Our 2 year old Leghorn, Reba died - Ideas?

[phatchicken]

When my wife went out to check on the girls tonight - she found Reba dead in the run ...she laid yesterday, seemed fine - when she was let out this morning - she came running with the rest of them. No blood, no deformities, no loose stool, her comb seemed to go a bit grey the last two days or so. No new food, clean, well ventilated house. Do chickens just die? For seemingly no reason? She was such a spunky girl - it breaks my heart - it also makes me fear that what she died from the others could get. Ideas, suggestions are welcome - thanks.

Oh - she was about 20 mos old.

 

[chickenzoo]

So sorry, they can it seems, just die. I had a RIR hen who we loved that came running up to me one day and then just collapsed. I lost her before I got her to the house.
Other things that can bring a chicken down w/o much noticed. Worms, lice and mites. They can be going on w/o you even noticing and pull the birds down quickly. Respiratory illnesses, typically show some signs but not always. Egg bound, an egg can be stuck and can be hard to notice. Heart defects, many production type breeds can suffer from weakened hearts. So sorry you lost your girl....

 

[phatchicken]

Thanks Chickenzoo - I just got off the phone with our vet - she seemed to think it was some sort of congenital defect because it occured after her first molt, and she was very small for her breed. If we lose another one - we will be having a necropsy done for sure. Sorry too about your RIR. It is really sad to lose a gal...they bring so much toour lives, as funny as that sounds!

 

[australorp_breeder]

I recently lost my Partridge Cochin cockerel from pneumonia about five days ago. Sorry for your loses!

 

[speckledhen]

Could be she had a reproductive infection, which is very common in high production types and seems to hit about that age. Or could be alot of other things.