Suddenly Dead Chicken

[Garden Wench]

This morning I found one of my ladies flat on her back, deceased. She seemed fine the evening before. This is my first flock of birds. I have seven Easter Eggers that are a little over 2 1/2 years. The rest of the chickens seem to be okay. Any thoughts on why she died?

 

[FrostRanger]

Sometimes chickens just die. Could be a few thingsthings that happened. Could be fatty liver, could be cancer or it could just be a heart attack. You can contact your state's poultry extension to arrange for an autopsy if you're curious but I don't think it was anything contagious. If you lose anyone else though I would absolutely get a necropsy

Sorry for your loss but these things just happen from time to time unfortunately

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Without a necropsy it’s impossible to say. I’ve lost a couple this way—nothing obviously wrong; right as rain one day and dead the next. In a lot of ways chickens are very resilient. But they also hide illness very well and some things aren’t obvious from the outside.