Please help me find out what killed my hen

[chickenmom22]

Less than 30 minutes ago I went out to my coop to let the chickens out, and one of my hens was laying face down by the door. I think she may have died very recently, maybe only an hour before I opened the coop, but I'm not sure. She showed no signs of being sick or acting ill the day before, and I couldn't find any wounds on her. She was a 1 year old Speckled Sussex. She had not been let out to free range for 6 days, so I don't think she could have gotten into anything to make her sick. She may have been egg-bound, but she laid an egg late in the day yesterday so I don't think that was the case, I could be wrong. The water dish and the food bowl was full so I don't think she died of hunger/thirst. She may have eaten the chick's food, however, it was not medicated and was supposed to be OK for adult chickens to eat. Does anyone have any ideas what may have happened to my poor hen?? We did introduce 4 new chicks very slowly to the flock a month ago, the only thing I can think of, is one of them was carrying a disease. If that's the case, are all my adult chickens infected now? What should I do for damage control?

 

[HuskerHens18]

Has anyone had any blood in their stools? Did she have any coming out of her vent? I had a death like that and a necropsy showed coccidia.
Sudden chicken death syndrome could be a possibility.
Was she at all large for her age? I had an Orphington rooster that grew huge very fast and died of a heart attack at 10 months old.
Did she feel thin? Does anyone else feel thin?

Watch your other chickens like a hawk for weird symptoms or behaviors, if anyone looks even slightly off then it's time to investigate further, like stool samples and such.

 

[chickenmom22]

Hello,thank you so much for your help, you may have saved my chickens lives. You were right, I looked and saw blood on her vent, I’m off to the feed store to find the Corid medication. Hopefully it’s not too late for my other hens

 

[Eggcessive]

At that age it can be common to lose a grown chicken to heart or other organ failure. Some of us do necropsies at home to look at the organs for anything unusual, such as a crop or gizzard blockage, spots or a white film on organs, internal egg laying, intestinal worms, or ascites (yellow fluid in the lower belly.) Take pictures of organs for comments here.

Most states have a vet or poultry lab where you can ship a refrigerated body for a complete necropsy. Google “ Metzer Farms—poultry diagnostic labs” for a list of state vets.

Sorry for your loss.

 

[HuskerHens18]

Hello,thank you so much for your help, you may have saved my chickens lives. You were right, I looked and saw blood on her vent, I’m off to the feed store to find the Corid medication. Hopefully it’s not too late for my other hens

Good luck! I hope it kicks in quickly! I'm glad you found something, I find it's harder when you can't figure out what happened. I'll keep you and your chickens in my prayers!!
One thing that helps is changing bedding and getting rid of any moist spots. Of course if it's muddy and soggy where you are (like it is here) it's kind of impossible to dry your entire backyard haha

 

[Eggcessive]

Blood may also be from pecking or a reproductive problem, such as cancer. Did you see any vent damage? If you do a necropsy, you can look for blue and swollen intestines if it was coccidiosis. Google “cocci in chickens” for images of affected intestines.