Rosie died today.

[howdo]

Our wonderful easter egger, Rosie, died today and we can't figure out why. Rosie was just under a year old. She came out of the hen house this morning as normal. Nothing unusual was noted about her behavior. About an hour ago, I found her lying on her side, still warm, but gone. No blood, no broken skin, no bruising, nothing in mouth, nothing at all odd. She looked as pretty as she always was. She and her roo and another little banty hen are always free ranging during the day. The rooster and banty are fine, but now I am worried about them. Any ideas why she died? Do chickens get cancer? I am thinking about doing a necropsy (I'm a retired Vet Tech) but need to wait until my daughter sees her and says goodbye. Rosie was more than just an egg producer for our family, she was also a beloved pet. Thanks for any ideas.

 

[canada-goose]

I don't have any idea why she died but I'm sorry she did.

 

[chickeypeep101]

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

When was her last egg? Maybe egg bound, or an internal layer? Yes, I would suggest a necropsy. I'm so sorry for your loss! I have an EE named Rosie too!

Here's a pic of my Rosie...

 

[CityClucks]

Sometimes chickens, and any creature, die for no reason we can determine. I'm so sorry for your loss - it always seems to be our favorites.

 

[Kittymomma]

Chooks can get cancer and sometimes it will take them with no symptoms. You may also want to check and see if she was egg bound.

 

[toletiquesbysam]

I had one of my RIR die the other day, she'd have been a year old in April. No problems with her before that, I think sometimes it just happens!

 

[KKatknap]

I'm so sorry. It's so hard when you don't have any idea why. I wish I could help.

 

[jjthink]

I'm so sorry.

 

[SilverPhoenix]

Aw, I'm sorry for your loss. Sometimes we just don't know why our chickens pass... Could be a heart defect, internal laying, or a number of other things. Try not to feel bad, if she seemed perfectly healthy and went down that quickly, I doubt there was anything at all you could have done to save her. It's still hard when that sort of thing happens, though.

I'm sure you gave Rosie a good life for the time she had.