Pleas help!!dead chicken

[kealoni]

I went out in the coop this morning to fin a dead hen in nesting box.her vent was bloody and some blood around coop.she lay a egg with a little blood yesterday and sometime before she died she layed a bloody egg.anybody please help

 

[kealoni]

Also she was acting fine last night completely normal last night

 

[Eggcessive]

It is possible that she was a victim of vent pecking, but it's sometimes hard to say what caused it. A little blood on the egg of a new layer may be pretty common. Sometimes they can have a little prolapse of the internal tissue coming out as they strain or lay an egg, and this can invite pecking when they see red. If hens are overcrowded, bored, are getting less than layer feed in protein, or don't get outside to roam, they may be prone to pecking, and vent pecking can lead to cannibalism. Sorry for your loss.

 

[kealoni]

Anybody have any more ideas

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

I agree with @Eggcessive on what could have been the cause of her death. Sorry to hear she passed away.

 

[kealoni]

I don't understand how a chicken can die from vent pecking? She didn't lose enough blood to make her die

 

[Eggcessive]

You said there was some blood in the coop as well. What was the condition of her vent when you looked at her body? That was the first thing that came to mind, but she also could have had something going on internally that caused her to die, such as cancer. She could have been egg bound. To find out for sure, you would need to send her refrigerated body into your state vet or poultry lab for a necropsy. Here is some info about cannibalism:
https://pubs.ext.vt.edu/2902/2902-1095/2902-1095_pdf.pdf

vent pecking

 

[kealoni]

I now has 2 hens with a bloody vent area but they are acting perfectly fine besides that

 

[Eggcessive]

If possible, I would separate those two in a dog crate with food and water, spray their bottoms with BluKote, and spend some time with the flock to find out who is doing the picking. Many people feel that feather and vent pecking may be do to some sort of deficiency that they have. Some give their chickens a little meat or tuna in addition to their feed. This increases the protein somewhat, but chickens are omnivores. Most feeds used to contain meat byproduct meal, but most have removed them in recent years. I am a label reader, and occasionally will find a regional brand that still has some. Letting them get out to free range, if only for a few hours a day will allow them to find minerals, bugs, and grasses they require. I hope you can stop this from becoming a habit they all develop.