Random Hen death??

[xLennyx]

One of my black austrolops hens just died. I do not know how she died. She was fine when I but her out in the morning. I was gone all day and my dad had to carry her up to put her back at the end of the day. I have four other chickens that seem to be fine. I lost a chicken this winter from egg peritonitis But I don't think this one had that...I have noticed that I have been finding one spotted egg each morning and I wonder if that could have been her doing that? They usually all lay brown eggs with no spots..Does anyone have a clue to why my hen just suddenly died? She was the healthiest and biggest one of her flock...and she was the boss...she was always fine, nothing wrong with her..This is a shock.

 

[xLennyx]

UPDATE: I remembered a few days ago she had an excessive amount of white stuck to her bum feathers and some poop. Could this be why? What does it mean?

 

[Eggcessive]

The white is uric acid or chicken pee. Sometimes whith kidney failure they will have excessive urates in the droppings. Sometimes they can develop gout in the legs, which become swollen. If you decide to do a necropsy, you might learn a few things about why she died. Sometimes there will be those white urates covering many of the internal organs showing kidney failure. There are online sources to view what normal internal organs look like, and instructions on doing a necropsy. If you will be a long term chicken owner this may be something you might want to do. Here is a link: http://borlaug.tamu.edu/files/2012/03/Poultry-necropsy-Manual.pdf