Sudden Death of Hen

[buccanfresheggs]

Hi,

We have just had a hen die and be pecked at by crows. The hen in questions hasn't been noticeably unwell, however we have commented on how it has been started to look like a rooster. She has been growing spurs, and her overall shape and posture has changed a lot along with her wattles seeming to get longer. The only other strange thing that we have noticed of late was about a week ago we found what I thought to be a small lash egg (about 10-15mm in diameter) and some even smaller fatty looking pieces (about the size of a cooked grain of rice). These were found when I fed the flock in the morning at about 7.00am.

She is an ex-battery hen that we rescued along with 3 others about 18 months ago, so not exactly sure on her age.

From our observations it doesn't look like the pecking by the crows was the primary cause of death, as such, we were wondering if she was unable to move due to being unwell, making her an easy target for them. The only other time we have had issues with crows attacking our flock was when we had a couple of pullets.

Based on this, does anyone think that she may have been the one that laid the lash egg, and was therefore unwell? Or maybe it's just a coincidence.

Thanks in advance for you help.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi,

We have just had a hen die and be pecked at by crows. The hen in questions hasn't been noticeably unwell, however we have commented on how it has been started to look like a rooster. She has been growing spurs, and her overall shape and posture has changed a lot along with her wattles seeming to get longer. The only other strange thing that we have noticed of late was about a week ago we found what I thought to be a small lash egg (about 10-15mm in diameter) and some even smaller fatty looking pieces (about the size of a cooked grain of rice). These were found when I fed the flock in the morning at about 7.00am.

She is an ex-battery hen that we rescued along with 3 others about 18 months ago, so not exactly sure on her age.

From our observations it doesn't look like the pecking by the crows was the primary cause of death, as such, we were wondering if she was unable to move due to being unwell, making her an easy target for them. The only other time we have had issues with crows attacking our flock was when we had a couple of pullets.

Based on this, does anyone think that she may have been the one that laid the lash egg, and was therefore unwell? Or maybe it's just a coincidence.

Thanks in advance for you help.

Welcome To BYC.

I'm sorry for your loss.

Hens can have spurs and as they age their wattles and combs can become longer and bigger, so that is not uncommon.

As an ex-battery hen, she was most likely a production bird, so having Salpingitis - "Lash Egg" would not be surprising either.
Without a necropsy, there really is no way to tell the cause of death, but if you were seeing signs of Salpingitis, then she may have died from infection. The crows most likely found her body and do what crows do.

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2014/12/salpingitis-lash-eggs-in-backyard.html