Sudden death in year old pullet

[Drukkar]

1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.):
- Sussex mix, less than a year, appropriate weight for a chicken her size.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
- N/A. No odd behavior was showing before death.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
- N/A. No symptoms.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
- N/A. No other birds in my flock are showing any symptoms of anything.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
- None.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
- Nothing, she seemed to be in perfect health, laying an egg everyday.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
- The usual what all my flock eats, a variety of layer pellets. They all have access to multiple drinking containers that are refreshed daily.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
- Normal for the most part, once in a while it may be runny.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
- None, the chicken suddenly died overnight with no prior warning.
10 ) Describe the housing/bedding in use
- Outdoor coop with built in run, bedding used within the coop+run are wood shavings (dust free bought at the pet store), however my flock has access to my entire garden,

More info:

I had just found her corpse this morning, lying horizontally chest down in the coop. After performing a rookie autopsy, I found no blockage in her crop or digestive tract. She did have one formed egg near her vent in her oviduct, and a newly formed yolk near her ovary (however she had laid an egg everyday without fail for at least the past 4 months). All internal organs looked clean and healthy with no abnormal growths.

Honestly I'm just surprised more than anything. Predators aren't exactly an issue as the largest predator the chickens would have to face within the walls of my house would be street cat, or perhaps a stray wild hawk (unlikely with the amount of tree coverage I have though), not to mention there's no evidence of any physical trauma.

Any help would be greatly appreciated in determining the cause of death.

Thanks in advance

 

[chicken_little06]

That is very odd. Although chickens are not the strongest animals they don’t usually just die like that with no explanation. My only thoughts are heart attack (very unlikely in a healthy hen like that), ate/drank something poisonous that day or simply just slipped and fell off the roost while sleeping and broke her neck or something (although that is very very unlikely and you probably would have noticed a broken neck. Not sure if it was any help but good luck finding it out!

 

[Drukkar]

That is very odd. Although chickens are not the strongest animals they don’t usually just die like that with no explanation. My only thoughts are heart attack (very unlikely in a healthy hen like that), ate/drank something poisonous that day or simply just slipped and fell off the roost while sleeping and broke her neck or something (although that is very very unlikely and you probably would have noticed a broken neck. Not sure if it was any help but good luck finding it out!

That was the second thing I had checked for upon finding her, all her vertebrae were aligned =/

 

[chicken_little06]

That was the second thing I had checked for upon finding her, all her vertebrae were aligned =/

Yeah I assumed you would have. Hmmm it is very perplexing!

 

[Mrs J]

Can you post pictures of your autopsy? I know @azygous @Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive @cherrynberry @Weeg all have experience in doing autopsies, maybe they could spot something that might help you find answers.

 

[-Flash-]

Could she have had SDS? (Sudden Death Syndrome)
She might have had a heart attack, as @chicken_little06 already said.
Sorry though.

 

[-Flash-]

Could she have had SDS? (Sudden Death Syndrome)
She might have had a heart attack, as @chicken_little06 already said.
Sorry though.

I just looked though one of @the_peanut_coop's threads, and one of the suggestions there was the cold. I didn't read though it all, but

 

[Drukkar]

Can you post pictures of your autopsy? I know @azygous @Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive @cherrynberry @Weeg all have experience in doing autopsies, maybe they could spot something that might help you find answers.

Unfortunately not possible. I thought it would have been too graphic and didn't do it at the time, she is now buried in the garden. I'll keep that in mind if it ever happens again though, especially considering I have no experience in autopsies outside of a few college science classes it would be greatly appreciated to have the opinions of more educated individuals in the matter.

 

[Mrs J]

I think it’s more the elements than the cold, chickens can keep warm in the minuses, but need protection from direct snow, wind, rain etc. As long as they have a full crop when they go to bed, and a draft proof coup with good ventilation, that should be enough to keep their body heat up through the night.

 

[Drukkar]

Could she have had SDS? (Sudden Death Syndrome)
She might have had a heart attack, as @chicken_little06 already said.
Sorry though.

I was under the impression that SDS was only common in certain "factory" breeds that grow too fast?