so today our young hen (born March 10, 2010) passed away. i saw all 3 chickens walking around this morning just fine, then a couple hours later she was laying there, cold. we really have no idea what happened. there was no sign of trauma, and the others are just fine. we have already had a chick die at 5 days old, a little dark brahma, and a young silver spangled hamburg pullet die. we also had a few week old chick (the one that everyone loves, who was indoor for the first 4 months of her life and will be again soon) get very very ill with some mysterious cold thing, having seizures and not eating or drinking for days, very near to death. luckily she had a miraculous recovery, only to disappear a month later (the same time the hamburg died. we think they were attacked) and spend the night sleeping in bushes with a mild wing injury before we found her the next day. and this is our first year in a long time raising chickens. it has been somewhat disheartening. anyway, RIP Marmalade, we love you and will miss your beautiful brown egg each morning. 11-9-2010 RIP Harley, the craziest, spazziest chicken ever. 5-7-2010 RIP Fuzz Butt, cute lil chickie chick. 3-6-2010 edited to ask--is it ok to leave one chicken alone? if i have the one indoor and the other outdoor..will she get lonely? do i have to train her to be indoor too? we probably will not be getting another chick until next spring.
Could they be getting poisoned? Might you have high levels of lead or chemicals in your soil? It seems so mysterious!
I would bring in the other too. They do not do well alone, well most don't. My son does have a Sebright that hates chickens but loves people. House chickens are lots of fun.
