I came out and found my 1.5yr old barred rock hen dead this morning in the coop 
It was a bit of a shock because she had been eating and drinking normally/normal behaviour. She HAD been limping for the past couple of weeks but had mainly been in a large container to rest for most of that time. Her egg laying had slowed down but she'd still laid a few eggs in her container, so I don't believe she was egg bound. She'd gone back to sleeping in the coop with her gal pals for the past couple of nights and was only ever let back out in the run this last week when I was home from work to be able to check on her. Her limp was finally improving. Now one of my EE hens also has a slight limp (no where near as bad). We do have a new 6' high roosting bar in our coop so I'm wondering if that's how they injured their legs...they have tiers to hop down to the ground, but not all prefer that route! There was no swelling in her leg, no bumblefoot, nothing obvious to see - on either hens. It seemed like her leg was bugging her at the hock and she didn't want to fully extend her leg.. she was able to extend it though these last few days and seemed much improved. I've had the whole flock on grower feed for months now since I do have laying hens mixed with a lot of new pullets of varying ages.. calcium/grit is always available.
Would this have any influence on her death or why the other hen has a limp? Not enough/correct nutrients? I've compared the ingredients/nutrient breakdown on the feed bags (layer vs grower) and they all seem pretty similar... I do have a camera in my coop but it was quite dark this morning. It seemed like she suddenly maybe fell off the top roosting bar and landed sprawled in front of the coop door. I didn't hear any flapping sounds so not sure if she had passed away first and then fell off..
Any ideas on what could have caused her sudden passing??
(The reason I bring up the grower feed is because I did have to have one of my Pekin ducks put down in the last week or so from a slipped tendon at her hock and the vet said perhaps it could be from a choline deficiency.. I checked all feed ingredients though and they all had choline in them already..!)
It was a bit of a shock because she had been eating and drinking normally/normal behaviour. She HAD been limping for the past couple of weeks but had mainly been in a large container to rest for most of that time. Her egg laying had slowed down but she'd still laid a few eggs in her container, so I don't believe she was egg bound. She'd gone back to sleeping in the coop with her gal pals for the past couple of nights and was only ever let back out in the run this last week when I was home from work to be able to check on her. Her limp was finally improving. Now one of my EE hens also has a slight limp (no where near as bad). We do have a new 6' high roosting bar in our coop so I'm wondering if that's how they injured their legs...they have tiers to hop down to the ground, but not all prefer that route! There was no swelling in her leg, no bumblefoot, nothing obvious to see - on either hens. It seemed like her leg was bugging her at the hock and she didn't want to fully extend her leg.. she was able to extend it though these last few days and seemed much improved. I've had the whole flock on grower feed for months now since I do have laying hens mixed with a lot of new pullets of varying ages.. calcium/grit is always available. Would this have any influence on her death or why the other hen has a limp? Not enough/correct nutrients? I've compared the ingredients/nutrient breakdown on the feed bags (layer vs grower) and they all seem pretty similar... I do have a camera in my coop but it was quite dark this morning. It seemed like she suddenly maybe fell off the top roosting bar and landed sprawled in front of the coop door. I didn't hear any flapping sounds so not sure if she had passed away first and then fell off..
Any ideas on what could have caused her sudden passing??
(The reason I bring up the grower feed is because I did have to have one of my Pekin ducks put down in the last week or so from a slipped tendon at her hock and the vet said perhaps it could be from a choline deficiency.. I checked all feed ingredients though and they all had choline in them already..!)
