Sorry for your loss - it's always tough to lose one.
I had a flock of 5 from Meyer (2 BR and 3 BO). I'm down to 1 now. Two of the BO's I lost at about 2 years, I think from some kind of cancer...they just slowly wasted away, combs got very small and pink, and eventually they just slowly shut down. One of my BR's I just lost a month ago died suddenly in my arms...comb went purple, gasping for breath, and a strong seizure, then death. From start to finish it was maybe 2 minutes and she was gone (and was perfectly fine before it all started). Last week my top BO was sitting in the nest box, shook her head twice, had a seizure, then keeled over dead (have this on video). I contacted Meyer and asked if 3 year old deaths were common like this and the girl told me absolutely not. But from additional reading it seems a lot of people only get 3 or 4 years from hatchery birds.
Also have to mention that mine are in a chicken palace - very well maintained, tons of room, fresh water every day, completely secured and dry, shade, fans, everything they could possibly need (and I also do a supervised free range for a few hours every day).
If yours had blood around the eyes I would venture to guess some kind of anuerism (sp). I half suspect that on my BO that died in the nest box...she was shaking her head which was unusual and then suddenly it was lights out...so either that or a heart attack. Only good news is she died VERY quickly and didn't suffer.
Hope you figure it out and please keep us posted. Again sorry for your loss!
I had a flock of 5 from Meyer (2 BR and 3 BO). I'm down to 1 now. Two of the BO's I lost at about 2 years, I think from some kind of cancer...they just slowly wasted away, combs got very small and pink, and eventually they just slowly shut down. One of my BR's I just lost a month ago died suddenly in my arms...comb went purple, gasping for breath, and a strong seizure, then death. From start to finish it was maybe 2 minutes and she was gone (and was perfectly fine before it all started). Last week my top BO was sitting in the nest box, shook her head twice, had a seizure, then keeled over dead (have this on video). I contacted Meyer and asked if 3 year old deaths were common like this and the girl told me absolutely not. But from additional reading it seems a lot of people only get 3 or 4 years from hatchery birds.
Also have to mention that mine are in a chicken palace - very well maintained, tons of room, fresh water every day, completely secured and dry, shade, fans, everything they could possibly need (and I also do a supervised free range for a few hours every day).
If yours had blood around the eyes I would venture to guess some kind of anuerism (sp). I half suspect that on my BO that died in the nest box...she was shaking her head which was unusual and then suddenly it was lights out...so either that or a heart attack. Only good news is she died VERY quickly and didn't suffer.
Hope you figure it out and please keep us posted. Again sorry for your loss!
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