Sudden Death...

[mlh93080]

I'm quite concerned. Yesterday morning I went out to let my chicken flock out and I found a dead hen.

No warning signs what so ever. No wounds or nothing. Should I be concerned of some disease with the rest of the flock? My mind is going a little crazy with this. The hen was only 8 months old.

 

[keljonma]

Sorry to hear you lost a bird.

It could have been Round Heart Disease. It is similar to Sudden Death Syndrome, however, with RHD the bird does not have convultions. This disease usually strikes a bird between the ages of approximately 4 and 8 months. (According to Gail Damerow's book The Chicken Health Handbook)

Just observe the rest of your flock. If you sees signs of an illness, you will need to think it is some thing other than Round Heart or Sudden Death.


ETA: Gail Damerow's book The Chicken Health Handbook is an excellent book for any poultry owner to have on their shelf.

 

[spook]

Did you open her up to see if she was an internal egg layer? Is she laying yet?
You need to breath and look her over, was she acting right the day before, was she quiet? Did she look dumpy, away from the flock?
Now are any others acting as she did? could they have eaten something. Do an inventory (as sane as you can) and hopefully this was an isolated issue, chickens can have heart attacks, strokes and just die.
I hope that someone can help you out.