necropsy, free or affordable to back yard keepers in some states. Most labs contact info for the US in following link..

https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html

 

[azygous]

Palpating the abdomen wouldn't detect internal laying or a stuck egg still above the shell gland and still soft. But opening the abdominal cavity would show at a glance those types of egg anomalies. They come on quickly with no warning and can kill swiftly. I had an eleven-month old that came in to the run after free ranging and keeled over dead. When I opened her abdominal cavity searching for a clue as to the sudden death, I saw numerous shell-less eggs of various sizes, appearing as an assortment of hard boiled eggs without shells.

I am going to guess the bloody toes were injuries from the death throes as her nervous system shut down following her heart stopping. Chickens rarely simply fall over dead. There is usually a lot of wing flapping and body flopping involved. It can be very off-putting when you first see a chicken die.