Sudden loss of young hen

[ChickenFam123]

5.5 month old hen, Daisy, was eating, drinking, pooping, laying, active and friendly. One morning she was found dead in the coop. On her back, feet straight up, no injuries. The roosts are only 6 inches off the floor, so she didnt fall. No mites or fleas, no weightloss or waddling, no respitory distress. The other two hens were waiting by the door to get into the run, no signs of bothering Daisy before or after she passed. Some history: She came from a local breeder, looks like a buff. We got her with two other hens that both turned out to be roos. She was in an indoor brooder for 5 weeks. Moved to an outdoor pen with the boys with a fence between them and two adult hens with supervised yard time. When one of the roos started mating her at 12 weeks, we put her with the two big girls. She was attacked by one of the hens a week later, so we got rid of both boys and gave her their coop. She started laying at 4.5 months. Two weeks after that my son woke me up at 4am that a raccoon was trying to break in. Coon never gained entry, but all three hens seemed to be in shock the next day, the positive was that the mean hen completely stopped pecking and chasing Daisy and finally the three were one flock. Daisy didn't lay an egg for three days and had some runny poo on her fluffy butt. She got a warm bath and towel dried. For the next three weeks she laid regularly, had normal poop. She was such a fun chicken, she weaved thru legs like a cat, my son was training her to find treats, she seemed so healthy I feel like we failed her by missing something. The three hens had 40square feet of run plus 13 square foot of coop, plus daily supervised time in the back yard. They eat Store bought all flock chicken feed, access to calcium, corn, oats and raisens as treats. My guess fatty liver hemorage. I should have done a necropsy to know for sure, but the kids were waiting to lay her to rest in the pet graveyard.

 

[Eggcessive]

Some hens can suffer heart problems when they are young and newly laying. Fatty liver diseases could also be possible. Crop problems, large fat deposits, or ascites sometimes can be seen with a home necropsy. You can get a necropsy by your state vet if you lose another. Very sorry for your loss.

 

[ChickenFam123]

Some hens can suffer heart problems when they are young and newly laying. Fatty liver diseases could also be possible. Crop problems, large fat deposits, or ascites sometimes can be seen with a home necropsy. You can get a necropsy by your state vet if you lose another. Very sorry for your loss.

Thank you. Her crop and belly felt normal. Her tail was always a little droopy, I thought because she was bottom of the pecking order. The other two are 6 months older, so I don't expect similar issues, but I would definitely necropsy if it happens again. I guess it's good we have three babies in a brooder ready to move out. We're going on a year of chicken keeping and between roos, predator attack and now Daisy, it's been hard reaching our goal of four laying hens.