Sudden death of 1 year old BC Marans. Why?

[VictoriaTemple]

My 1 year old BC Marans, Pella, was lethargic today and stayed in the coop all day. I blamed it on the rain. I went to lock up the coop and found her lying on top of the brooder. She has since passed away. Her mouth was full of very gummy mucous, and she was dribbling cloudy fluid out of her mouth. Her crop is full of seeds and fluid, and she seems to have been retaining fluid in her crop and abdomen. She did not lay today, but I could feel no egg in her oviduct, so it’s not obstruction. No sign of coughing, wheezing, gasping, or nasal or ocular discharge. Any ideas on what might have killed my poor hen? Some of the others are showing some fluid buildup too, again no respiratory signs.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry for your loss.

If you still have the body, sending it in for necropsy would give you the best information. Sometimes doing your own informal investigation will also reveal something obvious.

It's not that unusual for the contents of the crop to spill out once the bird has died. Fluid in the abdomen can be from a number of things - it's hard to know the cause without taking a look inside - a few common causes would be organ failure (heart/liver) and fluid from reproductive issues. Crop issues often are a symptom of an underlying condition - for instance if there was fluid in the abdomen, then that would have caused internal pressure making it difficult for the body to process foods properly...hence a backup.

Again. Those are just guesses on my part from my own investigations when I have lost a bird.
I'm not a vet.